Johnson's Baby Shampoo Alternative: Non-Toxic Baby Wash, Lotion and Wipes
Johnson's Baby Shampoo Alternative: Non-Toxic Baby Wash, Lotion and Wipes
If you are looking for a Johnson's baby shampoo alternative, the best fragrance-free swap we have vetted is Pipette Baby Shampoo & Wash, Fragrance Free, an EWG Verified 2-in-1 built on glucoside surfactants. For a second option with oat and calendula, Babo Botanicals Baby Shampoo & Wash is also EWG Verified.
Johnson's is not a villain, and nothing here says its current products are unsafe. The reasons parents move away from it are specific and documented, and they are worth separating from the noise.
Why parents look for a Johnson's alternative
Two public episodes drive most of the searching.
Preservatives in the shampoo. In 2011, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics reported finding quaternium-15, a formaldehyde-releasing preservative, in Johnson's Baby Shampoo sold in the U.S. and several other countries. Johnson & Johnson responded by committing to remove formaldehyde-releasing preservatives from its baby products. Scientific American covered the commitment, and Fierce Biotech reported the same pledge. Sources differ on exactly when the reformulation finished, and we did not find a current test showing the preservative in today's U.S. formula.
Talc baby powder. On May 19, 2020, Johnson & Johnson said it would stop selling its talc-based Johnson's Baby Powder in the U.S. and Canada, calling it a commercial decision tied to falling demand. Bloomberg reported the announcement. The company maintains the talc product is safe and has continued to sell a cornstarch-based powder. Litigation over the talc product is why the brand stays in the news.
What this means for a buyer: the label on the bottle in your hand matters more than the brand's history. Johnson's sells several lines with different ingredient lists, and they vary by region, so check the current label. If you want a short, fragrance-free list and a third-party verification on the bottle, the picks below are built that way.
The best Johnson's baby alternatives
Best overall baby wash: Pipette Baby Shampoo & Wash, Fragrance Free
Pipette's fragrance-free wash uses decyl glucoside, coco-glucoside and squalane, with no sulfates, synthetic fragrance or mineral oil. It is EWG Verified. The trade-off: it still uses standard preservatives (sodium benzoate and sodium dehydroacetate), and only this SKU is fragrance-free. Pipette's scented versions share the same name, so read the label.
Best for oat and calendula: Babo Botanicals Baby Shampoo & Wash
Babo's 2-in-1 lists organic colloidal oatmeal, organic calendula extract, organic shea butter and organic jojoba oil, with plant-based cleansers. It is EWG Verified and sold as tear-free.
Best baby lotion: Babo Botanicals Baby Lotion
Babo's lotion is fragrance-free and built on organic colloidal oatmeal, shea butter, jojoba oil and cocoa butter. It is EWG Verified.
Best talc-free powder: Nature's Baby Organics Talc-Free Baby Powder
This tapioca-starch powder is made without talc, cornstarch or added fragrance. Two caveats: only three of the nine listed ingredients are marked organic, despite the front-of-pack wording, and any loose powder should be kept away from a baby's face.
Best barrier balm: Earth Mama Organic Diaper Balm
Earth Mama's balm uses olive oil, shea butter, beeswax and jojoba oil instead of a petroleum base. It is Certified Organic by Oregon Tilth and EWG Verified. It contains lavender and tea tree oils, so skip it if you want a fragrance-free routine, and it has no zinc oxide.
Best simple wipes: WaterWipes Newborn & Baby Wipes
WaterWipes lists two ingredients: 99.9% purified water and 0.1% grapefruit seed extract. It has no third-party seal in our listing, so the short ingredient list is the whole case for it.
Best baby sunscreen: Thinkbaby Baby Sunscreen SPF 50
Thinkbaby's sunscreen uses non-nano zinc oxide at 23.4% as its only active ingredient and is EWG Verified and Leaping Bunny certified. It is not fragrance-free (it ends with natural fragrance oil) and leaves a visible white cast.
Best for baby clothes: Molly's Suds Baby Laundry Detergent
Molly's Suds baby detergent is a plant-based, fragrance-free liquid that is EWG Verified. The brand lists its ingredients as plant-based and biodegradable and points to the label for the exact formula, so it is less specific than we would like.
Side-by-side
| Product | Key attribute | Certification | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pipette Baby Shampoo & Wash | Fragrance-free, sulfate-free | EWG Verified | 2-in-1 wash |
| Babo Botanicals Shampoo & Wash | Oat and calendula, tear-free | EWG Verified | 2-in-1 wash |
| Babo Botanicals Baby Lotion | Fragrance-free, oat and shea | EWG Verified | Lotion |
| Nature's Baby Organics Powder | Talc-free, tapioca starch | None listed | Powder |
| Earth Mama Diaper Balm | Plant oils, no petroleum | Oregon Tilth Organic, EWG Verified | Balm |
| WaterWipes | Two-ingredient list | None listed | Wipes |
| Thinkbaby Sunscreen | Zinc oxide only | EWG Verified, Leaping Bunny | Sunscreen |
| Molly's Suds Baby Detergent | Fragrance-free, plant-based | EWG Verified | Laundry liquid |
What we required
We held the baby picks to the same rubric as the rest of the baby category: no synthetic fragrance in the fragrance-free picks, no sulfates or mineral oil in the washes, no talc in the powder, and third-party verification where it exists. Where a pick carries a trade-off, we say so above.
What did not make the list
Anything with a long ingredient list and no way for us to confirm the current formula. We did not rank the Johnson's products themselves, because their lists differ by line and region and we could not verify a single current formula for every bottle on shelves.
Related reading
Changing diapers too? See our ranked best non-toxic diapers and the Pampers alternative page. For label basics, ingredients to avoid in baby products explains what we screen for.
FAQ
Is there a Johnson's baby shampoo without fragrance?
Yes. Pipette's fragrance-free wash and Babo Botanicals' fragrance-free lotion both list no added fragrance. Check each label, because scented versions share the brand names.
Did Johnson's remove formaldehyde-releasing preservatives from baby shampoo?
Johnson & Johnson committed in 2011 to remove them and later reported reformulating. Sources vary on the completion date, so check the ingredient list for quaternium-15 on any bottle you buy.
Is talc-free baby powder the same as cornstarch powder?
No. Talc-free means no talc. Cornstarch and tapioca starch are different bases, and our pick uses tapioca starch.
What should I look for on a baby wash label?
A short list, a stated fragrance-free claim if you want one, and a third-party seal such as EWG Verified. Keep in mind that a seal covers the formula it was granted for.
The takeaway
Start with the wash, since it touches the most skin, then replace the lotion and powder as they run out. You do not need to swap everything at once.