? for the more experienced moms...

[thetnpreacherswife]

Okay, as I prepare stuff for the nursery and baby and everything I've been told a million times to wash in Dreft because then the skin won't be irritated.

Why is Dreft preferred? (Is there something that is in or not in it?)

Is any "free and clear" detergent just as good? (All or Arm & Hammer?)

Thoughts?????

[ChristyH]

I've never washed my baby's clothes in anything other than what I use for the entire families clothes. We use a free and clear detergent and I've never had a problem. I do use alot less detergent than what the maker recommends so I don't know if that has something to do with it too.

[Ironica]

Dreft and the Free & Clear name brands are slightly better than your typical detergent. Arm & Hammer probably is too. But we use Bio-Kleen for everything, as it's one of the safest detergents that exists... there's nothing toxic at all to it, no fragrances; you can still react to it of course, but it's a lot less likely. A friend of mine with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity swears by all their products, and she reacts to EVERYTHING, so I feel really safe with it.

[Luv2Skydive]

I never used anything different or special with either of my boys and they never had any problems but I'm guessing the Dreft is maybe more sensitive to the baby's skin?

[paphia]

I use Charlie's soap on everything since dh is sensitive skin and I CD and it is really good for dipes. But if I were worried about baby w/ sensitive skin, and didn't need a special detergent for my dipes, I'd probably use arm & hammer first. I'm pretty sure dreft is marketed as a baby detergent but it's not all that special or better.

[counterGOPI]

dd always had sensitive skin, we use ecover instead of dreft or anything like that b/c it isnatural and less irritating. HTH!

[mama_ani]

Another sensitive skin family here! We all get hives if we use anything with dyes or perfumes. I wash baby's clothes/diapers in the same detergent the rest of us use.

[limabean]

Dreft is expensive! We use All Free & Clear for the whole family's clothes and have never had a problem. With Dreft, you're not only paying a lot of money per bottle of detergent, but also having to run separate cycles for the baby's clothes -- way too much work, and not cost-effective, IMO.

[janasmama]

Dreft has a mild fabric softener in it...that's partially what makes it different because most babies, even those without sensitive skin won't tolerate fabric softeners.

I, like the other posters don't use dreft, I use Charlies' Soap and/or BioKleen. Dreft is just a really mainstream thing, I think it partly has to do with packaging and marketing.

You won't know if your baby is sensitive to a certain detergent or soap until you use it so if you notice something right away it's really not that difficult to then re-wash in something milder like Charlie's....IMO they are just as likely to be sensitive to Dreft.

[chely7425]

We use All Free and Clear or Purex Free and Clear because those are the ones that don't irritate my skin or hubby's skin... we are planning on using the same thing for the baby... I honestly haven't heard much good about dreft!!

[anstar]

We use All Free and Clear - but I'm shopping for something without brighteners since we CD. Otherwise, the All worked great for us.

[mkmama]

Originally Posted by ChristyH

I've never washed my baby's clothes in anything other than what I use for the entire families clothes. We use a free and clear detergent and I've never had a problem. I do use alot less detergent than what the maker recommends so I don't know if that has something to do with it too.

:

[Datura]

We use Ecover as I have insanely sensitive skin. I'm not a fan of non-natural soaps, I always break out.

[limette]

We've always used Tide, it's cheap and doesn't give me allergy issues. I continued to use it when dd 1 was born with no problems and am using it now with dd2.

[scifimama]

dreft and ivory and all of those baby detergent irritated ds's eczema so i use a free & clear detergent for his clothes. he can't tolerate the fragrance or fabric softener. and since i use the free & clear on his diapers too, i don't have to buy two different kinds of detergents for his stuff.

[~Robin]

I use whatever we are using as a family..