February 21, 2012 | Posted in Health/Nutrition/Fitness | 5 Comment(s) | Share Article |
What you need to know about detergents and how to find the right one for your baby's clothes especially his/her diapers
Introducing BabyOrganix O'Clean Laundry Powder
Many of the modern diapers such as pocket diapers, all-in-one diapers and some fitted diapers are designed with a synthetic stay-dry fabric for their inner layer. These synthetic fabrics are more sensitive to detergent buildup than standard fitted diapers or prefold diapers.
Your choice of laundry detergent will determine not only how easy it is to care for your diapers but how well your diapers will perform. The best detergents for the modern cloth diapers need to rinse completely clean out of your diapers leaving no residues or fabric enhancers behind.
Laundry detergents that contain fragrance/scent, fabric softeners and brightening agents/optical brighteners are not suitable because these fabric enhancers are designed to leave chemicals on your diapers to make the diapers "appear" cleaner or better through your senses of touch, smell and sight. These components of the detergent will build up on your diapers over time and may lead to diaper failure. The diapers could retain unnecessary odours and they could even have repellency issues so that the moisture will escape out the side of the diaper rather than being absorbed by the absorbent part of the diaper.
A few more natural-ingredient detergents that are derived from plant oils or have essential oils in them are not recommended for the modern diapers. We have made note of these detergents in the detergent chart above. Some of them seem to work fine in naturally soft water, but with 80% of the United States dealing with hard water, this may cause problems.
Soaps should never be used for washing diapers in general. You may want to choose a detergent brand made specificially for the cloth diapering industry.
Evaluation Process for Detergents
This process involves an elimination of detergents for the cloth diaper laundry based on problematic ingredients and a compilation of known detergent complications with cloth diaper laundry. Even some of the recommended detergents may not be compatible with your water or washing routine. At least you will have fewer detergents to experiment with!
A detergent that has dyes and/or fragrance may not be suitable for baby. Some diapering mums do not feel that chemical exposure is an issue, and prefer the "clean" illusions they get from their fragrant detergents or the super cleaning they get from enzymes. My opinion just differs.
1. Dyes are unnecessary ingredients added to detergents with the potential of being left on the cloth diapers.
2. Fragrances are unnecessary chemicals left by the detergent on purpose, which may irritate baby's skin and overload baby's sense of smell.
3. Enzymes are unacceptable because they can irritate baby's skin. I cannot with good conscience recommend enzymes when I know from experience that many babies do experience the bright red markings indicating enzyme irritation. The enzyme group that is problematic is called protease; most detergent manufacturer's will not release what enzymes they use and thus such detergents have to be considered problematic. New detergents have been developed since early 2010 to use good enzymes as aids in sanitizing.
4. Optical brighteners are chemicals added to a detergent to be attached to the fabric and not rinsed off. Optical brighteners make your diapers appear cleaner by looking "whiter" through the refraction of light. These chemicals if loaded into the detergent can also compromise a cloth diaper's ability to absorb and make covers, pocket diapers and AIO's leaky.
Detergents with optical brighteners do leave chemicals on your cloth diapers. However, these products may end up being more acceptable for your cloth diaper laundry than other readily available detergents. Note: Optical brighteners have been identified with causing problems with several diaper brands' performance, so check with your manufacturer's instructions.
Why Avoid these Ingredients?
Pure Soap: Pure soaps are the more natural choice in the world of cleaners, but soaps will leave a residue on your diapers and leave a layer similar to the soap scum you find in your tub. Soap scum on diapers makes them repel moisture rather than absorb it and it is also harsh on the laminates used in your diaper covers, making them absorb rather than repel water.
The best choice for washing your diapers is to use detergent on them. To combat build-up though, Annie Berthold-Bond, author of Better Basics for the Home, recommends adding baking soda. Start out with 1/4 cup of baking soda, and increase to 1/2 cup if you have very hard water, she advises. Leave the soda in the water for ten minutes, then add the soap and clothes.
Enzymes: Enzymes attack organic matter and help dissolve stains when activated with water or moisture. Sweat, urine and faeces are all organic matter, so there is a risk that these substances that are lingering on baby's skin will be a target for these enzymes. In particularly sensitive children, these enzymes can cause blistering, bleeding, sores and rashes.
Fragrances and Dyes: These are harsh and unnecessary chemicals for a baby's laundry. It is best to avoid them. Artificial fragrances are often made from petroleum. Many do not degrade in the environment, and may have toxic effects on both fish and mammals. Additionally, they often can cause allergies and skin or eye irritation.
Optical Brighteners: These are actually tiny particles that stick to the surface of your clothes after washing. These particles make colours appear to be brighter by absorbing invisible ultraviolet light and re-emitting it as blue light. If you want to see if your detergent has these brighteners, simply look at the detergent under a black light. Although these optical brighteners may make your clothes appear brighter, they are chemical residues that are intentionally left behind on your clothes and may cause skin irritation or other allergic reactions.
Fabric Softeners: Fabric softener, either in liquid or sheet form, leaves a water-repelling residue on your laundry. When left on your cloth diapers (and towels), this residue makes them less absorbent and useful in the very purpose that they serve. It also coats your diaper covers and can deteriorate their water-proof laminate.
If your diapers NEED softening, add 1/2 cup baking soda to the rinse cycle of your wash. You can also try a commercial green fabric softener like of your choice. Dryer Balls also help soften laundry. One of our new favourite products is The Static Eliminator Re-Usable Dryer Sheets. These sheets contain no chemicals and are hypoallergenic. In addition, they don't affect the flame resistance of clothing. Want to know the best part? They are safe for cloth diapers!
Do Detergents Disinfect?
Many people believe that a detergent is supposed to disinfect clothing or diapers, but this is just not the case with most detergents. Detergents that contain something like chlorine bleach, hydrogen peroxide, iodine, will kill bacteria/viruses/fungi present in the laundry but detergents without these ingredients will clean only...not disinfect.
Most cloth diaper users avoid the above-mentioned ingredients because they are harsh on clothing and skin. When searching for the perfect diaper detergent for your family, please keep in mind that most of the higher ranked detergents for diaper laundry will NOT disinfect diapers and it would unreasonable to expect such.
What Is Detergent Residue?
Detergent Residue is a film that is left behind on clothing or in this case, cloth diapers. Why is this a problem?
Detergent build-up and residue can lead to repelling or beading of liquid; leaks and wicking; skin rashes and irritation; stinky diapers and diaper covers; dulling of colors in fabric. These all present problems for cloth diaper users so it is best to try and avoid detergent build-up and residue.
Residue problems are usually caused by additives in your detergent such as brighteners, fabric softeners, natural additives like citrus extract or grapeseed extract, soaps, and stain guards. Well, what if it is too late and you have a build-up problem? The most common method for removing residue is to strip diapers.
BabyOrganix O'Clean Laundry Powder
Finally, BabyOrganix launches its laundry powder with Zero ‘O’ nasty ingredients, protecting your home and making it safer for the environment while removing the toughest stains on your baby's clothes and modern cloth diapers.As always, our philosophy is to make products with love and care, because we believe it is important to reduce your exposure to potentially unhealthy chemicals like optical brighteners, dyes, chlorine bleach and enzymes. As a result, our powder is kinder to your skin, safer for sensitive skin, and safer to the environment.
BabyOrganix is formulated without nasties such as :
# dye & artificial fragrance
# chlorine bleach
# enzyme
# optical brightener
# softener
Our healthy and safe ingredients include :-
Sodium Carbonate, Sodium Sulphate, Carboxy Methyl Cellose
Non Ionic surfactant, Sodium Perborate
February 21, 2012 at 20:02:06
Sounds good this product......must have for the sake of my child's safety and also to save the environment. Currently most of the baby's detergent not only has dyes but somehow irritate my child's skin ...tk you Baby Organics...for this wonderful prodduct...looking forward to trying it soon...
February 21, 2012 at 22:53:33
Wow!!! what a great products. Thanks to BabyOrganix! Can I get it from Penang?
February 22, 2012 at 11:05:57
Dear PenangMama
Thank you for your interest! A representative from BabyOrganix wil contact you shortly.
Readers - you can also enquire about this top quality, child-safe, environmental friendly products at Econat Resources, tel no: 03-8023 1617.
February 22, 2012 at 13:07:29
Dear MyChildMalaysia
Greetings from BabyOrganix. Bravo all my dearest mummies. Yes, Penang u can contatc ms Jenny 012-470 2879. She is the sole distributor for Northern Region.
February 22, 2012 at 13:10:53
Dear Mums
To all our mum entrepreneurs out there, whether you are a SAHM (stay at Home mum) or FTWM (full time working mum), if you are interested to get some extra income and enjoy Green products for your family, we love to catch up with you. We have a re-seller programme. For those interested, You may email me your contact or sms me at 012-376 6633. CELIA of BabyOrganix. Love u all......