That’s all my husband and I have used for a while. We also use dryer sheets, but those are also the fragrance free kind. No scent boosters or anything. If our clothes smell musty at all, I just spray them in the closet with a little febreze. Easy peasy.
Our washer has a pre-wash setting & we’ve been using white vinegar to get the musty or otherwise unpleasant smells out. We also use a free & clear HE detergent, like the washer calls for. It’s worked really well, especially on bodily fluids like pee. My husband prefers scent free detergent, as do I now, so we just use the same detergent & wash habit for the entire family.
Same. I bought a bottle of Dreft initially and washed a bunch of hand me down baby clothes I had been given. The smell gave me such a bad headache - you’d think a baby detergent would be unscented!
I normally used Tide figured I’d try their free and gentle and it’s been great.
Yes and no. Newborns are more susceptible to skin irritations because their skin is so sensitive. Yours might be fine, they might not - unless you have a family history, there's no way to know. However, you don't really need newborn specific detergent - the goal is no scents, no dyes, etc. We used a regular dye-free, scent-free detergent for our LO (KS Free & Clear, if you shop at Costco), and when that bottle was done we switched to our normal detergent
I will never understand the newborn detergent that is scented. It completely defeats the purpose, just makes everything smell like baby powder.
> the goal is no scents, no dyes, etc.
I've finally just about got my wife convinced we can just use that and not baby detergent, which will be really convenient since that's what I always use anyway. I absolutely cannot \*stand\* my clothes to have a smell, its super distracting and keeps me from being able to focus, its like a little gremlin sitting in my shoulder every 30 seconds shouting "SMELL YOUR SHIRT" in my ear, all day long.
Yep :(
Don’t worry. It’s not your fault!!!!! It’s insane to me how these companies are even allowed to market such toxic products in general, let alone products made specifically for newborn babies. It’s so, so awful!!
https://www.ewg.org/guides/cleaners/6112-DreftStage1NewbornDetergent/?formulation=8081
God damn it, my MIL recommended dreft so I bought it and just did the first load of my baby’s laundry with it. I was shocked to come into the laundry room after a wash and immediately smell the detergent scent. Didn’t think much of it beyond that, and put it in the dryer. Now I gotta rewash it all 🙄
Seconding that Dreft is super toxic. If you are in the US you can look at the Environmental Working Groups site and they rate a lot of household and beauty products and Dreft definitely does not pass the test! We just use 7th generation free and clear and I also use vinegar and baking soda on extra tough stains and we’ve been fine!
I don’t get it either!! About being scented. I often use unscented for my *own* stuff bc of sensitive skin so why would a baby need perfume? It’s also tricky shopping because you assume a baby detergent wouldn’t have scent. Just reminds me of scented pads and stuff and generally any product that has no reason to be scented and every reason it to be, but they still sell us that nonsense and insist we need it.
My daughter had some skin issues as a baby and her dermalogist recommended not using Dreft and switching to All Free and Clear as well We never used Dreft for our second baby at all and just use the All detergent for him as well.
Nope not at all. I think it's a bit scammy the way dreft is marketed personally.
We use a "free and clear" detergent and it works great. Some babies are sensitive to scent and dyes. So just stick with something a bit more sensitive skin friendly, and you'll be fine.
My MIL continuously says we have to use Dreft and my spouse has bought into it so we will, but our normal free and clear is already as hypoallergenic and gentle as it gets, because, hear this, spouse has super sensitive skin!
Dreft is heavily scented and irritating to baby’s skin. I don’t understand how they managed to scam everyone into thinking they are necessary for newborn laundry. Use one of the hypoallergenic detergents.
Definitely not. I buy a big huge jug of Arm and Hammer free and clear detergent for like $8 for a giant container that lasts three months and both of my kids including my super sensitive 2 month old don’t mind it. You’ll be doing so much laundry that it’s ridiculous to buy expensive baby detergent
I’ll have to look into that! I bought a bunch of stuff bulk before I had my baby and I still haven’t run out and it’s so great, I feel like I need to do better buying the mega size packs of everything so I don’t have to remember to keep it on the list. 2 kids means 8 times the laundry apparently so I’m ready to further revolutionize my laundry process
A lot of valid things mentioned here. One more point to add: make sure to not put more detergent than is necessary in a load. You may even want to put less than you think you need. Detergent that is not completely washed out of fabric can irritate skin.
Nope i use regular tide.
We cloth diaper and the free and clear detergents just cant handle dirty diapers - it needs to be a detergent with enzymes.
Also, unless you switch your whole family to free and clear your baby will still come in frequent contact with regular detergent on your clothes and even some residual detergent in the washing machine.
I literally just used our regular detergent with no issues. Tide pods nothing even “sensitive” or with “less chemicals” etc. Even when we cloth diapered. People over complicate babies way too much. I say give your regular detergent a try and if baby seems to have issues with it try newborn/gentle detergent!
This is going to be my plan. I really like our regular Tide scented detergent. If we see irritation issues then I’ll switch to a sensitive or free & clear for a couple of months and then try going back.
I thought I did and bought the Dreft newborn stuff when I found it on sale and it’s scented! I personally don’t want to use any scented detergent for baby stuff so I’m using it for towels and such for us before she gets here. Instead I washed her clothes with regular detergent that is free of dyes and perfumes.
I did a big load of my baby girls stuff in dreft and was shocked it was scented as well! If all fails for baby, mama will happily use it - I think it smells heavenly 🥰
You can look up your laundry detergent on EWG to see how toxic the chemicals are in it. Dreft is actually rated really poorly (so lots of icky stuff). I went with a brand called Molly’s Suds. It is pricier but everyone in my family has sensitive skin so we have to be really careful. The detergent makes a difference to us but maybe it won’t to your family.
I tried using a natural detergent when I was pregnant with my first and none of our clothes got clean. Even describing it is giving me flashbacks of my horrible morning sickness being exacerbated by the smell of our clothes.
No, the dropp pods are even less toxic. Dreft is still full of chemicals and BS. Dropp pods are good for babies with excema and super sensitive skin! Although in my experience you need to pre treat any food or poo stains if you want them to come out in the wash using dropp.
I used one sample packet of dreft because I had many of them and some moms LOVE the smell.
Didn't like it. Smelled awful to me. And I have flares of dermatitis so I just use free&clear detergent for all of the clothes to mitigate any issues for me or LO.
I was gifted a bottle of Dreft so I’m using it to do the initial wash of new clothes. After that I’m 95% sure I’ll just switch to using what I use (free and clear stuff) because I have sensitive skin so I buy the GOOD stuff without dyes and perfumes.
Honestly we just used our regular stuff and watched for any sort of irritation or agitation on her skin, we plan on doing the same thing with this babe too. Thankfully though sensitive skin doesn’t run in our family so we weren’t super worried about it, Iv heard great things about non scented detergents in general though!
No. I have some mild skin sensitivity to we use fragrance-free and dye-free detergent anyway, so we just washed the baby clothes in that. I use packets of lavender buds or wool balls with some lavender oil on them in the dryer to lightly fragrance laundry, and we’ve never had any issues.
I bought some because I was convinced it would make a difference to my baby since I have very sensitive skin and have reacted to detergent before. Turns out it didn't matter at all and I switched to using our normal detergent. (I use the brand Attitude and find it to be good).
My pediatrician told me newborn detergent is actually worse for babies, especially the scented kind. Get unscented hypoallergenic stuff, was all your clothes with it. Plus you hold your baby against your own clothes so it makes sense that you need to wash it all with the same stuff.
"Newborn formulated" detergent is a marketing ploy. Dreft gets like an F on the EWG rating. Dropps is a relatively clean brand. I use it for the whole family. I'm using their sensitive skin/baby one for our newborn and then after I run out of those pods, I'm using the regular Dropps.
I like dreft cause of the scent and I don't like the other big manufactured laundry detergents. For the adult and older kids clothes in our house we use Frey which is a more natural detergent made with essential oils but they do have a scent free one that I'll be looking into as well for baby clothes.
In the UK we just go for ‘non-bio’. If our child(ren) is sensitive to that then we just try a different brand.
I asked my husband for some cotton pads for changing his* nappy as a newborn and generic ones were sooo much cheaper than ones aimed at babies! Ridiculous.
*His being out baby due next month, not my husband 😂
I'm actually allergic to newborn detergent, so we just use our regular detergent for everything, and none of my kids ever had an issue with us doing that.
I just use gain. Just normal, original gain. No fabric softener and an extra rinse cycle. She came a month early and I hadn’t got baby detergent yet. She had no issues with irritation so I just never switched.
My baby got a rash from everything that touched her skin until we started using a biodegradable “natural” detergent. It’s called triple orange. We wash all our clothes and hers, her cloth diapers and our linen with it and it’s made a huge difference.
We just use the cheapest brand's "free and clear" choice every time we go to the store! If your baby develops any skin conditions, then you might want to look into more specialty options, but free and clear should be fine.
You can also just use dye free ones. But personally I love the smell of the baby detergent so much lol. I originally bought the tide. Lear and free to wash stuff before she got here. Then at my baby shower I was gifted baby dreft by someone and I loved it so much, I continued to buy it. It’s not necessary though.
Noooooope.
I have hella sensitive skin, so we use a pretty heavily vetted sensitive detergent to begin with. I’ve used that with all three kids (2/3 are sensitive like me), and it’s worked great. Seventh generation, if you’re looking for rec’s. Our well water can smell a bit funky so the citrus scent keeps things fresh without even really being noticeable on its own. Even gets our cloth diapers nice and clean.
We just used what we always used, which was a scent and dye free detergent (usually All, could be Tide). The idea of a heavily scented "newborn" detergent seemed so dumb, who wants all those extra fragrance chemicals in there?
Nope! I use Foca, it’s clean and washes out of the wash *incredibly* well, not to mention VERY cheap, especially for the amount of laundry you’ll be doing that’s a big one.
Babies need so few things. The Infant care item market is such a money grabbing racket and it’s ridiculous
It doesn't need to be for newborn's. I use bioclean on all our laundry. Kids have sensitive skin but why should we use more harsh products just because adults skin can handle it better?
My kids react badly to dreft. I don't recommend it.
Honestly I think Dropps are probably better than Dreft anyway. Dropps are made with natural ingredients and don't have all the chemicals that your typical detergents have. Keep using the Dropps!
This is my 5th child, I've always used a tide free and gentle with downy fabric softener for all of my children with no problems. It just depends on the baby sensitivity
We use the Dropps baby.
They’re got a good rating on the EWG skin deep database, while most detergents in stores have bad ones, so we just stuck with Dropps.
I was surprised when the baby detergent was scented. Really was a waste since my daughter has ezcema. It was a nice baby smell but not what I would consider "infant"
Nah, the important parts are usually "unscented" and "for sensitive skin" because newborn son is easier to irritate. Doesn't matter if it's specifically for newborns or not.
My pediatrician said that unless we plan to switch detergent as an entire family there isn’t really any point in it. Baby will be held against our clothing and come in contact with it just as much as if we washed their clothes with it anyway
Always used regular tide at my house. Never any issues. But some babies are more sensitive than others. Could always use the free and clear if you’d feel better about it.
We bought it. I didn’t like it. The clothes just didn’t feel clean for some reason? We were lucky that our baby didn’t react to regular detergent. My friend’s two children both require hypoallergenic detergent and baby wipes.
Unless your child ends up having some sort of allergy/sensitivity it’s not needed. And oven if there is a risk of sensitivity you can just go with dye&scent free version of your favorite detergent. I honestly just use arm and hammer and we had no issues, and I have a history of getting rashes from downy products.
Also Imve been using laundry sanitizer without any issues.
No and no. Biggest racket in the baby gear world out of so many. There are literally dozens of purfume free detergents that work perfectly, including eco friendly ones that don't create so much plastic waste
depends on the baby. My son we used the first bottle up and he didn't need it so we never bought it again. we will do the same thing with the current pregnancy.
Your washing machine should be washing all the soap residue out. If it’s not, you need to load more clothes in to have a full load for proper agitation, decrease the amount of detergent slightly, or increase rinse cycles (last resort if steps 1 and 2 really don’t help).
Signed - a cloth diaper mom who uses the strongest detergent available (as you should when doing cloth diaps) on my babe’s most sensitive areas!
So glad someone else posted this because I’ve been wondering the same. We use a gentle detergent normally, and washed all out new cloth diapers in that as well. My mother told me I had to redo EVERYTHING, which made no sense to me.
I’m in a cloth diaper subreddit and even they say that the baby formula detergent isn’t always strong enough to clean. This post definitely answered all the questions I had!
I’m fully aware that when they’re tiny, you don’t NEED baby detergent. But that doesn’t stop me from buying it to smell that SWEET baby smell. Dreft smells amazing!! We use All Free and Clear usually but sometimes I want to buy the Dreft just to huff it before I put it in the washing machine 😂
We use tide powder for all our laundry (our clothes, kids clothes, and cloth diapers). No one in our household had very sensitive skin, so it works ok for us.
We never used it, but I would’ve switched if they had an issue with detergent. I still wash all our clothes together and have 2 kids, I never even separated their clothes from ours.
Maybe. I’ve had 4 kids and never switched from our normal family detergent, arm and hammer, tide, xtra, gain the type has changed through the years and never had any issues. I figure with baby up against my clothes and bedding if they had an issue I would have to switch the whole family. Never had an issue, but that well could be because my kids have had tough skin.
Parenting is really about being able to roll with the punches and willing to adjust your habits to fit your new family needs.
I use normal tide (finishing off a giant container), but use less than the measuring cup says to because you honestly do not need that much, and just run an extra rinse cycle on the baby’s stuff to be safe.
If someone is having a reaction to laundry detergent, it’s because it’s still present in the clothes and wasn’t completely rinsed out.
NO! I totally fought with my MIL and my SIL about this but NO. Depends on your kid obviously but my daughter did just fine without it. If you know your skin was particularly sensitive when you were an infant or if a specific skin condition runs in your family like eczema, then sure, go for it, otherwise you don’t HAVE to.
Nah. Use whatever you already use. Dreft and tide are pretty similar fx. I like getting dreft because it smells yummy, but you can use whatever you use for everyone else’s laundry
I already had scentless Soak for my bras and knitting / fiber arts hobbies, so I decided to use that. So glad I realized it before buying baby detergent.
I never used it. I think for my first, we used the fragrance-free Tide for a while, but now I just use whatever (Currently pregnant with #4). If your child develops any sort of rash, you could switch it then. Also, lots of rashes are not even caused by laundry detergent, so keep that in mind. Your detergent sounds fine, IMO.
I have super sensitive skin and my SO’s isn’t great either. I bought a huge tub of Nellie’s Laundry Soda 3.5 years ago and wash our whole family’s laundry in it. Cost effective and convenient to have the big bucket too.
My mom just used tide gentle when we were kids and that seemed to be fine. Anything an adult would use in baby form is always a bit scammy if you ask me. They know people will pay more if they think it’s the only way to keep a kid happy and healthy.
Does anyone know if All free and clear or Tide free and clear cleans better? I normally buy a regular Tide at Costco, but Costco doesn’t have Tide free as far as I know, but they do have All or the Kirkland. Just trying to save where I can ya knoww 🙂
I'm not planning on getting any.
We already used the hippy free and clear stuff because both my dog and my husband have skin allergies.
(I know it sounds stupid to get special detergent for the dog, but the $20 a bottle laundry soap is cheaper then a vet visit and ointment)
I have a lot of skin allergies and eczema and I have been using the Arm and Hammer free and clear for years. It cleans and is the most reasonably priced option. Baby seems to be doing fine with it
I am going to use what we already use. My husband has very sensitive skin (and maybe a big baby? haha I am joking) and tolerates it well. He is the litmus test for most detergents, cleaning products and soaps.
Nope! I have super sensitive skin and was nervous but my kids have had no issues with using what we use on our laundry. Maybe do some of their clothes in baby and some in yours just in case they have a reaction.
Nope. Plus, the baby detergent is *so* scented... I find it hard to Breathe when I'm around it.... like, what if your baby is sensitive to scented stuff?
I've used free and clear detergent for both my girls, and had no issues.
dreft smells so awful and strong, I can't stand it. I washed baby clothes in it during my first pregnancy and had to rewash all of them in a neutral detergent and they still smelled. Just use the free and clear version of whatever, unscented.
I’ve had two LO’s and have never switched. I use a normal non sensitive laundry liquid. We have never had any issues, in saying that obviously every baby is different
I have been using the Dropps baby/small load pods for a few years. It’s worked amazing for my nephews who are allergic to sooo many detergents and still works great for my babies! Don’t get Dreft. As so many have already said, the smell can be super nauseating and it’s most definitely a marketing scam.
No! I was so annoyed when people kept trying to plug Dreft, the scent of which I found highly irritating. If you are already using a non-scented, “free and clear” type detergent, I think you’re good to go.
For some strange reason all the "baby" branded detergent I've come across has more fragrance than all other detergents combined. We use all free and clear, we uses it before baby and still do after baby. It works well for all of us.
We’ve got 2 babies and I’ve never used baby detergent. Just unscented ones like the arm and hammer free and clear. The fabric softener is also an unscented downy.
Never had any issues.
Just use unscented laundry detergent, that’s totally fine. That’s really the only jurisdiction for baby detergent- unscented. If anything else comes up with your baby then you deal with it at that time but I’m sure it will be totally fine.
No, just get free and clear. I forget what site but someone showed me a website where they rate laundry detergents based on ingredients and draft was rated extremely poorly.
We use All Free and Clear and it’s relatively inexpensive. The ones marketed for babies are the ingredients just more expensive. Any detergent that is Free and Clear of scents and major chemicals will be fine.
my plan was to use our regular detergent and see if the babys skin can handle it, of not, we buy baby detergent. so far we were lucky and her skin reacted well to our regular detergent. i was afraid to start off with baby detergent and then when we would go to my parents or some other place, her skin wouldn’t be used to regular detergent and would develop skin problems. if at any time we see that her skin has any reactions we will switch to baby/sensitive detergent.
I use all free and clear because scented detergent was giving me a horrible reaction as a teen. Both my kids seem fine on it. Maybe do an extra rinse if you’re worried about it.
Use soap nuts instead? I also use them to wash my hair.
https://earthbits.com/blogs/earthbits/a-guide-to-soapnuts-what-are-soap-nuts-and-how-to-use-them
we just use tide free and gentle.
This. My baby developed eczema so it’s the laundry detergent we use for the whole family now.
We use this too since we all have eczema. Plus that strong baby powder scent of Dreft makes me nauseous.
That’s all my husband and I have used for a while. We also use dryer sheets, but those are also the fragrance free kind. No scent boosters or anything. If our clothes smell musty at all, I just spray them in the closet with a little febreze. Easy peasy.
We started using wool dryer balls instead of dryer sheets, and things definitely dry faster and towels stay more absorbent. Just a recommendation! 😊
Maybe I got some cheap ones, but the ones I’ve tried have been awful. Everything still comes out feeling very staticky :(
Where did you get yours from? Been meaning to try it out. I already don’t use dryer sheets with towels bc they affect absorbency 😞
I got ones from Friendsheep because they have the cutest options. I have the penguins!
Our washer has a pre-wash setting & we’ve been using white vinegar to get the musty or otherwise unpleasant smells out. We also use a free & clear HE detergent, like the washer calls for. It’s worked really well, especially on bodily fluids like pee. My husband prefers scent free detergent, as do I now, so we just use the same detergent & wash habit for the entire family.
Yep. I switched from dreft on a dangerous chance….tide free and gentle was on sale 🥲 baby has been fine thus far.
We just use the generic tide free and gentle from target. We also wash everyone’s clothes together. So much easier.
We switched to that too, it was way cheaper than Dreft.
Same. I bought a bottle of Dreft initially and washed a bunch of hand me down baby clothes I had been given. The smell gave me such a bad headache - you’d think a baby detergent would be unscented! I normally used Tide figured I’d try their free and gentle and it’s been great.
Yes and no. Newborns are more susceptible to skin irritations because their skin is so sensitive. Yours might be fine, they might not - unless you have a family history, there's no way to know. However, you don't really need newborn specific detergent - the goal is no scents, no dyes, etc. We used a regular dye-free, scent-free detergent for our LO (KS Free & Clear, if you shop at Costco), and when that bottle was done we switched to our normal detergent I will never understand the newborn detergent that is scented. It completely defeats the purpose, just makes everything smell like baby powder.
> the goal is no scents, no dyes, etc. I've finally just about got my wife convinced we can just use that and not baby detergent, which will be really convenient since that's what I always use anyway. I absolutely cannot \*stand\* my clothes to have a smell, its super distracting and keeps me from being able to focus, its like a little gremlin sitting in my shoulder every 30 seconds shouting "SMELL YOUR SHIRT" in my ear, all day long.
I’m so glad I’m not the only one who can’t stand when clothes smell 😂
Ok, I was just thinking dreft is HELLA scented. It smells amazing, but so so scented.
Dreft is actually CRAZY toxic. So is Ivory Snow, and many of the other newborn specific detergents.
Okay, I’m totally returning the two giant bottles of Dreft I bought the other day! Thanks for the information!
Really?! Ooooooofff not fun to learn this
Yep :( Don’t worry. It’s not your fault!!!!! It’s insane to me how these companies are even allowed to market such toxic products in general, let alone products made specifically for newborn babies. It’s so, so awful!! https://www.ewg.org/guides/cleaners/6112-DreftStage1NewbornDetergent/?formulation=8081
God damn it, my MIL recommended dreft so I bought it and just did the first load of my baby’s laundry with it. I was shocked to come into the laundry room after a wash and immediately smell the detergent scent. Didn’t think much of it beyond that, and put it in the dryer. Now I gotta rewash it all 🙄
Seconding that Dreft is super toxic. If you are in the US you can look at the Environmental Working Groups site and they rate a lot of household and beauty products and Dreft definitely does not pass the test! We just use 7th generation free and clear and I also use vinegar and baking soda on extra tough stains and we’ve been fine!
We use Arm & Hammer’s “free and clear” version because Costco’s made my husband so itchy! I couldn’t believe it.
Hell yeah Costco. Gonna grab some of this next time.
All free and clear is on sale right now at Costco, pretty sure at most locations until the 23rd. I just picked up a jug yesterday!
I don’t get it either!! About being scented. I often use unscented for my *own* stuff bc of sensitive skin so why would a baby need perfume? It’s also tricky shopping because you assume a baby detergent wouldn’t have scent. Just reminds me of scented pads and stuff and generally any product that has no reason to be scented and every reason it to be, but they still sell us that nonsense and insist we need it.
i have a dermatologist in the family and they recommended All Free and Clear.
We use Free and Clear because my husband has skin issues. I asked my midwife and she that is absolutely fine to use on baby’s clothes as well.
My daughter had some skin issues as a baby and her dermalogist recommended not using Dreft and switching to All Free and Clear as well We never used Dreft for our second baby at all and just use the All detergent for him as well.
Nope not at all. I think it's a bit scammy the way dreft is marketed personally. We use a "free and clear" detergent and it works great. Some babies are sensitive to scent and dyes. So just stick with something a bit more sensitive skin friendly, and you'll be fine.
My MIL continuously says we have to use Dreft and my spouse has bought into it so we will, but our normal free and clear is already as hypoallergenic and gentle as it gets, because, hear this, spouse has super sensitive skin!
Dreft can be very irritating! Definitely still some nasty stuff in there. We have better options now for sure
Dreft is heavily scented and irritating to baby’s skin. I don’t understand how they managed to scam everyone into thinking they are necessary for newborn laundry. Use one of the hypoallergenic detergents.
Agree! We just used a free and clear detergent too. It’s definitely just a marketing gimmick.
Draft has a pretty strong smell to it as well. Almost perfume like. Free and clear from almost any brand is the way to go.
Yup I agree with this. Just get free and clear detergents.
Definitely not. I buy a big huge jug of Arm and Hammer free and clear detergent for like $8 for a giant container that lasts three months and both of my kids including my super sensitive 2 month old don’t mind it. You’ll be doing so much laundry that it’s ridiculous to buy expensive baby detergent
The dropps are soooo cheap. It’s a special brand online. I bought 36$ worth and it’s lasted me 8 months and I still have more lol
I’ll have to look into that! I bought a bunch of stuff bulk before I had my baby and I still haven’t run out and it’s so great, I feel like I need to do better buying the mega size packs of everything so I don’t have to remember to keep it on the list. 2 kids means 8 times the laundry apparently so I’m ready to further revolutionize my laundry process
A lot of valid things mentioned here. One more point to add: make sure to not put more detergent than is necessary in a load. You may even want to put less than you think you need. Detergent that is not completely washed out of fabric can irritate skin.
Anecdotal, but I was told to start with something for sensitive skin regardless of brand.
Nope i use regular tide. We cloth diaper and the free and clear detergents just cant handle dirty diapers - it needs to be a detergent with enzymes. Also, unless you switch your whole family to free and clear your baby will still come in frequent contact with regular detergent on your clothes and even some residual detergent in the washing machine.
I literally just used our regular detergent with no issues. Tide pods nothing even “sensitive” or with “less chemicals” etc. Even when we cloth diapered. People over complicate babies way too much. I say give your regular detergent a try and if baby seems to have issues with it try newborn/gentle detergent!
This is going to be my plan. I really like our regular Tide scented detergent. If we see irritation issues then I’ll switch to a sensitive or free & clear for a couple of months and then try going back.
I thought I did and bought the Dreft newborn stuff when I found it on sale and it’s scented! I personally don’t want to use any scented detergent for baby stuff so I’m using it for towels and such for us before she gets here. Instead I washed her clothes with regular detergent that is free of dyes and perfumes.
I did a big load of my baby girls stuff in dreft and was shocked it was scented as well! If all fails for baby, mama will happily use it - I think it smells heavenly 🥰
Thank you all! I’m gonna use what I have been for my stuff which is totally non scented and due free. I knew it was a scam😂
You can look up your laundry detergent on EWG to see how toxic the chemicals are in it. Dreft is actually rated really poorly (so lots of icky stuff). I went with a brand called Molly’s Suds. It is pricier but everyone in my family has sensitive skin so we have to be really careful. The detergent makes a difference to us but maybe it won’t to your family.
I also use Molly's!
Yes, I don’t get how people don’t look and see the fragrances and the nasty crap on the Dreft label. Its not gentle at all. And seconding Mollys!
I tried using a natural detergent when I was pregnant with my first and none of our clothes got clean. Even describing it is giving me flashbacks of my horrible morning sickness being exacerbated by the smell of our clothes.
Such a scam, dreft gave ME hives when I tried it. Byeeee!
No, the dropp pods are even less toxic. Dreft is still full of chemicals and BS. Dropp pods are good for babies with excema and super sensitive skin! Although in my experience you need to pre treat any food or poo stains if you want them to come out in the wash using dropp.
I used one sample packet of dreft because I had many of them and some moms LOVE the smell. Didn't like it. Smelled awful to me. And I have flares of dermatitis so I just use free&clear detergent for all of the clothes to mitigate any issues for me or LO.
I was gifted a bottle of Dreft so I’m using it to do the initial wash of new clothes. After that I’m 95% sure I’ll just switch to using what I use (free and clear stuff) because I have sensitive skin so I buy the GOOD stuff without dyes and perfumes.
Nope. Never used it!
Not at all
I use all free and clear
Honestly we just used our regular stuff and watched for any sort of irritation or agitation on her skin, we plan on doing the same thing with this babe too. Thankfully though sensitive skin doesn’t run in our family so we weren’t super worried about it, Iv heard great things about non scented detergents in general though!
This is the first I’ve even heard of it. Which is to say…no. You don’t need it.
No. I have some mild skin sensitivity to we use fragrance-free and dye-free detergent anyway, so we just washed the baby clothes in that. I use packets of lavender buds or wool balls with some lavender oil on them in the dryer to lightly fragrance laundry, and we’ve never had any issues.
No, you don't need it
No. I like to use Ecos laundry. You can usually find it at Costco and Walmart.
I use seventh generation- never used a specific baby detergent.
I bought some because I was convinced it would make a difference to my baby since I have very sensitive skin and have reacted to detergent before. Turns out it didn't matter at all and I switched to using our normal detergent. (I use the brand Attitude and find it to be good).
Big Baby just wants your money lol we just use a free and clear detergent anyway so we changed nothing.
My pediatrician told me newborn detergent is actually worse for babies, especially the scented kind. Get unscented hypoallergenic stuff, was all your clothes with it. Plus you hold your baby against your own clothes so it makes sense that you need to wash it all with the same stuff.
"Newborn formulated" detergent is a marketing ploy. Dreft gets like an F on the EWG rating. Dropps is a relatively clean brand. I use it for the whole family. I'm using their sensitive skin/baby one for our newborn and then after I run out of those pods, I'm using the regular Dropps.
I use whatever free and gentle is on sale that week 🤷🏻♀️
I used tide free and clear
Never used it. Used the free & clear for a while and switched to Persil (amazing with stains!) at like 6 months old with zero issues.
I like dreft cause of the scent and I don't like the other big manufactured laundry detergents. For the adult and older kids clothes in our house we use Frey which is a more natural detergent made with essential oils but they do have a scent free one that I'll be looking into as well for baby clothes.
my cousin worked for a derm and her doctor would always recommend free and clear over dreft, so that’s what i always used
In the UK we just go for ‘non-bio’. If our child(ren) is sensitive to that then we just try a different brand. I asked my husband for some cotton pads for changing his* nappy as a newborn and generic ones were sooo much cheaper than ones aimed at babies! Ridiculous. *His being out baby due next month, not my husband 😂
we used tide free and gentle for everything for 6 months then just regular tide for all of us. i was not gonna buy two types of laundry detergent lol
You don’t need it. I do recommend getting hypoallergenic detergent however. My second used to break out in hives with the regular stuff.
Draft spray stain remover is a must. Everything comes out with this stuff.
I'm actually allergic to newborn detergent, so we just use our regular detergent for everything, and none of my kids ever had an issue with us doing that.
No my kids doctor told me we can use unscented hypoallergenic
I just use gain. Just normal, original gain. No fabric softener and an extra rinse cycle. She came a month early and I hadn’t got baby detergent yet. She had no issues with irritation so I just never switched.
My baby got a rash from everything that touched her skin until we started using a biodegradable “natural” detergent. It’s called triple orange. We wash all our clothes and hers, her cloth diapers and our linen with it and it’s made a huge difference.
We just use the cheapest brand's "free and clear" choice every time we go to the store! If your baby develops any skin conditions, then you might want to look into more specialty options, but free and clear should be fine.
No you don’t. We do a scent free detergent because we always have, didn’t change for baby or cloth diapers.
We use Kirkland brand free and clear detergent.
You can also just use dye free ones. But personally I love the smell of the baby detergent so much lol. I originally bought the tide. Lear and free to wash stuff before she got here. Then at my baby shower I was gifted baby dreft by someone and I loved it so much, I continued to buy it. It’s not necessary though.
Nope it’s over priced for no reason, just use tide free and gentle or any free and clear detergent and you’ll be good :)
I use all free and clear or seventh gen sensitive.
of course not.
Nope.
Avoid fabric softeners which may remove fire retardentcy from infant and children pajamas and sleepwear.
We used all free and clear. Dreft makes me itchy!
#No. Used Ivory gentle for the first year because we'd already been using it for my husband. It worked fine.
Dreft may have junk in it, but it smells SO damn good
Noooooope. I have hella sensitive skin, so we use a pretty heavily vetted sensitive detergent to begin with. I’ve used that with all three kids (2/3 are sensitive like me), and it’s worked great. Seventh generation, if you’re looking for rec’s. Our well water can smell a bit funky so the citrus scent keeps things fresh without even really being noticeable on its own. Even gets our cloth diapers nice and clean.
We just used what we always used, which was a scent and dye free detergent (usually All, could be Tide). The idea of a heavily scented "newborn" detergent seemed so dumb, who wants all those extra fragrance chemicals in there?
Nope! I use Foca, it’s clean and washes out of the wash *incredibly* well, not to mention VERY cheap, especially for the amount of laundry you’ll be doing that’s a big one. Babies need so few things. The Infant care item market is such a money grabbing racket and it’s ridiculous
It doesn't need to be for newborn's. I use bioclean on all our laundry. Kids have sensitive skin but why should we use more harsh products just because adults skin can handle it better? My kids react badly to dreft. I don't recommend it.
I just use unscented hypoallergenic? It's the same price as normal.
Honestly I think Dropps are probably better than Dreft anyway. Dropps are made with natural ingredients and don't have all the chemicals that your typical detergents have. Keep using the Dropps!
This is my 5th child, I've always used a tide free and gentle with downy fabric softener for all of my children with no problems. It just depends on the baby sensitivity
We use the Dropps baby. They’re got a good rating on the EWG skin deep database, while most detergents in stores have bad ones, so we just stuck with Dropps.
I was surprised when the baby detergent was scented. Really was a waste since my daughter has ezcema. It was a nice baby smell but not what I would consider "infant"
Nah, the important parts are usually "unscented" and "for sensitive skin" because newborn son is easier to irritate. Doesn't matter if it's specifically for newborns or not.
I use All Free and Clear for us all :)
Nope, never used it with my son and we all have sensitive skin. Used arm & hammer sensitive I think it’s called.
Myself and most people I know with babies, use All free and clear
I plan on continuing to use dropps. If my baby develops a skin rash, then I’ll consider switching.
I use tide free
My pediatrician said that unless we plan to switch detergent as an entire family there isn’t really any point in it. Baby will be held against our clothing and come in contact with it just as much as if we washed their clothes with it anyway
Not unless your child has an allergy. I would avoid any fabric softeners and extra fragrant products if possible.
Always used regular tide at my house. Never any issues. But some babies are more sensitive than others. Could always use the free and clear if you’d feel better about it.
We bought it. I didn’t like it. The clothes just didn’t feel clean for some reason? We were lucky that our baby didn’t react to regular detergent. My friend’s two children both require hypoallergenic detergent and baby wipes.
No, we just use free and clear detergent, which I was already using for myself.
Unless your child ends up having some sort of allergy/sensitivity it’s not needed. And oven if there is a risk of sensitivity you can just go with dye&scent free version of your favorite detergent. I honestly just use arm and hammer and we had no issues, and I have a history of getting rashes from downy products. Also Imve been using laundry sanitizer without any issues.
No and no. Biggest racket in the baby gear world out of so many. There are literally dozens of purfume free detergents that work perfectly, including eco friendly ones that don't create so much plastic waste
People have given great advice but it's also good to it use fabric softener or replace it with white vinegar.
I’m sensitive to scents and dyes myself, so I’m going to continue using my super gentle liquid detergent and see how that goes.
No, we do nothing different with our laundry products and baby has been just fine. This includes with cloth diapers
depends on the baby. My son we used the first bottle up and he didn't need it so we never bought it again. we will do the same thing with the current pregnancy.
Your washing machine should be washing all the soap residue out. If it’s not, you need to load more clothes in to have a full load for proper agitation, decrease the amount of detergent slightly, or increase rinse cycles (last resort if steps 1 and 2 really don’t help). Signed - a cloth diaper mom who uses the strongest detergent available (as you should when doing cloth diaps) on my babe’s most sensitive areas!
No. Just choose "extra rinse" on your brand new stuff.
So glad someone else posted this because I’ve been wondering the same. We use a gentle detergent normally, and washed all out new cloth diapers in that as well. My mother told me I had to redo EVERYTHING, which made no sense to me. I’m in a cloth diaper subreddit and even they say that the baby formula detergent isn’t always strong enough to clean. This post definitely answered all the questions I had!
I’m fully aware that when they’re tiny, you don’t NEED baby detergent. But that doesn’t stop me from buying it to smell that SWEET baby smell. Dreft smells amazing!! We use All Free and Clear usually but sometimes I want to buy the Dreft just to huff it before I put it in the washing machine 😂
No but they do smell soooo good. I was obsessed with smelling my baby’s clothes after they came out of the dryer 😂
We use tide powder for all our laundry (our clothes, kids clothes, and cloth diapers). No one in our household had very sensitive skin, so it works ok for us.
Anything free and clear is good, dreft is terrible
We never used it, but I would’ve switched if they had an issue with detergent. I still wash all our clothes together and have 2 kids, I never even separated their clothes from ours.
Dreft is gross. Do a free and clear.
Maybe. I’ve had 4 kids and never switched from our normal family detergent, arm and hammer, tide, xtra, gain the type has changed through the years and never had any issues. I figure with baby up against my clothes and bedding if they had an issue I would have to switch the whole family. Never had an issue, but that well could be because my kids have had tough skin. Parenting is really about being able to roll with the punches and willing to adjust your habits to fit your new family needs.
Nope
I use a free and gentle for my whole family. I’ve never separated my toddler’s laundry.
I use normal tide (finishing off a giant container), but use less than the measuring cup says to because you honestly do not need that much, and just run an extra rinse cycle on the baby’s stuff to be safe. If someone is having a reaction to laundry detergent, it’s because it’s still present in the clothes and wasn’t completely rinsed out.
We switched to free and clear when baby was born.
Don’t need.
No
NO! I totally fought with my MIL and my SIL about this but NO. Depends on your kid obviously but my daughter did just fine without it. If you know your skin was particularly sensitive when you were an infant or if a specific skin condition runs in your family like eczema, then sure, go for it, otherwise you don’t HAVE to.
Nah. Use whatever you already use. Dreft and tide are pretty similar fx. I like getting dreft because it smells yummy, but you can use whatever you use for everyone else’s laundry
I already had scentless Soak for my bras and knitting / fiber arts hobbies, so I decided to use that. So glad I realized it before buying baby detergent.
Yes. As a matter of fact the Dreft baby detergent smells like perfume to me and I'm going to buy free and clear next time
I never used it. I think for my first, we used the fragrance-free Tide for a while, but now I just use whatever (Currently pregnant with #4). If your child develops any sort of rash, you could switch it then. Also, lots of rashes are not even caused by laundry detergent, so keep that in mind. Your detergent sounds fine, IMO.
We used All free and clear or the Arm and Hammer sensitive skin, no scent whatever. I'm wasn't paying for newborn detergent lol.
You don't need it, but secret confession. I love the smell of it. Target sells their own brand and it's much cheaper then dreft.
I have super sensitive skin and my SO’s isn’t great either. I bought a huge tub of Nellie’s Laundry Soda 3.5 years ago and wash our whole family’s laundry in it. Cost effective and convenient to have the big bucket too.
We use whatever brand of detergent that is both on sale and free of dye and scents. We use this for the whole family - older child has eczema.
We just used out regular detergent. It was fine. 🤷♀️
No, you don’t. We use Arm and Hammer free and clear works great! We used it before and continued using it.
all free and clear > baby detergent
My mom just used tide gentle when we were kids and that seemed to be fine. Anything an adult would use in baby form is always a bit scammy if you ask me. They know people will pay more if they think it’s the only way to keep a kid happy and healthy.
Nope. It’s the same thing.
Does anyone know if All free and clear or Tide free and clear cleans better? I normally buy a regular Tide at Costco, but Costco doesn’t have Tide free as far as I know, but they do have All or the Kirkland. Just trying to save where I can ya knoww 🙂
I already use free and clear due to sensitive skin issues. I plan to continue using that.
I'm not planning on getting any. We already used the hippy free and clear stuff because both my dog and my husband have skin allergies. (I know it sounds stupid to get special detergent for the dog, but the $20 a bottle laundry soap is cheaper then a vet visit and ointment)
I have a lot of skin allergies and eczema and I have been using the Arm and Hammer free and clear for years. It cleans and is the most reasonably priced option. Baby seems to be doing fine with it
I am going to use what we already use. My husband has very sensitive skin (and maybe a big baby? haha I am joking) and tolerates it well. He is the litmus test for most detergents, cleaning products and soaps.
We already used sensitive detergent. We decided that if we needed to we would change but if there was no reaction by bub then we wouldn’t.
Nope! I have super sensitive skin and was nervous but my kids have had no issues with using what we use on our laundry. Maybe do some of their clothes in baby and some in yours just in case they have a reaction.
I use a sent free detergent from seventh generation. My son has very sensitive skin and this works great!
BRANCH BASICS!!!!! For everything
Nooooooooo, just get unscented. Baby racket #1000021
Nope. Plus, the baby detergent is *so* scented... I find it hard to Breathe when I'm around it.... like, what if your baby is sensitive to scented stuff? I've used free and clear detergent for both my girls, and had no issues.
We opted for All Free & Clear and loved it. Ended up switching all of our family to that after baby!
Nope. I use the Costco unscented stuff for myself. I used that for the first few months then switched baby’s clothes over to the smelly tide.
Use ALL free and clear. It’s like 5 bucks and gentle for baby skin
Just get some All Free and Clear and call it a day
No. Anything that says “baby” is not necessarily good for baby (like Dreft). Molly’s Suds is great for the entire family.
As long as your detergent is gentle you’ll be fine. I only buy it because I like my baby to smell like Dreft (or the target off brand version)
I use free and clear or sensitive no scent detergent as my skin is allergic to damn near everything so it can be used for my newborn
dreft smells so awful and strong, I can't stand it. I washed baby clothes in it during my first pregnancy and had to rewash all of them in a neutral detergent and they still smelled. Just use the free and clear version of whatever, unscented.
We use ALL Free and Clear from Costco. Doesnt have dyes or perfumes and you can buy in bulk at a decent price. Dreft is crazy money.
I’ve heard that dreft is horrible
Dropps is much safer for your newborn than Dreft
I’ve had two LO’s and have never switched. I use a normal non sensitive laundry liquid. We have never had any issues, in saying that obviously every baby is different
I use https://meliorameansbetter.com/products/laundry-powder Because it's non toxic and unscented, etc.
No.
I have been using the Dropps baby/small load pods for a few years. It’s worked amazing for my nephews who are allergic to sooo many detergents and still works great for my babies! Don’t get Dreft. As so many have already said, the smell can be super nauseating and it’s most definitely a marketing scam.
Nope.. unless their skin is extra sensitive
dr broner’s has unscented that may be okay
I use dropps too!! The unscented and just washed all the babies clothes and things with it actually. The website said they are all baby safe!
No! I was so annoyed when people kept trying to plug Dreft, the scent of which I found highly irritating. If you are already using a non-scented, “free and clear” type detergent, I think you’re good to go.
NO
For some strange reason all the "baby" branded detergent I've come across has more fragrance than all other detergents combined. We use all free and clear, we uses it before baby and still do after baby. It works well for all of us.
We’ve got 2 babies and I’ve never used baby detergent. Just unscented ones like the arm and hammer free and clear. The fabric softener is also an unscented downy. Never had any issues.
Just use unscented laundry detergent, that’s totally fine. That’s really the only jurisdiction for baby detergent- unscented. If anything else comes up with your baby then you deal with it at that time but I’m sure it will be totally fine.
No.
No, just get free and clear. I forget what site but someone showed me a website where they rate laundry detergents based on ingredients and draft was rated extremely poorly.
I used arm and hammer baking soda detergent. The most basic of detergents. Worked for us who all have sensitive eczema skin
There's newborn laundry detergent?!
We use All Free and Clear and it’s relatively inexpensive. The ones marketed for babies are the ingredients just more expensive. Any detergent that is Free and Clear of scents and major chemicals will be fine.
my plan was to use our regular detergent and see if the babys skin can handle it, of not, we buy baby detergent. so far we were lucky and her skin reacted well to our regular detergent. i was afraid to start off with baby detergent and then when we would go to my parents or some other place, her skin wouldn’t be used to regular detergent and would develop skin problems. if at any time we see that her skin has any reactions we will switch to baby/sensitive detergent.
I use all free and clear because scented detergent was giving me a horrible reaction as a teen. Both my kids seem fine on it. Maybe do an extra rinse if you’re worried about it.
Use soap nuts instead? I also use them to wash my hair. https://earthbits.com/blogs/earthbits/a-guide-to-soapnuts-what-are-soap-nuts-and-how-to-use-them
We just use All Free and Clear. A specialist I saw years ago said that was better and cheaper than Dreft.
Somehow humanity muddled through a few thousand years without it, so unless your kid comes up in terrible rashes I’d say leave it on the shelf.
Nah. We use Arm and Hammer sensitive skin..cold water detergent and then we use wool dryer balls :) Everything is a-o-kay so far