There are a few natural alternatives to commercial diaper creams.
Plain old coconut oil is excellent on its own because of its naturally soothing and antimicrobial qualities. Simple, gentle, and effective.
If you’d like something a bit more creamy, here’s another solution:
Ingredients:
- 1/8 cup coconut oil
- 1/4 cup raw shea butter
- Optional: 3-4 tablespoons cornstarch or arrowroot powder (arrowroot is better because it does not contain talc, which can irritate)
- Optional: 1-2 tablespoons comfrey oil (wonderful for diaper rash or any kind of rash)
What to do:
With a hand mixer, blend coconut oil, shea butter and comfrey oil (if desired) until smooth. To thicken, add in a little cornstarch or arrowroot powder at a time until it is your desired consistency.
Simple.
This recipe makes about 1 cup. I divided mine into four small containers: one for each room in our home where we keep diapers, and one for the diaper bag.
For more Natural Living ideas, click here!
Oh Michelle… you made a good friend of mine SO happy with the deoderant recipe! She is very anxious to try that – as am I. And now this one! I have several friends I will pass this on to. Thank you so much for sharing this!!
:)
Thank you so much for posting these recipes! I am excited to try them. Do you know if this diaper cream is safe to use with cloth diapers?
Just found your site and I am so excited! I’ve been looking for a list of recipes for homemade products like this. Thanks! I’m also curious if this cream would be cloth diaper safe??
Hi Tiffany,
While I don’t use cloth diapers and can’t vouch for it firsthand, I do know of some other moms who have used this recipe successfully with cloth diapers. Thanks!
Michelle – LOVE your site! Could you please tell me where you get your raw shea butter???
Hi Joli, I bought the raw shea butter from Mountain Rose Herbs:
http://www.mountainroseherbs.com/butter/butter.html (scroll down to the bottom of the page).
The quality and prices are wonderful, but shipping can be excessive if you’re only buying one or two items. If you’re not placing a big order, Amazon does sell raw shea butte although I haven’t used any of those personally. You could also try a local health food store or a Trader Joes if there’s one near you. :-)
I can’t wait to try this!! Where do you buy the little containers at?
Hi Brit, we got our containers and ingredients from Mountain Rose Herbs.
I am excited to try this recipe!
For those who use cloth diapers, you can buy disposable liners to protect the diapers from diaper cream.
I love what i’ve seen so far but how about conditioner? love to hear your recipes!
Hi Kyla, I haven’t found a conditioner recipe that I love, but a small amount of coconut oil alone works well for one of my daughters. She has thick, wavy hair that soaks up any moisture it can get. The coconut oil doesn’t work so well for those of us with straight hair as it tends to look greasy. So far, we still buy regular conditioner at the grocery store.
yes thats the problem lol i tried several days ago on my straight hair, it was aweful lol any take on shampoos? ive seen many recipes, but having trouble choosing for my oily-prone skin
i noticed your baby shampoo recipe, but would u refer adding anything for adults?
Hi Kyla, I wouldn’t recommend this baby shampoo for adults. Castile soap is made from oils, and it will be greasy on your hair and hard to rinse out. If you are looking for a homemade all-natural shampoo, you might try a baking soda and apple cider vinegar mixture. I actually use plain old drugstore shampoo, but one thing that’s helped me is cutting back on how often I wash my hair. It seems counter-intuitive- hair gets greasy and we feel a need to wash it more! But, the more you wash your hair, the more oils it will produce, and more shampooing is needed, etc. I weaned myself off of frequent shampooing gradually. I started by substituting every other shampoo with just rubbing my natural oils throughout my hair with water. After a few weeks my hair adjusted, began producing less oil, and is healthy. I now only have to wash my hair every other day. I could probably wean myself to less than that, but I’m happy with the way it is. Sorry I don’t have a great recipe for you.