According to Stanford, roughly 20% of children have chronic eczema, and 60% of children will have a bout of eczema within their lifetime. The National Eczema Association states that 31.6 million people have eczema in the United States alone. Now, without getting into all the drama about what causes this skin condition - allergies, environment, toxins, etc. let's talk about a few amazing detergents that you can use to wash your baby's and family's clothes, and feel safe knowing you are choosing a good detergent for their sensitive skin.
A reader asked me to write this post and recommend my favorite detergents. I was excited to write about this because I have tried SO many different detergents. I have even made my own. I followed a recipe online, and it was a disaster, HA.
My husband truthfully asked if we could buy detergent from now on. I gleefully said, YES! If you are a wonderfully amazing Pinterest mom, then yes, please make your own!
There are so many amazing recipes out there, and it IS cheaper to make your own. However, even though I make much of my own cleaning supplies, I just can't jump on that bandwagon.
The only thing I haven't tried, which I am curious about is soapberries. Please share with me if you have had success with using soapberries!
Laundry Detergent Picks for Babies/Kids/Family
Note: I never use stain removers on my child's clothing. The secret is, if you leave it out in the sun, the stain bleaches away! For really intense stains, since I don't use bleach I soak it in hot water, and just scrub it. Timing is everything- if there's a stain, take it into the wash before it sets! If you’re dying for a laundry stain remover, try Meliora stain stick.
TOXIC LAUNDRY DETERGENTS
Products that are not recommended are listed below. Although many of these are often thought of as safe because of marketing ploys, or are said to be "top rated by pediatricians", are really not great brands because they contain harmful ingredients. I had a friend that was shocked to find out her TIDE and ALL laundry detergent wasn't safe (confession: I actually used ALL until I knew better). She said her pediatrician recommended it for sensitive skin. All I can say is, read the labels! Many ingredients are not safe, even though they are marketed as such. Knowledge is power mamas!
Dreft Baby Laundry Detergent - If you look into popular baby detergent you should use for your baby’s clothes, someone will probably suggest Dreft. Dreft's very inaccurate marketing doesn’t allow you a chance to learn about the ingredients themselves. Here’s a list of Dreft ingredients, which include fragrance, propylene glycol, ethanolamine, ethanol, sodium hydroxide, diethylene glycol, polyethylene glycol 4000, the list goes on! It's just as bad as TIDE is.
Puracy Laundry Detergent - I love many Puracy products, including their A scoring counter/all purpose spray. But their laundry detergent is another story...it contains questionable ingredients.
Seventh Generation Baby Laundry Detergent - Often marketed as green, and they're not! Synthetic preservatives, foaming agents, SLS, etc. are all listed on this label.
ALL Baby Laundry Detergent - Often recommended by pediatricians, for "sensitive skin" yet it contains skins allergens, such as fragrance, ethoxlyated ingredients, alcohols, synthetic preservatives and more!
TIDE Laundry Detergent - hands down, the WORST. Please don't ever buy this!
Mrs. Meyers Laundry Detergent - Truly a greenwashed company! This contain tetrasodium glutamate diacetate, along with methylisothiazolinone, and more.
Babyganics Baby Laundry Detergent - And yet, it's marketed to be safe for babies!
Oxiclean - sodium percarbonate, sodium carbonate, surfactants and polymer - we try to avoid surfactants in any form, as the research on their harm is not clear
Gain - not only does this contain fragrance, which is a known carcinogen and allergen, but it also contains ethoxylated ingredients, ethanolamine (a respiratory irritant) and other toxic ingredients.
The list goes on. Truly there are good ones out there- but often marketing can fool you into thinking toxic laundry detergents are safe. Happy hunting for the right detergent!
Questions on laundry detergents? Email me at mamabearliving@gmail.com
DM me at my Instagram: @nontoxicmamabear
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