Best Detergent to Use for Washing Newborn Clothes

I had a friend who used to get the special newborn detergents, and her pediatrician said that unless the whole family uses it, the baby will be touching clothes, sheets, blankets, etc. that are used in regular detergent. So he said to either switch to something like All Free and Clear or the similar generic brands (I get the Costco brand) or try washing baby's clothes in your regular detergent and watch and see if they get a reaction. If they don't, then just use the regular detergent for everything. If they do get a rash or a reaction, then switch all the family's laundry to All Free and Clear or get special laundry detergent, like Charlie's Soap. http://www.charliesoap.com/

Also, I got some Oxyclean for Babies and now use the regular Oxyclean. I would put that in with the detergent and set the machine to soak for 15 to 30 min and that worked wonders at getting stains out! A few times I would need to run the items again, so I would check each item as I pulled it out of the wash and set aside those that still had a mild stain and rewash those items. But most of the time, it got them out the first time!

I also got the Diapers and Wipes at Costco. They are so much cheaper that way and easily make up the difference of the Costco Membership. Plus, Costco sends coupons and I would alternate between the Costco Brand and Huggies. In the smaller sizes, the Costco Brand was cheaper without a coupon, but Huggies was cheaper with a coupon. Now that she is in size 4, Huggies are cheaper without a coupon and Costco Brand is cheaper with a coupon. They don't have the newborn sizes, though, so those were the size I requested at the shower and then went and bought a few more packages before switching her into size 1 when she was two months old. (My DD was 7 1/2 pounds when born, but takes after my hubby and is tall and very skinny.)

When I have run out, I bought the cheapest Walmart brand, and boy was that a mistake!! I'll never do that again. They didn't hold very much and leaked, and my DD was able to take them off (so I quickly learned never to put her to bed in just a diaper and shirt, but she is almost 2 years old.) I've had some relatives give me some Luvs brand, and I thought they were ok, but I really do prefer the Costco Brand or Huggies.

If you want something for sensitive skin - the price is much better with Arm & Hammer for Sensitive Skin. (I think Dreft is way over priced.) We used it to wash everything. I wanted something that would work on all clothes - so Arm and Hammer worked for me.

Since you are on budet try using All -free of dye and perfumes etc. Dreft makes a great detergent for use on little one's clothing - but its super pricey. Be sure to register at lots of mom's sites - pampers, huggies, and babycenter etc - that way you can get lots of coupons in the mail too. I buy my diapers at 1800diapers or amazon where the shipping is free - but seeing you have a newborn that will be growing so fast, you will be changing sizes frequently, so you probably want smaller quantities of diapers for the time being. I imagine you can probably find your best savings for name brands at wal-mart.
Best of luck, congratulations,
K.

dreft is made especially for infants because it is a mild detergent. and you cant beat wal-mart for cheap anything.

We have always used Dreft, even though it's pricey; that was at my husband's (and mother in law's) insistence. My guess is other things can be used. You could just try your regular stuff and see if the babies have a bad reaction to it. Aren't they rubbed up against your clothes all the time?

For diapers, we have been very pleased with People's Choice, a brand carried at WalMart & Sams. We actually like their fit better than Playtex or Huggies, and the price is about 40% less. One trick I have learned with two sets of twins: as soon as babies start leaking out their diapers, it's probably time to switch to a larger size, or at least at night when they have to go longer without change.

Hey J.! I used Baby All for my children's clothes. I loved the way it made their clothes smell! You can use any detergent just have to watch their skin.

As far as diapers, I love Luvs. They aren't that expensive compared to Huggies and Pampers. You can get a box of diapers for around $20.

Hope this helps!!

R.

I used Dreft for a little while, but simply because I had lots of samples of it. Then we switched to Tide and have had no problems at all. I also used Tide as a prewash on all those baby stains and it worked like a charm! I quit buying Shout and stuff like that and just use the Tide.

We personally use baking soda and apple cider vinegar to wash our clothes. Not only is it really gentle, it's also very cheap! I know some other people use Dr. Bronner's soap (I hear it can be pricey to start, but it's sooo concentrated it lasts forever).

With all due respect to all postings on the list - may we just think logically for one moment?

Detergent companies are in the biz to make $$. They have cleverly played on the emotions of new moms to sell "extra mild" for baby's tender skin, right?

But aren't these babies laying on mom's clothes? dad's clothes? gramma and uncle bobby? Do they all wash their clothes in Extra Mild for Baby's skin?
What if baby lays in mom & dads bed for a midnight snack? Are their sheets washed in the pricey stuff too?

So, logic tells us that unless your baby's skin actually reacts negatively to the regular, less expensive detergent, USE IT!
If you begin to notice a bad reaction (not just usual baby rash) you'll need to think about washing the ENTIRE family's laundry in the pricey stuff.

Save Money - Use what you got!!! Love it?

love,
B. :-)

We use Baby All. I love the way it smells. I do not like the way Dreft smells at all and it is so expensive. My daughter has very sensitive skin and we have not had any problems with any detergents we have used. We buy our diapers at Sams. Good Luck!!!

I use All for Babys. It has all the same ingredients that Dreft and is half the price. I still use that for my 2 1/2 year old daughter.

I use Free and Clear ALL for the entire family. It's inexpensive and mild. The special baby detergents are really unnecessary.

As for diapers, I just buy the store brands (Target, Wal Mart, etc). The seem to work just as well as the name brand diapers and are a lot cheaper.

Good luck!

I use ALL Free and Clear for my whole family. Hope this helps.

Deteregent:
All free and clear. Just as good as dreft and I get it at Sams in the bulk size.

Diapers:
Do not go with Sams clib brand as it is bad! Go with the Costo brand if you have memberships to those or know someone who does. Actually, the best bargain I found is at Diapermart.com. They have location in the DFW area and I liked their diapers. They were the definitely the cheapest when I was looking at them.

My children have super sensitive skin so I had to use Dreft. Yes, it is a little more expensive but there are some things you can not put a price on. I also found the best deals on diapers were at Sams or Costco. My kids were Huggies babies once they were out of Newborn/Preemie diapers. Before that, it was Pampers. The only problem is when they get to the size 1, at Sams/Costco, they are size 1-2 so it is harder to get a good fit.

I have found the best place for diapers is Costco or Sam's Club. Other than that diapers.com has good prices. Plus if you buy enough there is no shipping, and no tax. (BTW, tax free weekend - today - does include diapers. You may want to go buy some now!!! If you buy them elsewhere just be sure to use coupons. Go and sign up on the Huggies website and check newspapers for coupons. They can really add up.

As for detergent, my pediatrician, who is usually very conservative, told me not to spend the extra money on baby detergent. We have been using good old Tide since he was born and never had any problems. We just wash his items separate from ours. He did tell us to watch his skin closely though to be sure he didn't get irritated, and if that did happen we could switch to something else.

Congratulations.

I use All Free and Clear now, but also used All Baby before this. Much cheaper than dreft. The baby detergents are just detergents that have no dye or scent in them, so the All free and clear is the cheapest choice.

The Wal-Mart diapers White cloud diapers is all I used for my daughter, but I had to use huggies for my son, they were tho only ones that wouldn't leak out of the top for him.