Dreft - Van Nuys,CA

I have switched to using Tide Free - it's cheaper and I think just as good as Dreft. My 8 month old son has very sensitive skin and he does fine with it.

Dreft bottles say up to 18 months. I used it till I ran out around that age. Now I just use unscented stuff.

I have very sensitive skin and ONLY use a certain detergent - I NEVER used Dreft for my baby clothes... It is scented and colored and not good on clothing or baby stains!!!

I'm honestly surprised when I hear that people use that stuff! I, personally, hate the smell of it and it's expensive! Part of the idea of a baby detergent should be (in my mind) something for sensitive or potentially sensitive skin. So why does everyone use Dreft? Why do they even make it? Because with proper advertising people will buy anything.

Hi,

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I used it with my first child, because I thought also that I had to. With the second, I used it for a few months. With the third, I never did. I use the Kirlkand brand also. Some children are more sensitive, though, to the different detergents and soaps. So just use a mild one, as some indicated already. Much cheaper than Dreft.

You don't have to use Dreft with babies. My 10 month old has eczema and Dreft breaks him out in a rash. We have used either Tide Free and Clear or Purex free since he was a newborn. They are free of dyes, perfumes, etc. These have worked great for my little one's sensitive skin. I know use this detergent for the entire family.

with mine I just unscent reg. detergent

you don't ever have to use it at all! it's just a marketing scam... we've always used Tide and Era, and my girls have been fine. .

I stopped at 1 year...it was fine. "ALL FREE" is good.

I never used it and my kids were fine, so you could stop now I'm sure.

i never used it at all (except 1 bix for my first child b/c it was a gift). If your baby has sensetive skin you may want to try one of the dye free formulas (all of the major brands have one now) but I have always put my kids clothes in the regular wash with our (with whatever brand is on sale)

I stopped when my daughter was six months and now use a hypoallergenic, dye free regular detergent. It works great. I even use Oxy Clean for blood or bad stains, but rinse thoroughly before washing.

I never used dreft, i used all pure, non scented and hypo allergenic - and MUCH cheaper.

For our first child we used 7th Generation Baby Detergent for maybe a year. For our second, I think we used it for a short time and switched to a fragrance free detergent. We never had any problems. But every kid has different sensitivities.

Dreft has lots of chemicals and is full of dyes and perfumes.... so you would be better off not using it at all. Plus it fades clothes horribly.

My kids' clothes have been washed with our regular laundry from day 1. But we use a non chemical laundry soap, so I was never worried about chemicals on their skin. We use Charlies Soap (www.charliesoap.com)

I used dreft with my first child (my daughter) thinking that I had to. I now use the kirkland brand free and clear with all my household laundry. My daughter never had a reaction to using the same detergent that I use for all of our other laundry and she is now almost 4 years old. My son is allergic to fabric softener, so since he seems to be more sensitive than my daughter was I switched us to the perfume/dye free detergent. Dreft is very expensive. The only way to tell is to toss some of your daughters clothes in with a load using your everyday detergent. If she doesn't have any kind of reaction (rash, allergies etc...) then there should be no reason why you have to keep purchasing Dreft. Hope that helps.

S.

My neigbors daughter is in college and she still uses Dreft for her own personal laundry. I still use it for my 4.5 year old. Personal pref. The smell is why my 50 year old neighbor still uses it. I guess I just like that it is so gentle on the clothes. We went to a special Bra fitting party once and the lady said Woolite is terrible for bras and Dreft was great if you want them to last.

you can stop ..i stopped around 6 months..

You can stop now. I always stopped at about 10 months.

It is more for a newborn's delicate skin.

I just had my third baby and don't even use Dreft. I just use our regular detergent and do and extra rince cycle. Dreft is too expensive.

I actually know of a company that offers laundry detergent that is safe to use on children's clothes and will keep the fire retardant intact. The detergent is also supper concentrated and helps save a bundle of money! They offer products that are safe for the environment and for your family. The best part is that you shop factory direct so you save so much money! Visit http://www.gogreenwebcast.com/gagreen to request the information! All moms need this!

I never used Dreft. I think the whole "baby" detergent thing is a marketing ploy. We have used Tide Free from day 1 with no issues. It's good for our clothes and doesn't contain those scents. Recently, I switched to Rockin' Green Soap which I love. It gets my whites sparkling and it doesn't cause build up in clothes like detergents do.

http://www.ttbbb.com/product_p/rockin_green.htm

i started using the non dye, non scented kirkland brand at costco when she was a yr, just do a test load to make sure she doesn't have a reaction. i have not had any problems & my daughter is now 18 months

I agree with most of the postings on here, that you don't NEED to use Dreft on baby clothes. If you are looking for a safe and natural product, Melalecua has scented and unscented detergents. check out www.melaleuca.com and let me know if you have any questions.

It is not neccesary to continue using a baby detergent but I would be very careful in your choice of detergent. Many store brands such as tide contain harsh chemicals that have been linked to skin irritations, allergies, asthma and more. I am a mom of two little girls (4 1/2 & 3yrs). My first daughter broke out in severe hives many times as an infant so I began doing some research and found out that many everyday products contain toxic chemicals including Johnson baby shampoo (Contains Quaternium-15 which is a formaldehyde releaser) LInked to cancer. For the past few years I have been shopping with an incredible wellness company. They offer products that are much safer for our families and the environment and I love that we get them at wholesale cost, so we save money! We also save time because they are shipped directly to our door. After switching out our everyday products my daugther no longer gets hives or suffers from allergies. I would love to share the full details with you and help your family like mine has been help. Feel free to visit this site and request more details http://www.livetotalwellness.com/freedom

Wishing you the best,
M.

Run a load with your clothing and a few of her items mixed in to see if she has a reaction. If not, you can keep washing her clothes with yours in regular detergent. If you see a reaction, I recommend continuing to wash her clothes separately in a Free and Clear solution (we used All and Tide depending on what was on sale)rather than expensive Dreft-works the same!

I used it for the first year... Tide "Free and Clear" is basically the same thing though.

I think you'd know if your child had overly sensitive skin by now.

I'm dissapointed in my fellow moms! Dreft is used to prevent the fire retardant in baby clothes from being washed out too quickly. Regular detergent does not allow the retardant to last as long as it could. I would strongly suggest using dreft until your baby is no longer in a crib, and can get out of bed on her own if needed.

Hi A., you can go ahead and stop using it. Some of your posts gave you misleading answers. Brittany was worried about the flame retardant issue, but you don't need to worry about that. The chemicals that are in the flame retardant are extremely toxic so the sooner they are gone, the better.

Second, the Melaleuca company is not green and should not be marketed as such. I use Seventh Generation, Ecover, Ecos or BioKleen detergents on my family's clothing and any of those brands would be gentle on a baby's tender skin.

I hope this helps!

It depends on if she has sensitive skin or not. Try using your regular detergent and watch for break-outs/rashes. At 19 months, I think you're clear to stop unless she breaks-out or has other skin issues to begin with. Good luck!