Is There Anything Wrong Fabric Softener or Wearing Flame Resistant Clothing?

Yes, it will break down the flame resistant quality of clothing. I use vinegar in each laundry load to not only take care of some of the smells from work out clothes, etc. but also to soften the fabrics. It works okay. My son gets pretty bad excema so I stopped using fabric softener a while ago.

There's a ton of chemical in fabric softener and dryer sheets - especially anything with a persistent scent (including regular laundry detergent). Those chemicals get absorbed through the skin. It's bad for anyone, but especially so for babies, who have thinner skin and less ability to filter it out. I use Tide Free for all my and my baby's laundry (and have a bottle of 7th Generation to try out soon). The baby gets no dryer sheets, and I sometimes use an unscented dryer sheet on my stuff.

Flame resistant, well, that's more chemicals and I don't like it, but I think by law all baby/child pj's have to be flame resistant if they don't fit really snugly. That means all blanket sleepers, etc. have the flame resistant chemicals and I don't think you can really get away from it. But I also don't think (but not sure - haven't done the research) that those chemicals are quite as bad.

My thinking is that if the baby's close enough to fire that his clothes need to be flame resistant, there are some serious problems going on anyway.

they're loaded up with chemicals. for most folks it's not a big deal but if you have sensitive skin, allergies or just want fewer chemicals in your life, avoid 'em.
khairete
S.

If you want your kids pjs to stay flame resistant don't use fabric softener on them. But the way I look at it is these days everything is bad for you so I try nt to stress over everything

I use fabric softener and I don' t see a problem with it. Not sure why anyone would?

Fabric softener builds up on the lint screen in your dryer. Take it out of the dryer and run it under hot to warm water, if the filter fills with water it has fabric softener residue on it. Wash the filter in hot soapy water and let dry. The build-up of residue can cause a dryer fire.
Some fabrics can be ruined by fabric softener, especially dryer sheets. It can leave greasy spots all over the fabric. Even if you don't use the sheets in every load there is still residue on the drum inside the dryer.

fabric softener is bad for kids with allergies. I also read that residue that fabric softener leaves behind in your dryer can cause fires. Whether the fire thing is true, who knows, but my daughter has exzema and it would go crazy if she was in contact with fabric softener.

Like the other moms are saying... the fabric softener isn't bad, and the flame resistant clothing isn't bad (in fact, I think that children's sleepwear is required to be flame resistant), but if you use fabric softener ON the flame resistant clothing, then the fabric softener affects the functionality of the flame resistance of the clothing. In other words... don't use fabric softener on your kid's flame resistant PJ's because they will no longer be flame resistant.

I also don't use it on towels or anything fleece. But that's just me.

All of our jammies are so old it doesn't matter anymore. I use fabric softener in everything except towels. But I do use a dryer sheet int he dryer with them. I hate static and have a real problem with it.

I had a test that a Neurologist did on me where he put needles in me and shocked me to see if I had nerve damage. He kept laughing because I could feel shocks that he said were not supposed to be felt at all. I am sensitive to static in a way you can't imagine.

Years ago (easily more than 20) my mother used to use liquid fabric softener until one day my father lit a cigarette and the chemicals from the fabric softener ignited. It was a quick flash of flame with no harm to dad or the bathrobe he was wearing but still scary. Needless to say no one in our family uses liquid fabric softener anymore. I use a bar that sticks on the inside of the dryer.

I think there are chemicals used to make some fabrics flame retardant but I don't know the specifics.

We had a discussion about this over the holidays. My cousin said that fabric softener ruins the flame resistance of children's clothing. I have not tried to verify this myself, but she is usually pretty good on these issues. My daughter has very sensitive skin, so I usually just use Tide Free or another perfume and dye free detergent. I rarely use fabric softener, but when I do, I choose a "free" version of that too, and only use 1/2 a sheet - which is still more than enough.

I'm with Bayley--both fabric softener and flame retardant clothing are full of chemicals. I try to limit exposure whenever and wherever I can.

I will NOT use fabric softener on my kids clothes until they are old enough to know what to do in case of a fire. Fabric softener reduces the flame resistance in clothing. If there was a fire, I want their clothes to be as flame resistant as possible.

Fabric softener leaves a residue on the clothes. It can damage the flame resistant chemicals in the material.

Fabric softener also makes towels and wash clothes less absorbent. If you want softer clothes, less lint, and towels that are fluffy and absorbent try adding 1 cup vinegar to the rinse cycle. The added bonus is that vinegar is natural so no nasty unknown chemicals and it is cheap.