Why Choosing the Right Baby Laundry Detergent Matters (and What to Use Instead of Dreft)
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When you bring a baby home, everything from feeding to sleeping to laundry suddenly takes on a whole new level of importance. One thing that often gets overlooked? The laundry detergent you're using on those tiny onesies, swaddles, and blankets. But your baby's skin is incredibly delicate—up to 30% thinner than an adult’s—which makes it more sensitive to harsh chemicals, fragrances, and irritants. That’s why choosing the right detergent is more than a nice-to-have—it’s a must.
Why You Need a Gentle Detergent for Baby
Newborn skin is prone to dryness, rashes, and irritation. Common culprits? Harsh ingredients in everyday laundry detergents. Even trace amounts of certain chemicals left on fabric can cause redness, itching, or eczema flare-ups. And since babies are constantly snuggled up in their clothes, sheets, and burp cloths, they’re in near-constant contact with whatever your detergent leaves behind.
Ingredients to Avoid
When scanning the label of your laundry detergent, keep an eye out for these common irritants:
Fragrances and dyes: These are top triggers for skin reactions, and they’re completely unnecessary for getting clothes clean.
Sulfates (SLS and SLES): These create foam but can strip natural oils and irritate sensitive skin.
Optical brighteners: Chemicals that make clothes appear whiter, but they stay on fabric and can cause allergic reactions.
Phthalates and parabens: Often hidden in "fragrance" or "preservative" listings, these are hormone disruptors and best avoided around babies.
Why Dreft Isn’t the Best Option
Dreft has been marketed as the gold standard in baby laundry for decades—but if you take a closer look, it’s not as gentle as it claims to be. The original formula contains fragrance, dyes, and other synthetic ingredients that can irritate sensitive skin. While it may smell like “baby,” that scent comes at the cost of potential allergic reactions or flare-ups—especially in babies with eczema-prone skin.
Dreft has released a "Free & Gentle" version, but even that one still includes questionable ingredients. For a product made specifically for newborns, it falls short of the clean, transparent standards many parents are looking for today.
See why EWG has given Dreft’s “Stage 1: Newborn” detergent an F.
Better Laundry Detergents for Babies
Here are a few baby-safe (and EWG-approved) alternatives that are fragrance-free, dye-free, and much gentler on your baby’s skin:
Final Thoughts
When it comes to baby laundry, a little label reading goes a long way. Skip the heavily marketed options and look for a detergent that’s truly gentle on your baby’s skin. Your baby may not thank you now, but their soft, irritation-free skin definitely will.