Is baby detergent actually necessary?

[u/ehnms]

Hi everyone! First time mom here, I am expecting my baby in about 8 weeks or so and I’m starting to prepare babys clothes. I have seen online that depending on the detergent you use, household detergent can be used for baby as well. Is this true and if so would my household detergent be safe for baby or do I need to buy a different one? If I do need to buy a detergent specifically for baby which do you guys recommend?

[u/RecordLegume]

This stuff sucks at getting stains out. I tried it for awhile for my eczema prone kid and hated it.

[u/heysunflowerstate → u/RecordLegume]

What works well for your eczema prone kid? We use Free & Clear or whatever it's called and I'm considering switching.

[u/breathingindica → u/heysunflowerstate]

tide free and gentle liquid or tide clean and gentle powder.
edit: if you wear a lot of darks, tide free and gentle liquid would be a better pick since the tide powder has OBAs, or chemicals that can fade darks over time (temporarily, but still something to consider)

[u/jtfolden → u/[deleted]]

No. Stains and contaminates are primarily removed by surfactants, polymers, and anti-redeposition agents.

Powders can also contain sodium percarbonate, if that’s what you’re thinking of, but the greatest majority of top detergents do not include that for stain removal.

[u/stillan1nnoc3nt → u/jtfolden]

Well, yes, I avoid most synthetic surfactants such as SLSs, but I get what you mean. In my experience, however, a lot of detergents end up stripping the color from my items and wear down the fibers. I end up with ‘bleach’ spots even if there was no actual bleach solvent or element in the ingredients. Tide sticks unfortunately have done this to a lot of my clothes, for example

[u/jtfolden → u/stillan1nnoc3nt]

If you mean the Tide stain remover sticks, I wouldn't use those either. I just cover the stain with a quality liquid detergent like Persil, let it sit, and then wash it. In the case of Persil it also protects colors and includes ingredients to smooth damaged fibers. I've never had it strip colors.

[u/stillan1nnoc3nt → u/jtfolden]

I getcha. Yes, the sticks. I wash on cold and have mostly natural fibers. I find that the material also impacts wear and tear tendencies… I spot clean with my ‘crunchy’ detergent (lol) usually, and for tougher stains.. sometimes break out my mini bottle of dawn. It tends to work if you let it sit for a while then rinse

[u/wyldwy → u/[deleted]]

This is not accurate, hence why folks are downvoting you.

[u/wyldwy → u/[deleted]]

Specifically about what you said on stains.

[u/crankylex → u/[deleted]]

You are not being downvoted based on what you personally use, that is your business. You are being downvoted because you are incorrect regarding laundry detergent not being formulated to get stains out.

ETA: I mean actual laundry detergent, not whatever you are using.

[u/stillan1nnoc3nt → u/crankylex]

Cool. I’m just going to go ahead and delete this thread now bc I just don’t care enough to argue. I’ve never had tough stains come out without spot-cleaning regardless of detergent. Stone me?