oleo calcareous

Posted on September 18th, 2012 by mountain girl  |  14 Comments »

I have to say, I love this stuff.  A little bottle of it and some cotton balls, and I’ve said goodbye to baby wipes, diaper cream, diaper rash, and cradle cap. It’s called Oleo Calcareous, and you can make it yourself.

Used by moms in France, Oleo Calcareous is a liniment made of  a 50/50 blend of limewater and olive oil. Limewater is just the common name for a saturated solution of calcium hydroxide–I bought mine online.

To make the liniment, just measure equal amounts of limewater and olive oil into your blender and blend for about 5 minutes until it becomes creamy. Pour it into a small bottle–something easy to open. Those little flip-top shampoo travel containers work well. (Yup–that’s a peri bottle in the photo. You use what you have on hand, right?)

When it’s time to wipe your baby’s bottom, just pour a little Oleo onto a cotton ball and swipe clean. It works as a cleanser and moisturizer all at once. (I’ve actually used it on a my face a few times. It worked great.)

You can also use Oleo Calcareous to remove cradle cap. Work some onto your baby’s head the day after washing her hair and gently flake the cradle cap off with a comb.

I’ve used this for about a month on Cash, and I really like it. I keep a jar of cotton balls and a bottle of Oleo with the diapers both upstairs and down, so it’s always within easy reach. Cash hasn’t had any diaper rash since then, and it’s been a much cheaper alternative to using baby wipes.

And of course, I think it’s just a lot more fun to make things at home rather than buy them, don’t you?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 18th, 2012 at 9:04 pm and is filed under Making Stuff, new baby, Recipes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

14 Responses to “oleo calcareous”

  1. Leah says on September 19th, 2012 at 6:01 am :

    I love hearing about the new things you’re trying. I’m curious about the Moby; strollers are a hassle on public transportation, as far as I can tell. How big of a baby can the Moby carry? I’m looking into my options.

  2. Melissa says on September 19th, 2012 at 8:19 am :

    What wonderful info! While I won’t be having any more babies, I will pass this info on to some future mamas that I know.

  3. mountain girl says on September 19th, 2012 at 8:46 am :

    Leah,
    The Moby Wrap carries up to 35 lbs…that’s the weight of my 5 year old! So I think your baby will be too heavy for you before it’s too heavy for your Moby.
    You might like to read “How Eskimos Keep their Babies Warm: And Other Adventures in Parenting (from Argentina to Tanzania and everywhere in between” by Mei-Ling Hopgood. It’s a fun read and it has a section on living without a stroller. It also has a slightly different recipe for Oleo Calcareous!

  4. Brandi says on September 21st, 2012 at 8:51 am :

    Leah, I wore Adin in a Moby through DIA when I flew to KC. I don’t think I put it on tight enough as he was sagging by the time I got to my gate, but other than that, it worked well. I didn’t have to take him off through security, and I even went to the bathroom while wearing him. 🙂

    Mia, I’m going to borrow that book from the library! I’m also reading “The Diaper Free Baby.” Have you heard of Elimination Communication (EC)? I think it’s something you’d be interested in. I’m trying it with Adin when I can.

  5. mountain girl says on September 21st, 2012 at 9:08 am :

    Brandi,
    Yes, I did EC with Zia, and I’m starting soon with Cash. Zia was going on the toilet at 11 weeks, and we had very few messy diapers after that. She gained complete bladder control when she turned 2, and by then she was so used to going on the toilet that there was no struggle. She never even wet her bed after that. It was great to bypass potty chairs, too–makes travel so much easier. I am a total fan of EC–hope it works out great for you!

  6. Colleen says on September 21st, 2012 at 9:47 am :

    I am totally going to look into making Oleo Calcareous!
    This is right up my alley!!!
    LOVE IT!!!
    thanks for posting this!

  7. mountain girl says on September 21st, 2012 at 10:50 am :

    You’re welcome!

  8. Hannah says on September 22nd, 2012 at 10:10 pm :

    I have never heard of this! Bu you know I like homemade justaboutanything lol I just use cloth wipes and water… would be handy to have a plan in case of a sore bottom.

  9. mountain girl says on September 25th, 2012 at 11:05 am :

    Hannah,
    This would be perfect with cloth wipes. I may graduate to using them when Cash’s bottom outgrows the cotton balls!

  10. GRANNY says on September 26th, 2012 at 6:45 pm :

    thanks for posting this. sounds like it would be a good moistureizer. my skin is very dry and i think i could use this very safely. i love homemade stuff.

  11. mountain girl says on September 27th, 2012 at 9:26 am :

    Granny,
    Hope it works great for you!

  12. Leah says on October 1st, 2012 at 6:14 am :

    Thanks for the info, ladies. Cassidy is just about 35 pounds too; wearing her sounds ridiculous. Since we’re all a little skinnier on the Israeli diet I can’t imagine outgrowing the Moby. Looking forward to trying some new mothering techniques over here.

  13. Amanda says on August 29th, 2013 at 9:29 am :

    I was wondering if this might have any effect on the absorbency of cloth diaper. Any experience with that?

  14. mountain girl says on August 29th, 2013 at 7:31 pm :

    Amanda,
    It works fine on cloth diapers. I use it daily and haven’t noticed any problems–it definitely seems more compatible with cloth than diaper creams are.