Baby Laundry Detergent & Clothes Washing Tips

Essentials & Tips for Doing Baby Laundry

Doing laundry is something most people are familiar with. However, if this is your first baby, you may be wondering…what do I do differently with baby clothing? While all things start with finding the perfect baby laundry detergent, there are several helpful tips you need to know before doing your baby’s laundry.

1. Always Wash New Clothes

Always wash baby clothing before you put them on your baby to wear. Treat new clothes just as you would treat secondhand clothes you purchased from the thrift store. When clothing is new, it’s easy to forget that many baby clothes are treated with chemicals to make them look nice on racks and shelves. Aside from that, remember that clothing often sits in warehouses and stores for a long period of time. During this time, the clothes can collect lots of germs from the air or from handlers.  This can include dust, bugs and hair.

Aside from baby clothing, you will want to wash stuffed animals, blankets, swaddles and anything else that is fabric or washable before your baby uses it. By washing before wear, you can rid their clothing of dangerous chemicals, and germs. It will also make the fabric softer for your baby’s gentle skin.

2. Use Gentle Baby Laundry Detergent

Another important part of doing baby laundry is to use a baby-friendly detergent. Remember your baby’s skin is so delicate and regular laundry detergent has a large amount of dye, fragrance and other harsh chemicals that may hurt your baby’s skin. Use a detergent that is hypoallergenic or does not contain a significant amount of allergens. This will greatly cut back on chances of irritation for your baby’s skin.

For newborns, I recommend going fragrance free in case your newborn has extra sensitive skin. It’s better to use it, than to use a strong fragrance that may cause itching, rashes or breakouts on your baby. After three months, feel free to try out baby-friendly detergents that may have a light scent. If it causes any type of irritation, please stop use and consult a pediatrician.

Gentle Baby Laundry Detergent

Below are several well-known brands of baby laundry detergent. While they’re very similar, they’re some different attributes, so make sure to check out the descriptions to make the best choice for you and your baby.

Dreft Stage 1 Laundry Detergent:

Dreft’s  Stage 1 Newborn Baby Laundry Detergent is hypoallergenic and free of other chemicals, including phosphate, dye and added chlorine. Dreft is a pediatrician recommended brand that has been around for many years, giving Dreft its wonderful reputation and making it easy to find in most major grocery stores. I used this for the first few months of laundry when my son was a newborn. This detergent cleaned his baby clothes well.

Babyganics Laundry Detergent:

Babyganics laundry detergent is a plant-based detergent. It’s free of dye, chlorine, phthalates, phosphates, dioxane. It comes unscented and lavender-scented. Babyganics has 3x concentration power to help fight tough stains. This detergent is dermatologist and pediatrician tested. While well liked, this detergent is not in most stores, so you may have to order online consistently if this is your favorite baby laundry detergent.

Purex liquid Baby Detergent:

This Purex baby ;laundry detergent has a light scent called baby blossom. It’s hypoallergic and dye free. It has 2x concentrate drift lift action to help fight stains. This is a great budget-friendly option. After three months of age, I used this liquid the most and it did a great job of cleaning my son’s clothes. I also really enjoyed the light and pleasant scent. This brand is very easy to find in most grocery stores. I also liked that it was gently but had a scent. My son has sensitive skin and this doesn’t bother him at all.

All Liquid Baby Detergent: 

All liquid baby detergent is unscented and hypoallergenic. It’s made to be gentle with your baby’s skin in mind. All detergent includes stain lifters with 2x concentration to help remove those pesky baby stains. For those looking for budget friendly options, All is a great choice and you can also find this brand in most grocery stores.

Additional detergent options include: Seventh Generation, Tide Free & Clear, Arm & Hammer Sensitive Skin.

3. Treat Stains Right Away

Whenever  your baby has spills or diaper leaks, treat the spot as soon as possible. The quicker you treat it, the better chance you have to completely eliminate the stain. For most stains you can simply spray or rub the spot with a stain remover. However, for large or very dark stains…(like a diaper blowout) you will want to treat the clothing but also soak the clothing in water. I recommend letting it sit over night. In the morning, ring it out and throw it in the wash with your next load of laundry.

Baby Stain Removal Products

Dreft Portable Stain Pen

Dreft Newborn Laundry Stain Remover

OxiClean Baby Stain Remover

4. Say No to  Fabric Softeners & Fabric Conditioners

Even though fabric softeners are marketed towards babies, you should avoid fabric softener if you can. This includes fabric conditioner and dryer sheets. Try to hold off until you baby is older if you feel you must use them. Due to the highly concentrated fragrance, fabric softener often will cause some type of skin irritation in babies. Unfortunately, many major brands of softener contain dangerous chemicals, like formaldehyde.

Fabric softener is made up of quaternary ammonium compounds, which are fatty acids to coat your clothing. This sticks to your clothes and exposes you to chemicals constantly. These compounds  & chemicals in fabric softener are known to trigger asthma. If that isn’t bad enough, many fabric softeners and conditioners contain ingredients such as alcohol, emulsifiers and ethoxylate that will significantly reduce the flame resistance of fabrics you use it on. It can possibly make your baby clothing highly flammable, by leaving behind flammable chemical residue.

I will not recommend healthier options for babies, because even some of those softeners have questionable ingredients. If your child is older and you must use a fabric softener, try out hypoallergenic options that may contain less chemicals, like Attitude Baby Fabric Softener.

Alternatives to Fabric Softener 

1. Add several dryer balls to your laundry during the drying cycle. This will leave your baby clothes nice and soft. Babyganics Natural Wool Laundry Dryer Balls 
2. Pour up to 1/2 cup of baking soda into your washing machine, while the water is running. Let it dissolve and then throw your clothes in and wash as normal. Baking soda helps soften your clothes without chemicals. Millard Baking Soda

5. To Mini Load or Not to Mini Load

You can do your baby’s laundry separately from the rest of the households’. However, these will often be mini-loads. If you want to avoid the numerous mini loads of baby clothes, don’t separate your clothing from the baby’s clothes.  If you don’t mind using baby-friendly detergent, you can do your laundry as normal. This saves time, energy and electric. I recommend this because it saved me so much time compared to when I was doing my son’s clothes in separate small loads.

Bonus Tip!

Ever notice how your one sock always go missing…but you’re certain you had it in that specific load of laundry? It’s way worse with baby things. When washing socks, mittens or other small baby items, use a mesh laundry bag. This way the items are clean, but never lost.

Whatever way you choose to do your baby’s laundry, just be mindful of their sensitive skin! I hope this article helped you in some way. If you know any other great tips for doing baby laundry, please share with other readers in the comment section below.

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Thanks for reading!