Washing and preping clothing

Hi there. I am 29 weeks and trying to get prepared while I can still move around somewhat comfortably, lol.
I was just wondering what detergent I should be using when I wash the baby clothes? I thought I should use baby detergent, but a friend of mine gave me a few clothes and she said I should wash them in Woolite. Hoping to get some advice on this.
Thanks!

 

Baby detergent is over-priced and useless, IMHO and in the opinion of the newborn care class I took. BUUTTTT, I did agree with the section in Baby Bargains about natural detergents and soaps. When I was prepping for my twins, following Baby Bargains advice I got all sorts of soaps from Cal Ben Soap. You order online, and it's pretty reasonably priced. I got shampoo, which I diluted 50:50 with water to use as baby shampoo and got laundry detergent. We use it on all our laundry and are pretty happy. The thought is that a lot of babies these days have sensitive skin and exema problems, which can be prevented or helped by natural soaps. Don't know if I believe that, but with a family history of skin issues and a good product the same cost as mainstream stuff, I was willing to try.

And despite a father and grandfather with seriously dry skin, our girls have been perfect!

We've also used Country Save laundry detergent and liked it, which I bought off amazon.

This is just a long way of saying: use a good laundry detergent, but there's no reason to use a baby specific one.

 

I am personally a huge fan of Dreft. I still use it with dd because I absolutely love the smell. Although I have also been told that ALL is fairly sensitive too (ironically it's the only detergent that actually make me break out into hives) Expense-wise I don't think Dreft is significantly more expensive than any other detergent, but may be more cost-effective than woolite. Just keep an eye out for BRU coupons, I just bought a 96 load jug for $22...not too bad IMO

 

I used Dreft on all the clothes that we got ready for my ds. I quickly learned it STINKS at getting out stains, and it's a HUGE pain to keep baby clothes separate from regular wash. Our ds did not have any skin issues, so we quickly switched to regular detergent. I would do Dreft of at least odor/dye free for the clothes beforehand, but then fairly quickly test and see how well they do with whatever you usually use. It's so much more convenient!

 

We used Kirkland (Costco store brand) Free & Clear, or whatever their "no fragrance" detergent is called. It's much cheaper than Dreft or other baby shampoos and it seemed just fine.

Don't wash more than a few things per baby, though, especially not the fancy stuff. When my kids were almost a year, I returned a bag full of 0-6 month Baby Gap clothes with the tags still on, and got an $80 credit!

 

I washed everything in the soap we wash our clothes in. Just Purex. I brought things in while they were in the NICU just in case they had a reaction, but they didn't. We've been using it since day 1. I agree that washing everything is a mistake. I wish I had kept some receiving blankets unwashed, but since I washed them all I couldn't return them.

 

When my DS was born we used Dreft for about 6 weeks. However, it quickly got to be too expensive for us. I had an "aha!" moment when I realized that we were already using All Free & Clear for mine and DH clothes. It has no smells or any extra stuff in it. We agreed to try one load of little man's clothes in it to see if it would irritate him and to our surprise it didn't.

Sooo....since he was 6 weeks old (and he's 2 1/2 now!) we've used All Free & Clear. It makes it so much easier because we don't have to wash his clothes alone, they can be washed with our things. We'll probably continue this once the twins are here.

 

We use Tide Free, so I plan to use the same detergent for the babies. One more detergent is one more thing to keep up with.

 

What about fabric softeners and/or dryer sheets?

 

I will be using DREFT for the first couple of months until I know whether my babies have sensitive skin or not. It worked out well with my first, who did not end up needing special detergent, and I switched to regular stuff once the dreft ran out. I've already gone through at least half a bottle of DREFT just pre-washing all the stuff for the twins!!

 

I used the Baby Purex. We used regular Purex for the rest of us. Now we use Purex Free and Clear on everything. If I had to do it over again, I would just use the Purex Free and Clear from the start. My girls have sensitive skin and all of the "baby" detergents have fragrance.

 

We use All Clear or the Lavendar Detergent from Trader Joes. The lavendar one is super mild. I personally have never used baby detergent and didn't have any problems.

 

I use Dreft. We have a HE washer & dryer, so for the 1 load I do every other day, I just probably a teaspoon of soap. I don't have a stain problem with the breastmilk or spitup, but do with poop. If I do not stick some soap on the poop-spot, LOL, when it's wet, I may as well forget about the clothes. It will NOT come out. I'm still using the very first container I bought of it. It's supposed to last through 22 loads. Since I prewashed everything we had in newborn, 0-3 months and 3-6 months, plus do the aforementioned load every other day, I'd say I'm getting my value from it. I use fabric softener, but again, just a TEENY little bit. I'm not brand specific on that.

Beyond that, I hear that my house perennially smells like baby. Not poop, just laundry, which is a pretty pleasing smell for visitors.

Thanks, Dreft!

 

I agree with the use of "Free" detergents. I used to use SA8 (Amway brand) which is high quality and caused no problems with my babies. But now I just use either the Costco or Purex types mentioned by PP. Also, for fabric softener, just pour in a cup of vinegar. It does a better job than some brand name fabric softeners I've used, it rinses clean, and it's really cheap!

 

With my oldest DD we used Dreft. But with the Twins we used All Baby, it is less expensive than Dreft. :good:

 

I love Dreft because of the smell, but now I use anything that is free and clear so I don't have to separate out the babies' clothes.

 

4 kids here and never used a "baby" detergent. Really no need. I use "free and clear" for the whole family.

 

Thanks so much for the posts! It can be very confusing. I have resisted the temptation to wash EVERYTHING we have, lol. The good thing is I have been able to get a lot of used clothes from family & friends. But I will keep in mind that some stuff can be returned if I leave the tags on. Great info, thanks again. :thanks:

 

Tide Free here. We were already using it due to DH's super sensitive skin and it has been fine with the babies from day 1.

 

Four kids here, too. I have never pre-washed clothes, nor have I ever used special baby detergent. No problems.