What Kind Of Laundry Detergent Do I Use?
7 January 2010
My grandmother told me I had to get special laundry detergent, my father told me to use Ivory Soap, but I know they have special laundry detergent for infant clothes so that it won’t affect their skin. Is this really necessary? We use Gain now. I just don’t really know I’m just waiting for her to be born. Thanks! *39 weeks*
Dreft and those other ‘baby detergents’ are a joke. and very expensive.
I would start with any kind that is “dye free, perfume free”. most all brands have one like it. once baby is a bit older, just use your normal laundry soap.
ivory snow is the traditional one – it’s the exact same stuff you use in the bathtub, just in flake form.
if you like, the BEST one is one you make yourself:
1 bar laundry soap (fels naptha or sunlight or even ivory snow)
1c WASHING soda (not baking soda! *so* not the same stuff!)
1c borax
finely chop or grate (not using your regular one unless you like the taste of soap) the bar into 1 litre (4c) water in a pot on the stove. stir until it’s all melted.
add the washing soda and borax, keep stirring until the water is clear and the powders have dissolved.
pour this into a large bucket and add 3-1/2 gallons of HOT water.
keep stirring until you see it start to turn creamy looking. at this point, you can add essential oils such as tea tree or lavender for disinfection (no lavender if anyone has asthma in the family or a history of allergy) but i don’t bother.
the next day, it’ll be a solid chunk of gel – just mix it up with your hands and crush it into a pourable consistency.
you can halve the recipe, too, or quarter it or whatever.
voila – laundry soap with ZERO additives.
note that this stuff does not foam up at all – the foaming action you see in commercial detergents does ****nothing**** except make you think it’s worknig really great. this stuff is 100% safe for HE machines.
jodina: ivory!? “harsh”!??? it’s *soap* – it’s not even a detergent!