Best Baby Laundry Detergents

When you’re choosing a detergent for your baby’s fabrics, it’s all too easy to get caught up in the whirl of marketing hype. Here’s our guide to what to look out for before making your final choice:

Hypoallergenic

Contrary to popular belief, there aren’t any guidelines that a product has to fulfill in order to be classed as hypoallergenic. It simply means that the manufacturer claims that their product causes fewer allergic reactions than others. When it comes down to baby detergents, though, you can be sure that all of the popular household brands have conducted extensive research into making detergents that are suitable for sensitive baby skin. 

When you purchase a hypoallergenic baby detergent, it will have been specially formulated to minimize the risk of an allergic reaction. This means that it will contain fewer allergens and chemicals that are known or thought to have an adverse effect on sensitive skin.

Plant-Based

As opposed to petroleum-based detergents, plant-based ones are understandably more environmentally friendly. With fewer harsh chemicals, plant-derived baby detergents tend to be better for baby’s sensitive skin, reducing the risk of an allergic reaction, as well as redness, rashes, and discomfort.

As we are increasingly looking for ways to reduce our impact on the environment, eco-friendly detergents make a great choice that will help to leave the world a better place for our children’s future. Making a move towards more natural ingredients is also a great way to reduce the number of chemicals that your baby is exposed to during their first few weeks and months. 

Fragrance-Free

It’s well known that fragrances can irritate sensitive skin. Very young babies have fragile skin that is much more sensitive than ours. So, if you find that certain fragrances irritate you, it’s more than likely that they will have the same effect upon your little one. 

Another point to note here is that manufacturers are not obliged to disclose their fragrance ingredients, so a product could potentially contain over one hundred extra ingredients that may cause irritation. You can, however, find naturally-scented baby detergents which use all-natural substances to give a faint perfume to your laundry without irritation. 

When making your choice, be sure to pay attention to the difference between fragrance-free and unscented baby detergents. Fragrance-free simply means that no fragrance has been added, making it the better option. Unscented often means that a chemical has been added to mask strong smelling ingredients. 

Stain Removal Power 

While your baby’s comfort is of utmost importance, you don’t want to waste time, energy, and effort rewashing to get baby’s laundry clean. Time is precious when you have your hands full with a little one, but thankfully, today’s baby detergents are pretty good at getting moderate to tough stains out. 

Just be aware that our top pick, Babyganics, doesn’t contain optical brighteners. This means it is less-likely to irritate sensitive skin, but also that your laundry may look less bright. You can easily counteract this by pretreating stains before washing for best results.

It can be difficult to understand exactly what goes into your baby detergent, and a long list of scary-sounding ingredients hardly reassures worried parents looking to minimize their baby’s exposure to chemicals. Here’s the lowdown on some of the most common baby detergent ingredients and what they mean:

Surfactants

Surfactants are the main ingredient in detergents. Soap is the earliest example of a surfactant. Simply put, they function by breaking down oil and dirt from your laundry water. They contain a so-called “water-loving” group of molecules, combined with a “water-hating” one. This allows them to hold the removed dirt in suspension. 

In doing so, they not only lift it from your laundry, they also prevent it from becoming redeposited during the washing cycle. Surfactants can be synthetic, plant or mineral-based and are an essential component for clean clothes.

Optical Brighteners 

Optical brighteners are chemicals which are added to detergents to make clothes appear brighter and whiter. They are a ‘non-essential additive’ which means they do not alter or enhance the actual cleanliness of your garments. 

Optical brighteners remain within the fibres of your clothes after washing. While optical whiteners are not dangerous by definition, as they are a residue that remains after rinsing, they could potentially irritate anyone with sensitive skin. If you are worried about your baby’s sensitive skin, this is one detergent ingredient that you can avoid. Our top pick, Babyganics is plant-based and free from optical brighteners. 

Fragrance

Unless your baby has very sensitive skin, fragrance for the main part is a matter of personal preference. Some people don’t perceive their laundry to be “clean” unless it has a clean fragrance. 

Some parents find certain laundry scents overwhelming, so you can only imagine how they would overpower a newborn. What’s more, synthetic scents can contain a variety of chemicals that may not be in your baby’s best interests. While allergies to laundry scents may be fairly rare, it is something that you can cut out to minimize your baby’s exposure to unnecessary chemicals. 

If you like a light scent to your baby laundry, check out Babyganics which offers a plant-based, natural scent rather than a synthetic one.

Enzymes

Baby detergents containing enzymes allow you to save energy and resources by providing better cleaning performance at lower temperatures. Specific enzymes target particular stain types. Proteases remove proteins, such as milk and human waste, while amylases remove starches and lipases break down fats. You may want to opt for a detergent such as Babyganics that offers enzyme cleaning action to be sure that your baby’s clothes receive a thorough wash, especially once they get a little older.