We all live our lives day to day thinking that nothing bad will happen. We never think that we will be the ones dealing with the cleanup of a house fire. Unfortunately, there are many, many families that suffer the impact of house fires each year. Last year, a close friend of mine was a victim of a house fire and since then, my life has been different. I have spent many hours researching fire prevention, causes, and teaching children about fire prevention and what to do in the case of a fire. It is my hope that my research can help those of you concerned about house fires make the necessary changes in your home and teach your kids what they need to know about fire.
If your baby's sensitive skin becomes itchy, red, or flaky when you use standard laundry detergent, it is time to start exploring other options. While there are numerous all-natural and chemical-free laundry detergents for babies on the market, there's another easy solution that will allow you to save money and wash your baby's clothes without perpetuating irritation: castile soap.
What is castile soap, and why doesn't it irritate skin?
Castile soap is soap made from vegetable oils, rather than from animal fats or artificial ingredients. Most of today's castile soaps are made from olive oil or coconut oil. They are typically made without any chemical additives, and if they do have a fragrance, that fragrance usually comes from essential oils rather than irritating chemical scents. Castile soaps are also free from foaming agents, like sodium laurel sulfate, that are typically found in detergents and cause skin irritation in some people.
Castile soaps come in bar and liquid forms; the liquid is the best choice for doing laundry. Though the scented versions are probably safe for your baby since they're all natural, you may wish to stick with the unscented variety if your baby's skin is super-sensitive.
How do you wash clothes with castile soap?
Unless your baby's clothes are super soiled, you can use castile soap alone in your wash. Add about 1/4 cup of liquid castile soap to a small or medium-sized load of laundry. For a large load, use 1/3 - 1/2 cup. You don't have to be overly precise. While castile soap does get sudsy, it does not become nearly as foamy as conventional detergent, so you don't have to worry about it overflowing your washer if you pour in a little too much. Just add it at the beginning of the wash cycle, as you would normal detergent.
What can you add to the laundry to better remove odors?
While castile soap is good at cleaning, it is not super-effective at removing odors. If your baby's clothes are super-soiled, there are two possible ways to handle this without resorting to irritating chemicals.
Your first option is to add 1/2 cup washing soda, along with the castile soap, at the beginning of the wash cycle. This option works well for lightly soiled items, and it's the easiest, since you just toss the soda in with the soap.
Your other choice is to wait until the laundry is done washing with the castile soap, and then run it through an extra rinse cycle. As this rinse cycle begins, add 1 cup of white vinegar to the water. This method is a bit more time-consuming because you have to run an extra rinse, but it's good for removing stubborn odors.
If your baby's skin is sensitive to regular laundry detergent, washing his or her clothes in castile soap is a safe and inexpensive alternative. You can usually find large, 32 or 64-ounce bottles of castile soap for the price of a small container of laundry detergent.
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