The 26 Best Soaps for Eczema in 2024

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The bumps, dryness, and itching of eczema mean that the condition is just plain uncomfortable. People with eczema still need to wash their skin, though! If you’re wondering which soaps and body washes are safe for those with the skin condition, check out this list of the best soaps for eczema in 2024.

What Are the Types of Eczema?

Eczema is a common skin condition that leads to skin discomfort and raised bumps, but there are several types of eczema:

• Atopic Dermatitis. This is a very common type of eczema that involves the skin barrier getting damaged, leading to symptoms of dryness, itching, swelling, rashes, crusting, and cracking. There are many possible triggers for atopic dermatitis, including food allergens and environmental causes.
• Contact Dermatitis. Contact dermatitis develops as an uncomfortable rash on your skin when you come in contact with an allergen or irritant. This could be anything from certain kinds of jewelry to fragrances, soaps, and laundry detergents.
• Seborrheic Dermatitis. This type of eczema appears as flaky patches and most commonly affects the scalp—otherwise known as dandruff. It can also appear on other parts of the body, though, and is often triggered by stress, a cold and dry climate, and oily skin.
• Neurodermatitis. People with neurodermatitis get itching, dry spots, and discoloration, usually in just one or two patches on their skin. It’s more likely to affect people between the ages of 30-50 and is often brought on by psychological stress.
• Dyshidrotic Eczema. If you have this version of eczema, you’ll get blisters and itchy patches, mostly on the hands and feet. While the exact triggers are not well known, experts believe that stress, sweaty hands and fingers, and allergies are to blame.
• Nummular Eczema. Nummular eczema results in raised spots on the skin, some of which ooze fluid and crust over. While the exact reason this type of eczema occurs is unknown, scientists believe it may be triggered by allergies, infection, fabrics, dry environments, irritating products, or frequent exposure to hot water.

What Causes Eczema?

There are a few factors behind the appearance of eczema, including issues with the immune system, genetics, environmental triggers, and emotional health. People with eczema often experience flare-ups, during which their skin issues worsen. These can be triggered by anything from the onset of cold, dry weather to using certain products or eating certain foods. Although eczema causes the immune system to overreact, it is not currently classified as an autoimmune disease.

Is Soap Bad for Eczema?

Not all soaps are bad for eczema, but harsh cleansers can definitely trigger eczema symptoms in some, so it’s important to find the right products. The pH of some soaps, artificial ingredients, fragrances, and detergents can all make eczema flare up. Luckily we’ve put together a list of the best soaps for eczema, so you can trust the products on this list to go easy on your skin.

What to Look for in Soaps for Eczema

Here is what to look for in soaps for eczema:

• Unscented Soaps. Artificial fragrance is one of the top eczema triggers, so for the best results opt for unscented products. There are also some products out there with natural scents that won’t disrupt your skin’s balance, but in general non-scented products are the safest choice.
• Hypoallergenic Products. Hypoallergenic products are free from ingredients that people are most commonly allergic to. Since allergens can set off eczema, it’s a good idea to choose hypoallergenic products.
• Clean Formulas. Clean formulas based on plant-derived ingredients and free from chemicals are the gentlest for people with eczema.
• Glycerin. Glycerin is a moisturizing ingredient that can be really healing for eczema-prone skin, so look for soaps that include this ingredient.
• National Eczema Seal of Acceptance. While there are plenty of safe products out there that haven’t been certified, a National Eczema Association Seal of Acceptance is a good sign that the product you’re about to use will be safe on your skin.
• Sulfate-Free Formulas. Sulfates are included in a lot of soaps and body washes to act as surfactants, helping to cleanse your skin. The problem is that they can cause skin irritation and itchiness, worsening your eczema symptoms. Look for formulas that are sulfate-free to ensure comfort.
• Shea Butter. Shea butter is an important moisturizing and healing ingredient that will be really helpful for eczema-prone skin. Look for soaps and body washes that contain shea butter for the best results.
• Aloe. Aloe doesn’t just reinforce the moisture barrier but it also calms inflammation and irritation, making it an ideal ingredient in soaps for eczema.

1. Blu Atlas Body Wash

Just because you have eczema doesn’t mean your shower routine needs to be boring or your soap anything less than a treat to use. Blu Atlas Body Wash is proof of that. While it boasts a clean (99% naturally derived) formula and many important skin-calming ingredients, Blu Atlas Body Wash also feels absolutely luxurious, treating your skin to a thorough wash that is also pleasurable.

How does this body wash do it, you ask? The magic is in the ingredient list. Aloe leaf is perhaps the most notable ingredient if you have eczema, as it works to soothe and condition skin to leave it far more comfortable. Green tea also gets rid of puffiness and redness while protecting skin from damage, and sugar cane extract works in some gentle exfoliation.

Then shea butter glycerides soften and hydrate the skin, leaving it refreshed and your eczema calmed. While this product is scented, it contains natural fragrances rather than parfum, meaning it won’t throw off your skin’s equilibrium. Choose from Coconut Apricot (which smells like natural fruit), or the Classic scent (which smells herbaceous).

2. Cetaphil Gentle Cleansing Bar

While bar soap has earned quite a name for itself in the skincare world—and not in a good way—this Gentle Cleansing Bar from Cetaphil is sure to flip the script. It provides a mild clean that won’t strip the skin and was developed for normal to dry and even sensitive skin. There’s no soap in here, nor anything that will clog your pores or give your skin any grief. Coconut-based surfactants do the dirty work for this cleansing bar, then petrolatum and glycerin ensure hydration. This product is straightforward and efficient, giving you an undeniable clean that your skin won’t mind a bit.

3. Dove Sensitive Skin Beauty Bar

Dove’s Sensitive Skin Beauty Bar is hypoallergenic and fragrance-free, making it a top choice for those battling eczema. While it goes easy on your skin, this bar soap still cleans all the dirt and bad stuff away, leaving you with fresh, detoxified skin that will feel great. What sets this apart from other bar soaps is the inclusion of a moisturizing clean, giving the skin a little extra help in the hydration department without changing the texture of the product too dramatically.

4. CeraVe Soothing Body Wash for Very Dry Skin

This Soothing Body Wash was developed with dermatologists and has earned a seal of approval from the National Eczema Association, so you can have peace of mind as you suds up for the first time, knowing your skin won’t react poorly. Don’t choose this formula if your skin is oily, as it contains a load of moisturizing ingredients that your already over-hydrated skin won’t need.

Those ingredients include soybean oil, castor seed oil, and ceramides, which all work together to enhance the skin’s moisture barrier. Sodium hyaluronate is in here for that purpose as well, while tocopherol encourages the skin to hold onto moisture and fights inflammation and oxidative stress.

5. Eucerin Eczema Relief Cream Body Wash

While there’s nothing exactly exciting about this Eczema Relief Cream Body Wash, the good news is that it will keep your eczema flare-ups away for another day. That’s because the fragrance and dye-free formulation contains mild cleansers and a bunch of ingredients that target symptoms like itching, redness, and dryness.

Colloidal oatmeal is perhaps the most important of these ingredients, designed to bind to your skin to help retain moisture while delivering beta-glucan to fight inflammation. There are coconut-based surfactants to help you get that satisfying clean feeling, plus ceramides to replenish your skin’s moisture stores.

6. Marie Originals Eczema Face and Body Soap Bar

This bar soap from Marie Originals soothes the symptoms of eczema fast. It’s designed with dry, flaky, red, bumpy, cracked skin in mind, delivering the bioactive ingredients necessary to treat the symptoms while also cleansing and nourishing the skin. With a purely plant-based formula free from parabens, petroleum, phthalates, SLS, GMOs, gluten, and artificial dyes or fragrances, this is definitely one of the best soaps for eczema.

So what’s in here that makes the formula so great for eczema? For starters, it contains noni fruit, a powerful anti-inflammatory agent built to tamp down swelling and irritation. Bentonite clay sucks impurities out of the skin for a thorough clean, vegetable glycerin and olive oil soften, and organic oat makes skin feel better fast. There’s also ochre for increased protection, grindelia for its antioxidants, and willow bark to exfoliate and tone skin.

7. Shea Moisture Eczema Therapy Bar Soap

The trick is to find a product that still removes toxins and impurities from the skin without upsetting it further. If you can find a product that does that and also improves your eczema and skin condition overall, you’ve definitely found a winner. That’s the case with this African Black Soap from Shea Moisture. It provides a homeopathic solution for greater skin comfort.

For active ingredients, this soap turns to aloe and centella asiatica extract—two anti-inflammatory, irritation-fixing ingredients that will provide tremendous relief to those with eczema or psoriasis. The soap includes oat for its ability to calm even the most troublesome of skin, while cocoa pod boasts major antioxidants and also works wonders on eczema-prone skin. Tea tree provides help fighting bacteria and harmful microbes, willow leaf exfoliates mildly while also lending anti-inflammatory properties, and bladderwrack (a kind of seaweed) improves your skin’s texture.

8. Vanicream Cleansing Bar

Vanicream’s Cleansing Bar may not be flashy, but it’s effective. The soap is accepted by the National Eczema Association and has earned that acceptance through a formula free of dyes, fragrances, and all the irritating chemicals that can set your skin off. Instead, it contains coconut-based surfactants and a bunch of hydrating ingredients to combat everything from eczema to itchiness and sensitivity. There’s a reason this soap remains a best-seller year after year!

9. Honest Soothing Therapy Body Wash

The National Eczema Association has approved this Soothing Therapy Body Wash from Honest, which is gentler than most soaps when it comes to keeping the skin happy. It also comes with additional soothing benefits, quelling the worst of your eczema symptoms once they appear. Prebiotics are there to boost the skin’s microbiome, which defends the skin from harm.

Colloidal oatmeal is a potent anti-eczema ingredient, aloe and allantoin soothe, and coconut oil stops the skin from losing water, leading to long-lasting hydration. Tocopherol and panthenol are also here to nourish and hydrate skin. Some users call this “the only thing that works” for their eczema, so it’s definitely a great product to rely on!

10. Glad Skin Eczemact

Eczema makes skin dry and sensitive, leaving you prone to disturbances at the drop of a hat. Because of that, you want a wash that won’t trigger your skin on its own, and will also soothe and help it grow more resilient so you can find greater relief. This Eczemact Body Wash from Glad Skin is a safe option that won’t get your skin out of whack.

Instead of preservatives and fragrances that strip skin and make itching even worse, this body wash has a simple formula. One cleansing agent, glycerin for hydration, joins water and lactic acid to gently remove dead skin cells. That’s all it takes for a comfortable shower routine when you have eczema!

11. La Roche-Posay Lipikar Wash

A good test of whether or not a formula is truly safe and mild is whether it’s okay for babies to use. This Gentle Foaming Moisturizing Wash is great for infants as young as two weeks, plus it gets the National Eczema Association stamp of approval and our endorsement on this list of the best soaps for eczema. With La Roche-Posay, you get 24 hours of hydration that starts in the shower. Plus, you can use this as a face wash in a pinch!

La Roche-Posay prebiotic thermal water, which makes an appearance in all the brand’s skincare products, is important in this body wash, delivering minerals and antioxidants while supplying the skin with prebiotics to help its microbiome. Sustainably sourced shea butter is one of the main moisturizers in here, plus glycerin to help skin soak up moisture. Vitamin B3 keeps your skin barrier intact, as does vitreoscilla filiformis, which naturally occurs in thermal water.

12. Nécessaire The Body Wash

This body wash has become somewhat of a cult favorite, as it’s loaded with moisturizing ingredients that take care of dry and damaged skin. Because this dermatologist-tested wash is also hypoallergenic, those with eczema get the green light to add this to their regimen. It contains gentle chemical exfoliants to rid the skin of flakes and fatty acids for deep hydration and is enriched with vitamins that keep the skin healthy and bright. Plus, there’s lightweight green tea extract in here, which is perfect for anyone with skin inflammation and damage.

13. Tatcha Hinoki Gentle Exfoliating Body Wash

Exfoliation is key for those with eczema, as it helps to clear away the dead skin cells that can actually make symptoms worse, plus it means the skin soothing and moisturizing ingredients can sink into the skin easier. The key is to find a wash, like this one, that exfoliates without rubbing or scratching. Cellulose is the physical exfoliant here, providing an eco-friendly alternative to microbeads to transform your skin’s texture.

Rice ferment filtrate softens and stops natural minerals in water from irritating your skin, hinoki oil delivers remarkable healing abilities, and peach leaf extract calms inflammation and works with sensitive skin. A blend of essential oils in this formula helps both at a topical and aromatic level, calming both skin and mind for a blissful bathing experience.

14. Eczema Honey Gentle Oatmeal and Lavender Soap

Sometimes you just want a bar of soap and not a body wash, and who can blame you? There’s the nostalgia factor, the lack of plastic packaging, the fact that you get just the right amount of product without feeling like it’s all washing down the drain, plus the satisfying feeling of holding a bar in your hand. If bar soap is your thing but you have eczema, give this formula a try. It has moisturizing coconut oil, colloidal oatmeal and lavender to calm skin down, honey for enzyme-powered moisture, and sweet almond oil for a dose of fatty acids. Plus, it was created by a brand whose whole mission is to create eczema-friendly products!

15. Luna Daily The Everywhere Wash

Luna Daily’s The Everywhere Wash can literally be used everywhere. It was designed for more intimate areas—meaning it’s ultra-safe on sensitive skin—but can be slathered all over your body for a satisfying and strengthening clean. The key is the brand’s Hydra-biome Complex, a blend of thermal water, lactic acid, and vitamins designed to nourish the microbiome and ensure homeostasis. Aloe, chamomile, and coconut oil hydrate while calming, helping your skin take a chill pill even during an eczema flare-up. With a light jasmine and amber scent, this product will also make you feel clean and confident all day long.

16. WildNaturals Eczema and Psoriasis Body Wash

Use this best soap for eczema on your body and face to get all the moisture, nutrients, and calming power it has to offer. Instead of stripping away your skin’s defenses, this natural and organic formula reinforces those defenses, helping your skin repair damage and heal from the inside out. Aloe vera contributes to this effect, as does anti-inflammatory manuka honey, soothing and smoothing cocoa and shea butters, and fatty acid-laden hemp seed oil. Carrot seed oil also has balancing and anti-inflammatory benefits, while frangipani is effective at balancing your skin’s moisture levels to alleviate symptoms of dryness.

17. Verb Body Wash

While many body washes for eczema are creamy in nature, this gel formula is a keeper, designed to cleanse while it softens skin. It lathers immediately upon contact with the skin, giving you that satisfying soapy feeling without any skin stripping. Plus, it smells like grapefruit plus oats, an intriguing and invigorating combination.

Aloe vera and moringa oil are the key ingredients in this formula, delivering fatty acids and anti-inflammatory agents to keep the skin soft and smooth. Tocopherol and panthenol contribute to moisture retention, and hydrolyzed quinoa gives skin all the essential amino acids. Users love how this moisturizes the skin without any greasy residue, leaving them refreshed and ready to tackle the day.

18. Botanic Hearth Tea Tree Body Wash

Body odor is one of the most uncomfortable and embarrassing things to exist, so any body wash that helps you avoid it is fine by us. Like this Tea Tree formula from Botanic Hearth, which contains a selection of botanicals to calm the skin and treat all kinds of skin issues—body odor and eczema included. It turns to tea tree to clarify pores, peppermint to soothe unhappy skin, and sea buckthorn for moisture, plus coconut water and oil that flush skin with moisture, and cocoa and shea butters for their calming and smoothing properties.

Cranberry seed delivers vitamins and protects the skin from environmental damage, sacha inchi repairs such damage, and oregano treats eczema. With neem oil to help skin regeneration, jojoba for moisture and nutrients, and linseed oil for its soothing fatty acids, this body wash truly is a one-stop-shop for all your skin needs.

19. Ren Anti-Fatigue Body Wash

Skin can look lethargic, and if you’ve ever noticed your face after a bad night’s sleep, you’ll understand what we mean. This body wash serves as a wake-up call, toning and improving skin while also addressing dryness and irritation. It makes for a great eczema body wash thanks to plant extracts that combat irritation, but may not be hydrating enough for some.

Atlantic kelp is an important addition to this formula, keeping skin safe with antioxidants. Magnesium turns up the brightness of your skin, while plankton extract keeps the skin calm. You’ll get the strong antibacterial benefits of rosemary extract when you use this wash, plus geranium’s anti-inflammatory genius, clary sage for cooling relief, and cypress to reduce puffiness.

20. KAMEDIS Calm Body Wash

Say goodbye to those red, flaky patches and their incessant itching with this Eczema Therapy Body Wash from Kamedis. It soothes and protects, and is safe for both babies and adults. Sulfur is the active ingredient in this formula, as it helps to treat eczema. The inactive ingredients are full of benefits, too, like allantoin for alleviating symptoms, rhubarb to fight free radical damage, purslane for calming and moisturizing, and even soapberry for its natural cleansing properties.

21. Soothe-X Face and Body Soap

When your skin is inflamed, sometimes it feels like you’re beyond rescue, helpless and doomed to a life of itching and redness. In those moments, get out your Soothe-X Face and Body Soap, which uses an eczema-friendly mix of natural butters and oils to get the skin back to its baseline. Sunflower, jojoba, hemp seed and coconut oils work with shea butter and vitamin E for a soothing and nourishing wash.

22. Curél Itch Defense Body Wash

Itching is probably the most bothersome symptom of eczema, so it’s great to have this Itch Defense Body Wash on hand for whenever you just can’t stop scratching. It’s free of soap and instead uses milder surfactants to clean skin while supplying it with glycerin, olive oil, jojoba oil, and panthenol to relieve itching fast. Citrus oils exfoliate, getting rid of flakiness for you.

23. Olay Soothing Body Wash for Eczema-Prone Skin

This drugstore favorite is highly soothing, giving you nourishing and hydrating ingredients that fix flared-up skin fast. Oat extract is hailed as a miracle eczema ingredient and is included in this formula to neutralize symptoms quickly. Citric acid encourages the bonds holding dead skin on to loosen, giving you smoother skin, and niacinamide provides backup for your skin’s moisture barrier.

24. Exederm Cleansing Body Wash

This non-drying, non-irritating formula is recommended by dermatologists for eczema. It’s free from a number of skin-irritating ingredients, allowing you to wash away the day without worrying for a second that your skin will react. The formula is a simple blend of gentle surfactants, glycerin, and citric acid, giving you a thorough rinse without any trace of drying or feeling of tightness. Users rave about this body wash for their skin during flare-ups, claiming it’s the only product they’ve found that doesn’t result in a burning sensation.

25. CLn Body Wash

Use this instead of harsh soap to wash your hands, or massage it into the skin all over your body as you bathe. Physicians designed this National Eczema Association-approved formula to give some TLC to skin affected by eczema, irritation, redness, rashes, and even folliculitis. While the formula turns to chemicals to get the work done, it does provide results—users show improvements in redness and irritation of all kinds within two weeks of regular use.

26. Avalon Organics Eczema Relief Gentle Cleanser

Think of this as the barrier between you and your uncomfortable eczema symptoms. Avalon Organics has put together a soothing and shielding wash that provides temporary symptom relief, allowing you to skip all the greasy eczema lotions for a while. It leans on colloidal oatmeal for its benefits, but also contains skin soothers like aloe vera and shea butter so you can ensure feel-good skin. Linseed, coconut, and safflower oils also work together to ensure moisture. Relief is close at hand!