or softeners? Hubbie, me and my son are all super sensitive to anything that is not "free and clear" of perfumes and dyes. I've just been washing the clothes etc with free and clear stuff and drying them (no "bounce" or anything like that--it makes us itch! - yes, we're that allergic). Thanks for your tips, moms!
We use Mela Power and Mela Soft by Melaleuca and love them both. I have lots of allergies and even some scents that I like bother me but not these (and you can also get scent free...but even the scented options are lite and not overpowering or bothersome).
Vinegar and baking soda. I use it all the time! Using them both at the same time in the wash cycle seems to make clothes smell super clean and fresh. You can use vinegar in the rinse cycle instead of fabric softner. (The smell goes away once clothes are dry.)
Vinegar and baking soda. I do use a small amount of detergent plus baking soda and I put vinegar in the rinse cycle. The smell of vinegar is there when they are wet but it goes away as they dry. I also use vinegar/water mixture in a spray bottle to clean my kitchen counters. Vinegar is a natural disinfectant.
Here is a great site that tells you all about vinegar and it's great uses: http://www.vinegartips.com/Scripts/
Two great tricks are vinegar and baking soda. Baking soda will help whiten and the vinegar will soften. Do a quick internet search to pinpoint the proper cycles depending on the desired effect. Safe and natural!
Hello M.S.!
I found the perfect detergent that has no chemicals or perfumes and cleans better than anything I've ever used before. It is by a company called Melaleuca and they use natural ingredients and it is environmentally safe. check out the website to find out more about it. My mom has psoriasis and she uses it and has not had an outbreak since changing over. Good luck! D.
I love my Melaleuca products. They keep my daughter's sensitive skin safe, and free from rashes. When she has been exposed to other detergents, she breaks out, but I have never had any problems with the Melaleuca. Good luck! I hope you find something that works for your family.
I use vinegar when my son's diapers are still coming out of the washer stinky. I think whether you use baking soda/ vinegar depends on your water-- baking soda is basic and vinegar is acid. So depending on your water, you need one or the other. Detergent tends to be basic, so I'm guessing you need to add vinegar... to the rinse is best, otherwise the detergent tends to neutralize it, but I've done it both ways. The other thing to try is to try using LESS detergent-- almost everyone uses too much.
I use O-Nature-L detergent. It's a hand-made, biodegradable detergent that was formulated for people with extremely sensitive skin. http://www.onaturel.com (I believe) is the website. It is extremely concentrated, so you don't need much & in the long-run, it's a LOT cheaper than the regular stuff. You can buy it unscented or scented w/ essential oils.
If you stick w/ your regular stuff, you can add a couple of drops (I'd say no more than 2-3 drops/load to start out with) of essential oil (ie: lavender, camomile or something else that is nourishing to the skin) to give your laundry a light, fresh smell that is not caused by synthetic fragrances.
Hope that helps!
I have two auto-immune diseases and have uber sensitive skin. My husband does hvac installing and comes home with all kinds of chemicals on his clothes (which are bad for my nose, and were a danger to my son who they thought had leukemia for his first 5mos). I did homemade detergent for years and it just wasn't cutting it. We switched to EOS liquid detergent, and add baking soda (1/2 cup for regular load), with every load. Our clothes are cleaner than ever, softer than ever (we also use the dryer balls) and no odors from my husband or my son's vomit/poop :)
EDITED: I forgot to say, that its important for the detergent and baking soda to be mixed in the water before adding clothes to the washer. And we use 1/3 the recommended amount of detergent (since more detergent doesn't mean cleaner clothes, it means coated fabrics that rip/tear/wear away much faster).
I love Shaklee's Get Clean line.
I've read that, when you get down to the science behind it, getting your laundry to smell fresh depends on how hard your water is.
I use Borax powder in my wash with the detergent. It softens the water and the clothes smell really fresh. You use 1/2 cup with each wash. If you are using cold water, be sure to dissolve the powder first. Good luck.
G.
Shaklee laundry detergent, you could drink it; it is so pure.
http://www.shaklee.net/members/shopNowProd/GCLaundryPowder
May be try some baking soda in the washing machine. I would also even though you say you are allergic try the bounce dryer bar. I find it makes the clothes soft but does not have the strong smell like the regular bounce dryer sheets. I would even go and see if they make any kind of dryer sheets that are perfume free. Good luck
We use Rockin' Green detergent, and we've also used Charlies Soap. My oldest son has eczema and psoriasis and he reacts to many things, and most of hte 'free and clear' detergents are just as harsh because they contain optical brighteners that make clothes look brighter and whiter, they are super harsh to skin.
Anyway Rockin Green is a cloth diaper detergent, but of course you can use it for all your wash. I use it for everything, one tablespoon of powder per wash load in our front load and it works great. We use the Lavender Mint smell and our clothes always come out pefectly clean. I use dryer balls in the dryer instead of dryer sheets or softener. Our lcothes always smell line dried, very fresh and clean.
I use Country Save laundry detergent for my son's diapers and for his clothes. It's very gentle and we like it a lot. For the diapers I sometimes add a splash of vinegar to the prefolds because it's a natural fabric softener.
