# Laundry detergent itch



## tallpines (Apr 9, 2003)

A question for those of you that "itch" from using some of the laundry detergents.

Which brand is least likely to cause an "itch"?


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## Narshalla (Sep 11, 2008)

Tide is most likely, Arm and Hammer is least likely . . . Or at least, that's what we've found.

Adding a couple of tablespoons of washing soda to every load will reduce the itchiness, for most people.

And here is the obligatory plug about how, if you make your _own_, there is none of the added colors, odors, and extra additives to make it foam up with bubbles, because everyone expects it to bubble. (Yes, they add colors. You know those blue and green crystals that that one brand advertized? How those crystals made the stuff so much better, work so much better? Nope, just pretty colors.)


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## CaliannG (Apr 29, 2005)

If you don't feel like making your own, I have found that the Mexican brands (the bag currently in my laundry room is "Roma") have the same ingredients as my homemade stuff. Seems Hispanic women don't care if the stuff suds up or not, as long as their clothes come out clean. They also don't seem to care if their laundry powder has pretty colors in it.


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## SageLady (Jun 10, 2008)

I like ERA detergent best.


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## Huntinfamily (Aug 14, 2010)

I am very allergic to the scents and perfumes that are put in commercial detergents. The itch is usually in embarrasing spots I can't scratch in public. We used dreft for a while but it is quite expensive. We now make our own using washing soda and borax. I am a mechanic and it does a great job getting the stains out of my clothes.


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## hillbillygal (Jan 16, 2008)

The Arm & Hammer with oxyclean caused me some serious discomfort this past summer. It didn't make me itch but my skin just ached and felt like it was on fire to the touch and am convinced that it was causing my kidney pain. I didn't figure it out until after a few days. It took almost a week after re-washing everything to get my body straightened back out. Last time that stuff will ever be allowed in this house!


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## PATRICE IN IL (Mar 25, 2003)

Arm & Hammer or Purex are the only 2 I can use with my severe psoriasis.


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## tallpines (Apr 9, 2003)

SageLady said:


> I like ERA detergent best.


That one is one that DEFINATELY makes me itch!


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## tallpines (Apr 9, 2003)

Borax and washing soda ............

Where do I get it?

How much to use?


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## HOTW (Jul 3, 2007)

tallpines to make your own you scred up a bar of fels naptha or homemade lye soap. To every cup of soap you have you add1/2 cup each of washing soda and borax. Use about 2-3 tablespoons a load. You can predissolve it in boiled water if you use cold water to wash.


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## eyore (Jan 7, 2011)

I have to use Seventh Generation and there is another out there like that I can use for hubby.


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## bluefish (Jan 27, 2006)

The only one I can use is ALL free and clear. I don't even have good luck with the homemade stuff unless I make it with homemade soap.


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## Limon (Aug 25, 2010)

tallpines said:


> Borax and washing soda ............
> 
> Where do I get it?
> 
> How much to use?


Around here, all the grocery stores and Walmarts carry borax, washing soda and the Fels-Naptha in the laundry section. Some people add something like Oxy-Clean to help with bad stains. If you have heavy water, you might need to use more than just a tablespoon or so.

And a bit of a disagreement on the "pretty colors" from above. Commercial laundry products have bluing added to them for a reason. People used to add bluing to the rinse water but many people skip this step nowadays. It's why whites washed in homemade detergent often look dingy.


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## porcupine73 (Jan 31, 2013)

I've been getting the big boxes of Cal Ben powdered laundry soap. It seems to do a good job and no itch. Some of the 'unscented' stuff sold in the grocery store actually still contains perfumes. An 'unscented' perfume? Strange yes.


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## Christine81 (Nov 4, 2012)

I use All Free and Clear detergent and Bounce dryer sheets. As a kid, my mom used Fab, and that was fine, but I haven't seen that brand since I moved to the Midwest. I can also use Dreft, but like someone mentioned, it's expensive. I can't use Tide or Era for sure. I don't do much experimenting with other laundry stuff...IME, you find something that works and stick to it...the itch can last for a week on me, and I hate redoing laundry.

Oddly, I have never stayed at a hotel and had trouble with whatever they wash the sheets in. I've always wondered what they use.


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## Nimrod (Jun 8, 2010)

ERA detergent? Is Equal Rights Amendment detergent where you get hubby to do the laundry?

I used to use Tide but tried Era and it works as well and is cheaper.


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## Rita (May 13, 2002)

For people that are very allergic to soaps they might try soap nuts. They helped me when I became allergic. Don't put the soap nuts in the little bag they provide as that doesn't work very well. Make a solution by adding about 6 nuts to water, bring to boil and then simmer about 20 min. Cool and store in fridge.


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## Vosey (Dec 8, 2012)

tallpines said:


> Borax and washing soda ............
> 
> Where do I get it?
> 
> How much to use?


There's a thread going right now in the General Homesteading section about getting supplies. 

Basic powder is 1 bar soap shredded (Fels Naptha, Ivory or homemade), 1 cup washing soda, 1 cup borax. 1 cup oxyclean if you want. 

1 tbsp for an He machine.


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## JHinCA (Sep 20, 2003)

Arm and Hammer works for my DH's sensitive skin. Costco Kirkland Free and Clear also doesn't irritate him and seems to clean better than the Arm and Hammer.
Some brands so-called "free and clear" isn't, in our experience.


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## Common Tator (Feb 19, 2008)

I don't itch from detergent, but when I used Gain, I could TASTE the fragrance! Now I use Tide pods. They do a great job, and not much fragrance at all.


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## Lizza (Nov 30, 2005)

We are sensitive to soaps too. I usually use Ecos (http://www.ecos.com/ecosliquid.html) from Costco. It's between $12 and $13 for 210 loads (we have a front load washing machine). 

All Free & Clear also works for us. 

I just bought Costco's Kirkland brand because I thought maybe changing it up would be good (why I don't know!), I think it was on sale. It is their "natural" variety or so it says. I thought it was like All Free & Clear. It smells so bad of fragrance! I had the same problem with Kirklands "natural" shampoos/conditioners, I think I may just deal with the hassle and take it back.


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## CaliannG (Apr 29, 2005)

Ummm, why are people adding Oxy-Clean to their homemade detergent?

Oxy-Clean is sodium percarbonate. In other words, washing soda (sodium carbonate) and peroxide mixed together and dried.

Wouldn't it be cheaper just to add a tablespoon of peroxide to your laundry? That would be a LOT cheaper, and the same thing, as paying the $$ for Oxy-Clean. Peroxide is going for...what...$0.97 a bottle nowadays?


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## CarolT (Mar 12, 2009)

I used to only use Tide. until they "New and Improved" it Grrrrrrrrr 

There is a Publix brand that works for us. I don't remember which scent, but it doesn't itch and doesn't leave me feeling stopped up from the perfume. The Free and Clears just do not remove sweat odors well enough for me to use them.


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## Vosey (Dec 8, 2012)

CarolT said:


> I used to only use Tide. until they "New and Improved" it Grrrrrrrrr
> 
> There is a Publix brand that works for us. I don't remember which scent, but it doesn't itch and doesn't leave me feeling stopped up from the perfume. The Free and Clears just do not remove sweat odors well enough for me to use them.


This is my issue as well! I have found the homemade detergent to work a little better than the store bought Free and Clears (which isn't great). Throwing a shirt in twice works. I had mixed success with spraying vinegar on shirts, seems to work better on some fabrics than others.


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## Joshie (Dec 8, 2008)

I buy fragrance and dye free. I loved Sears HE Fragrance and dye free but cannot find that anymore. I have found that it doesn't really seem to matter as long as it has no fragrance or added dyes. Oh, I also use Bounce Free dryer sheets.


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## rivenoak (Sep 29, 2009)

DH likes Arm & Hammer Free. It can be hard to find. I also pick up store-brand perfume-free dryer sheets for him.


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## SageLady (Jun 10, 2008)

Nimrod said:


> ERA detergent? Is Equal Rights Amendment detergent where you get hubby to do the laundry?
> 
> I used to use Tide but tried Era and it works as well and is cheaper.


 
I put ERA in my post because that's what it says on the ERA bottle... :hrm:


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## nodak3 (Feb 5, 2003)

Here is what we have to avoid:

fabric softener--even the unscented stuff itches.

harsh additives--bleach, non chlorine bleach, borax, washing soda

scents and dyes--even tide unscented doesn't itch me and the gentlest dreft does

optical brighteners--this is a flourescent dye often found even in unscented dyefree

and the worst offender? enzymes!

edited to add: a few years ago our county home extension agent explained that if you think free and clears do not remove sweat odor, then your stinky detergent isn't either and is just masking it. You still have the body oil and bacteria growing in your clothing. She advised in that case the problem is not the free and clear, but that you need to change technique. Maybe warmer water, maybe more detergent, maybe harsher agitation. 

In fact, she recommended everyone switch at least temporarily to a free and clear with no optical brighteners. If you get stinky dingy clothing that way, adjust your technique. Then use the new technique even if you prefer the scented products.


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## doozie (May 21, 2005)

I remeber seeing an article about not using any type of detergent at all, I tried googling and found a few articles.
Some see no difference in the outcome of using plain old water it seems. I guess the agitation is the way things are cleaned. 
I do remember washing a load of my towels with just water in my older top load, and remember seeing plenty of suds from the leftover detergent the towles had on them.
I might give it a try (just water on hot) for my towels and sheets next time and see if I notice any difference, I have a front loader now. 
I also wonder if the itch you feel is from some kind of softner added to the load??


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## nodak3 (Feb 5, 2003)

While these ingredients may itch some folks, it is eye opening to mix just equal parts of borax, washing soda, and baking soda and use 1/2 cup of the mixture once a month on the laundry.

If you check it mid wash you may find it all sudsed up, which means you have a lot of buildup. Even if not sudsy, you may find gray or brown water showing how much dirt and soap or detergent or softener you had built up.


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## Melissa (Apr 15, 2002)

I think that many people just use too much detergent. You probably don't need near as much as the instructions say.


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## nodak3 (Feb 5, 2003)

The issue can also be your washer. Some of the HE washers apparently don't allow enough water to really rinse the clothes.


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## TheMartianChick (May 26, 2009)

Narshalla said:


> Tide is most likely, Arm and Hammer is least likely . . . Or at least, that's what we've found.
> 
> Adding a couple of tablespoons of washing soda to every load will reduce the itchiness, for most people.
> 
> And here is the obligatory plug about how, if you make your _own_, there is none of the added colors, odors, and extra additives to make it foam up with bubbles, because everyone expects it to bubble. (Yes, they add colors. You know those blue and green crystals that that one brand advertized? How those crystals made the stuff so much better, work so much better? Nope, just pretty colors.)


Exactly what Narshalla said!!

In addition, I have issues with the scented of Gain. I spent the night at my BIL's house to care for his son while he was on vacation. There was a laundry basket in the living room that absolutely REEKED from the scent of Gain detergent. I began to cough and sneeze and I never have that reaction to anything. It was awful!


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