For soaps, you can try anything that is made of olive oil, which people are rarely allergic to. It's also non-comedogenic. Olive oil soaps are called castille soaps, so you can try any bars of that.
I find it odd that you can't use Dove sensitive (not Dove unscented, that's different) and have to use Ivory instead. I find Ivory incredibly drying and has inferior ingredients than Dove. Note that the Dove unscented has masking fragrances and has the regular ingredients of the other Dove soaps. The Dove sensitive, however, has zero fragrances and has a different set of ingredients (all non-irritating and hypo-allergenic) than other soaps.
At any rate, try soaps that are gentle enough for babies, and perhaps have non-allergenic, hypo-allergenic, and/or non-comedogenic on it. A lot of people here swear by Dr. Bronner's soaps. The bottled kind seems okay-priced to me, but the soap bars, I think are outrageous for almost $4 a pop. You can buy the bottled liquid Dr.Bronners and use it for a lot of things around the house, including for showering and as a hand soap. If you'd like to put a little bit of scent in it, you can drop a few drops of essential oil in it.
I have asthma and allergies and for some reason, I don't have any bad reactions to essential oils at all. No contact dermatitis, no sneezing, no chest tightness or wheezing. You can buy something like a lavender oil, which is mild enough for babies, and drop a drop on the inside of your arm and wait a day. If you have a reaction, give the bottle of essential oil to a friend. Otherwise, you can enjoy the essential oil's many benefits, including scenting your non-allergenic products.
You can buy castille soap from homemade soapmakers at home for a fraction of the price. You'll be thrilled to find that there are castille soaps made with zero colors, scents, and harsh ingredients.
As for other basics, a lot of us have ditched commercial shampoo and use baking soda and apple cider vinegar to cleanse our hair. You can also use baking soda for your laundry instead of detergent - sites recommend that for allergy sufferers and is safe for babies and pets too. I have felt SO much better since switching to baking soda, vinegar, and essential oils for cleaning. I'll use Ajax and a few other products, but I don't use them as often now (and only for toilets).
Here are some links that may help you:
http://www.lesstoxicguide.ca/index.asp?
http://home.att.net/~cosmicliving/ht...opedia-k-o.htm
http://www.theallergysite.co.uk/clean.html
http://www.angelfire.com/ri/stricken...rancefree.html
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...22/HO29064.DTL
http://www.woodmed.com/allergy.htm
I find it odd that you can't use Dove sensitive (not Dove unscented, that's different) and have to use Ivory instead. I find Ivory incredibly drying and has inferior ingredients than Dove. Note that the Dove unscented has masking fragrances and has the regular ingredients of the other Dove soaps. The Dove sensitive, however, has zero fragrances and has a different set of ingredients (all non-irritating and hypo-allergenic) than other soaps.
At any rate, try soaps that are gentle enough for babies, and perhaps have non-allergenic, hypo-allergenic, and/or non-comedogenic on it. A lot of people here swear by Dr. Bronner's soaps. The bottled kind seems okay-priced to me, but the soap bars, I think are outrageous for almost $4 a pop. You can buy the bottled liquid Dr.Bronners and use it for a lot of things around the house, including for showering and as a hand soap. If you'd like to put a little bit of scent in it, you can drop a few drops of essential oil in it.
I have asthma and allergies and for some reason, I don't have any bad reactions to essential oils at all. No contact dermatitis, no sneezing, no chest tightness or wheezing. You can buy something like a lavender oil, which is mild enough for babies, and drop a drop on the inside of your arm and wait a day. If you have a reaction, give the bottle of essential oil to a friend. Otherwise, you can enjoy the essential oil's many benefits, including scenting your non-allergenic products.
You can buy castille soap from homemade soapmakers at home for a fraction of the price. You'll be thrilled to find that there are castille soaps made with zero colors, scents, and harsh ingredients.
As for other basics, a lot of us have ditched commercial shampoo and use baking soda and apple cider vinegar to cleanse our hair. You can also use baking soda for your laundry instead of detergent - sites recommend that for allergy sufferers and is safe for babies and pets too. I have felt SO much better since switching to baking soda, vinegar, and essential oils for cleaning. I'll use Ajax and a few other products, but I don't use them as often now (and only for toilets).
Here are some links that may help you:
http://www.lesstoxicguide.ca/index.asp?
http://home.att.net/~cosmicliving/ht...opedia-k-o.htm
http://www.theallergysite.co.uk/clean.html
http://www.angelfire.com/ri/stricken...rancefree.html
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...22/HO29064.DTL
http://www.woodmed.com/allergy.htm
