Search for a wash for eczema-prone skin and "oat" or "oatmeal" comes up constantly — but not every product wearing that label works the same way. Here's what an oat body wash actually is, why it suits sensitive skin, and what to check before you buy one.
What Is an Oat (or Oatmeal) Body Wash?
An oat or oatmeal body wash is a soap-free cleanser that includes oat — as colloidal oat (finely milled oat), oat extract or oat oil — alongside gentle cleansing ingredients, instead of the traditional soap or sulphate base used in most washes. The aim is to clean while leaving the skin's natural moisture barrier intact, rather than stripping it the way soap does.
Not All "Oat" Washes Are the Same
This is the part worth checking before you buy. Some products marketed as "oatmeal wash" are still a soap or sulphate base with a small amount of oat added for the label — the wash can still strip the skin even though it mentions oat. A genuinely gentle oat wash is soap-free and SLS-free, so the oat isn't sitting alongside a harsh surfactant that undoes its benefit.
Soap-Free and SLS-Free: Why the Cleanser Matters More Than the Oat
Soap and sodium lauryl sulphate (SLS) are both good at one thing: lifting oil off a surface. On skin that is already short of oil, that is the problem. Soap is alkaline, and eczema-prone skin is happiest slightly acidic, so a soap wash leaves the surface drier and tighter than it found it. SLS is the foaming agent in many shower gels and bubble baths; it is the ingredient that made aqueous cream unsuitable as a leave-on moisturiser, and it has the same drying effect in a wash. A soap-free body wash uses milder cleansers instead, such as the sugar-based ones in the Ovée wash, which clean without stripping and do not need to foam to work. "Soap-free" and "SLS-free" are the two phrases to look for before "oat" on the label, because a wash can be made with oat and still be built on a harsh cleanser.
Why Oat Suits Eczema-Prone Skin
Oat contains avenanthramides, compounds with a well-established soothing effect on irritated skin, plus natural fats and beta-glucans that support the same barrier function eczema compromises. We've covered the science in more detail in Colloidal Oat for Skin: What It Is and Why Dermatologists Use It — worth a read if you want the full picture.
What to Check on the Label
Soap-free and SLS-free — the actual cleansing agent, not just an added extract
Fragrance-free — perfume is one of the most common triggers for a flare-up
Oat in the ingredients list — colloidal oat (oat kernel flour), oat kernel extract or oat oil, not just an oat picture on the front
pH-balanced — skin's natural pH is slightly acidic, and a wash that ignores this can undo the benefit of everything else
I developed the Ovée Baby & Child Gentle Oat Wash, our oat body wash for babies and children with sensitive and eczema-prone skin, as a true soap substitute: soap-free, SLS-free, fragrance-free and for use from birth, cleansing with sunflower oil and gentle sugar-based cleansers rather than a harsh surfactant, with oat extract and oat oil. Follow it immediately with Ovée Baby & Child Moisturising Cream while the skin is still warm, to lock in moisture and give the skin barrier the best possible support.
Dr. Tim Clayton is a Consultant Paediatric Dermatologist, President of the British Society for Paediatric and Adolescent Dermatology, and Co-Founder of Ovée Skin Health.
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Dr Tim Clayton
Consultant Paediatric Dermatologist · Royal Manchester Children's Hospital
4 min read·
Developed by Dr Tim Clayton
Soap-free and SLS-free, cleansing with sunflower oil and gentle sugar-based cleansers, with oat extract and oat oil.
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