Is Using Dreft for Baby Clothes Really Necessary?

I had always used Free and Clear by ALL but bought Dreft when my son was born. Boy did it smell! How could that be better?

I never bought it again.

I used Dreft for the first few months, then I switched to All baby. At around 10 - 12 months old I switched to All Free and clear. My son had no skin allergies or anything so it worked well. With my next I would just use All baby for a while and then switch to the free and clear unless they have some skin problems.

We used it for the first couple of months and then moved onto other Free and Clear detergents with no problem.

Congrats on the upcoming baby! :)

I used ALL Baby detergent for my first baby. I think I used it for about 6 or 8 months and then switched her to our regular detergent. I did not use any special detergent for my second baby. It was more expensive and time consuming to wash his clothes separately. Just watch for any signs of irritation and switch if necessary.

Depends on the kid how necessary it is. If your child has sensitive skin it can help. Alternatives that are just as good but cheaper would be All Free and Clear or I would guess any other free-and-clear type.

when my kids were babies, i used any kind of liqiud det. that was on sale that was free and clear- all makes one, so does purex and arm and hammer. i switched over to just regular purex or all around 6 or 8 months.

No, Dreft is not necessary. My daughter never used it for her babies. I used it only for diapers, but now they have other "non scented" and "sensitive skin" detergents so that if you switch to what you usually use for your clothes, and your baby has a skin reaction, you could use one of them. But, most detergents rinse out very well and do not cause any reaction to babies skin.

I would not use regular detergent on baby clothes, especially a newborn. I however used the purex baby instead of the dreft, about 1/3 the price and just as good.

The advantage of using Dreft (or something with out colors/scents) is that it is gentler on a baby's sensitive skin. We used it for our first child for a few months and washed his clothes separately until we knew he wouldn't react to our normal detergent. With our daughter, we used All Free & Clear, and it worked just as well. We switched to using ours again when she was a few months old.

You can get Dreft and All Free and Clear really inexpensively at Costco/Sams Club - much better alternative to the higher costs at other stores.

Good luck!

I've used Dreft - used it until my daughters were each about a year. Now, I have a son - I only use regular detergent with his clothes. Dreft is to darn expensive! Add a second rinse cycle, and unless your baby has allergies, everything should be fine.

The only difference I noticed between Dreft and other detergents was the price! I buy detergents that say "free & clear" or unscented. Just keep an eye on your baby for any rashes. If she develops one then you might want to switch to another brand or to the Dreft.

Dreft is not necessary, and can actually cause problems. I used Dreft when my son was born, and he developed eczema. My pediatrician told me to use a detergent that is free of perfumes/dyes, and that Dreft has perfumes in it that can actually irritate babies skin!! I switched to ALL Free&Clear and saw instant results!!

Hi J.,
I do not use dreft, but i do use a baby purex (since it is much cheaper). Both my daughters have sensitive skin and even the free ad dclear made them break out with rashes and dry spot. I would use the dreft or the purex for the first few months then try a free and clear. If they break out in a rash you'll know why. I would suggest you switch either before or well after introducing food so you know it isnt really a food allergy and not the soap.

My daughter has REALLY sensitive skin. I always just washed her clothes in Gain powder detergent. I used their liquid fabric softner & dryer sheets. I didn't even add an extra rinse cycle and her skin was great. ...and that says something. LOL! I've neve tried Dreft. Good luck!

We always used ALL - Free which was a lot cheaper than Dreft. I think it depends on your baby. Actually my pediatrician said that dryer sheets are worse than using a different detergent.

Three kids here and I never bought a single bottle of Dreft. It's a major waste of money. Plus I've heard too many moms complain about it giving all the light colored clothes a tinge of pink.

We use Arm & Hammer free/sensitive (no dyes or perfumes) for our family. We've always just washed all the clothes together (usually cold water - everything turns out fine). Who has the time to do separate loads of wash for just the baby?!? Their clothes are so small by the time you get enough for a load they have no clothes left in the closet! LOL!

Ditto on the "free and clear" comments. Personally, I thought Dreft was REALLY perfume-y! I thought the point was that dyes and perfumes would be hard on their sensitive skin, so I don't know why Dreft has such a strong scent. I've used All Free & Clear and unscented dryer sheets since my son was born and have had no problems.

L.

I looked into this when I was preg and actually found it was not really good for babies. It as a lot of perfume to give everything the "baby" smell. I have always used "free and clear" stuff and we've never had a problem. The other great thing is that all the laundry can be done together, I don't have to do loads of just her stuff.

Also, basic baby shampoo is really good at getting formula out of clothes and stuff. When you take that baby out of clothes they have spit up on, rub some baby shampoo on it and you won't see anything when it comes out of the laundry. I always had a travel bottle in the diaper bag and pretty much all of her clothes made it through prefectly.

Hi J.
Dreft is NOT necessary if you're using a toxic free laundry. Look into Shaklee cleaners and laundry and read some of the staggering finds on toxic cleaners in our homes. This may sound like a sales pitch, I don't know another way to let people know, and I believe if you do the research you will find it to be very very helpful. livingwithsolutions.com Let me know if you need any more help. Good Luck
S.

I think using dreft is really personal preference. I know alot of people like it for that "baby smell". I always just used all or purex but bought the free and clear kind...with no dyes or scent and never had a problem.
S.

I used Tide Free for the first year. After that, I use(d) regular Tide and Clorox 2 for almost every load (need it for the stains). The laundry detergent never seemed to irritate my boys skin. However, when my oldest son was about 2.5, he did complain of itchy skin. At that time, I switched from using baby bath products to Dove sensitive liquid soap for the bath (and Lubriderm sensitive for skin lotion) and he hasn't complained since.

I think it really depends on how sensitive your child's skin really is.

Goodluck.

If you read labels you will see that Dreft is no different than a lot other detergents. I used All Free and Clear when I first had the twins. It's ingredients are no different than All Baby. Unfortunately, marketers add baby to the name of many items and increase the price. That being said, I switched to making my own detergent with Borax and Washing Soda several months ago. Good luck.

Hi J.,
I used All Baby instead of Dreft for babies #2-#4/5 twins...and the last couple babies I only bought one bottle of it. Once that was gone, I just stuck their clothes in with the rest of ours, and I just use regular All. I never had a problem. I always used either liquid fab softener or dryer sheets, too...I guess it just depends on how sensitive your baby's skin is. I was just lucky my kids never had a problem. It was just so much easier to throw their laundry in with everyone else's...I have WAY too much laundry to have to keep baby stuff apart from the rest!! ;) Good luck to you!
S.
Stay at home mom to 5...ages 7.5 yrs. - 1.5 yo twins:)

I don't think Dreft is necessary, but I do think the detergent should be hypoallergenic for babies. My son has very sensative skin, so much so that my shirts also had to be washed in hypoallergenic detergent when he was little because he'd react to my clothes. My kids are 3 1/2 and almost 2 now, and because of my sons's allergies, I wash everyones clothes in All Free and Clear and do not use dryer sheets at all. Congratulations on your soon to be second baby.

I never used it with my kids...I have really sensitive skin, so I've had to be very careful about what detergents I use. When my boys were little, I just used the same detergent on their clothes I used on mine, which was unscented and allergen free.

I was never able to use Dreft in my laundry because I have a front loading washing machine. I always washed my baby's clothes in with ours and they were just fine. I use a detergent from a wellness company that doesn't foam up as much as regular detergents do.

In the NICU we use Tide with bleach on all our baby clothes and blankets. No, I don't think Dreft is necessarily.

Nope not necessary. But you might want to consider free and clear or hypoallergenic. You will know that if your baby has a reaction, to try something else. I will say I did use it for my first child and honestly, I didnt think it did a very good job getting stains out. The Dreft stain remover did pretty well for stains but not the detergent. By the time I had my twins and then 4th child I didnt have time to wash their clothes seperately so I just washed all our clothes in the same detergent. My 4th baby had a reaction to whatever the detergent uses at the hospital that he had to have his linens special washed with Ivory at the hospital, but when I brought him home he had no reaction to the free and clear that I used. Sometimes it may take a bit to figure it out what is okay for your little guy.

well, when I had my kids, I couldn't afford to buy separate Dreft or other baby laundry detergent. I just washed my kids clothes in the same detergent I used everyday. Never had any problems. SOME kids are sensitive to things like that, but thank GOD mine weren't.

Much more important than using a special baby laundry detergent is using something that is harsh-chemical free and unscented. Tide makes one, ALL makes one, and all of Seventh Generation's detergents are paraben free. But this is actually important throughout your life - it isn't just a baby thing. We have just gotten used to using extreme chemicals in our household, but it is dangerous and unnecessary.

Dear J.
First let me send best wishes for your new arrival :) Next I want to say that Dreft like many of the other laundry detergents on the market are really bad for everyone not just babies. So many skin allergies along with Asthma ,ADD, ADHD
Most of them contain formaldehyde and Dreft along with the others has it. They use it as a preservative it's under a name no one can pronounce called Q 15 or Quaternion 15 it's even Johnson and Johnson Baby shampoo. We have used Melaleuca Products for the past 18 years. Our son had asthma so bad we had to home school him for 2 years in high school because of the cleaning products they were cleaning the school with. When we switched everything over to Melaleuca he was off all med's and puffers and his nebulizer within 3 weeks! They are safe non toxic and much less expensive per use then store brands or even other companies the have "Green" products. If you would like more information I would be happy to help with a safe alterative
M.

With our first daughter, we made sure to get Dreft or something like it. We then realized that it wasn't doing much of anything for formula type stains. We asked my sister what she did since she has a daughter a year older than our first, she said she ended up just using regular detergent and pre-wash and used hot water with anything stained, and then just ended up doing that regularly.

That's what we ended up doing too, and both our daughters (6 and 3) did fine.

I used Dreft from day one and didn't have any problems, but I probably would've, because my girl had sensitive skin and had a horrible diaper rash at just a couple weeks old from using the cheap wipes and diapers that came in the sample bags from my childbirth classes. I switched to pampers and used wet rags until that was cleared up and then made sure the wipes didn't have any alcohol in them (pampers sensitive.) I used dreft until about 23 months because I bought my last box right before she turned 18 months which is how long they recommended using it. She broke out into a rash, but I think it was a combination of using regular detergent (I use Arm & Hammer) and also switching my dryer sheets from bounce to purex. She is getting over it, slowly but surely. It is easy to wash baby clothes separately, just use Dye Grabbers if you have any new clothes that might fade. They work wonders and now I am using them for all my loads of laundry.

Our pediatrician told us that any "free and clear" version of a detergent works as well. We use Arm & Hammer because it goes on sale cheaply, or Dynamo (B1G2 at Meijer pretty often). However, a woman once told me that Dreft and store versions of it (Target has one, not sure who else) is formulated to not strip off flame-retardent on clothing. I don't know if it's true or not, but I guess it's something to take into consideration.

My older son has eczema and no matter what I use, it hasn't gotten better, so I don't get expensive detergent - it's not worth the money since it make no difference to his skin.

The only think u should worry about is if ur child has sensitive skin or is allergic to ur laundry detergents. I did use dreft the first year but then i tried a load with my normal soap and he did fine so i stopped buying dreft.

I used dreft for the first few washes of my first. then I stuck with the "Free and clear". I would just remember to watch the skin and make sure there is no reaction to whatever you would like to use.

Hi J.,

The leader of our birthing classes said not to waste the money on it...that the other brands are fine. So we just used Tide and washed them regularly with both our babies and never had an issue.

Thanks,
L.

J.,

I couldn't afford Dreft, so I used Purex's baby detergent (could get them for 2/$4 when on sale) on my kids... since I have one that is 5 yr, 4 yr and 2 yr. I used it for a while. Well atleast till the kids were all 1 yr. For about a year I've been using regular detergent on all the clothes... but I do run them through and extra rinse cycle. I don't use fabric softner on the kids clothes because they have all broke out when I did.

Here soon, I'm going to have to start getting the baby detergent again... well sometime next summer. I do think you should use it for atleast a year since they are so sensitive - but now they make a lot of "free" detergents... that might work just as well and not cost so much.

If your worried about your daughter - was a few things and see how she does. Just make sure nothing else changes in her enviroment or diet for a few days so you can watch for a reaction and know it's the soap.

Good luck & congratz on the very special Christmas gift you are caring.

My second daughter is 9 days old now and I've been washing all her stuff in regular dollar store brand detergent since the beginning because I kept forgetting to get the Dreft. So far I haven't seen any signs of a reaction, and I remember starting to use regular detergent for my older daughter's clothes by 2 months and never having a problem. As long as your baby isn't one that has really sensitive skin (in which case you'll have issues with diapers, wipes, and everything else, doing their laundry with yours should be fine.

At 6 months, my daughter had broken out with echsima all over her entire body. She was put on Prednizone liquid orally and Cutivate cream for her skin with Aquafor over that. I even used the Aquafor in place of the white, zinc creams to prevent diaper rash, etc. Turns out she was sensitive to corn protein (I was nursing her, had to change my diet). As she got older (now 10 yrs old) I continued to use Dreft as I had trouble finding anything without additives until she got older that did not irritate the echcima. I eventually switched to Purex and then Purex Naturals when that came out. For fabric softener, I use Downy Free & Clear. I currently use Melaluca brand Mela Power Fresh Scent for washing all our laundry for about 10 months now and she's doing fine with that. I prefer the Downy over their fabric softener. I also use several other of their household products (I love their pre-treater) around my kids and I'm happy with them.

Buy the smallest container, only wash one or two loads to test for any reactions. You may get a reaction immediately, or it may take several days to show a reaction. Bottom line, try different products one at a time, first to see if your baby has any reactions to the clothes washed in them (skin or otherwise). Then buy the one that costs reasonably, and you like.

We didn't even use half a bottle of Dreft before switching to the regular stuff. Just be sure NOT to use a dyer sheet or fabric softener as it will reduce the efficiency of the flame resistance of the fabric.