Laundry. All the time laundry.

Apr 24

Written By Tabitha

One of the things I didn’t anticipate was how much laundry I would do once there was an additional, yet very tiny, person in the household. We used disposable diapers but between blow-outs, spit-up, more spit-up and these days food and dirt, there’s a lot of laundry to be done! Burp cloths, bibs, swaddles, sheets, towels of various sizes - and these were all of his things never mind my clothes also bearing the brunt of his and my fluids especially in the first few months.

I started out doing his laundry separately since I still had regular detergent to go through for our things. But pretty soon I washed everything together (except my darks for which I use a different detergent) and I thought I’d save time and money using something that’s “free & clear” so I didn’t have to keep doing separate loads. For added fragrance I’d drop a tiny bit of Dreft detergent in the load.

The most recent brand I used was All Free & Clear. I didn’t think it was great at getting deodorant/end-of-day smells out of The Husband’s clothes, and it didn’t always remove food stains. And part of it may have to do with the washing machine we have, I just don’t know but All was not cutting it so I went back to Seventh Generation which wasn’t all that bad to begin with. Out of curiosity, I also asked my trusty friends on Instagram what they recommended in the free & clear or sensitive skin friendly realm. Natural was also good. Here’s the input I got* :

Tide Free & Clear - This came in on top with three people recommending it, saying their children/they have sensitive skin that broke out when using other brands but this one has been good so far.

Better Life Concentrated Detergent - my friend Abby who runs Get Real AF has this listed as one of her favorite things right now. Bonus is that I can order this from Amazon!

Rainwater Farm - This is a TN based company which uses rainwater they collect in their products. Another fun fact about the detergent - it has Porter Road Beef tallow in it! According to their description the detergent is “ideal for those with allergies, sensitive skin or troubles with eczema and psoriasis.” Sounds good to me, and even though the price tag is steep ($40 a bag) I would be supporting two local businesses so that’s a plus.

Honest Co. - two people said they love it and love the scented detergent as well. I didn’t realize Honest Co. made anything for adults so it’s nice to know I can use their detergent for my clothes too.

Norwex - Two people told me about this product that I’d never heard of and it looks like Norwex is a company that encourages sustainable living, which I do support.

Molly’s Suds - The story behind Molly’s Suds is tragic, but it’s nice to see the family take a loss and turn it into a platform for educating and for cleaner living. The price point looks pretty good too, so this would be one I’d try out.

Young Living’s Thieves detergent - I’ve always heard good things about their essential oils but didn’t know they had household cleaners as well!

Mrs Meyers Clean Day - I love how Mrs. Meyer’s hand soaps smell (Geranium is my favorite) but it doesn’t always work well when it comes to washing dirt off my hands so I’m not sure how well the detergent will work.

Grab Green - I don’t know much about this brand other than them being listed in EWG’s detergents that are rated A. Price wise it’s not bad and it’s available via Amazon!

Dr Bronner’s - This one’s interesting because it’s a castille soap that has multiple uses from your own body and face to dishwashing and laundry. Some of the reviews say it leaves oil stains on their clothes but most of them are positive. They also have a biodegradable cleaner that’s better for household uses. If I go with this brand I’ll probably try the cleaner.

Melaleuca Detergent - Melaleuca is a wellness company that requires a membership to purchase their products. I’m probably not going to join to get this but if anybody is a member and wants to hook a sister up, let me know!

Method - I like Method’s products, we have their foaming hand soap (the bubbles make it more fun when encouraging Theo to wash his hands).

If your favorite detergent isn’t listed on here feel free to chime in! Would love to know of the options out there that would work on adult and children’s clothes to keep them clean!