Eczema friendly homemade Laundry soap for HE washer

[eatatmidnight]

Does anyone have a recipe for it? DD even reacts to the Tide Free. She has done ok with All Free & Clear until recently. I would like to try homemade soap to see if it helps, but there are so many options out there, I don't know where to start.

 

[pilesoflaundry]

This may not help you but when my dd was smaller she had horrible eczema, even the free and clear didn't help. It actually made it worse.

I switched to using half the regular amount of purex detergent and then an extra rinse and that helped a lot. With the HE machine it may be getting it all out and you are using as little as you can so it may not help you like I said.

Also no softeners.

 

[eatatmidnight]

Thanks. She is 16 and has had it all of her life. Something is causing it to flare up now. I always do the extra rinse, even with the F&C detergent. We haven't tried purex in a few years. She had the same reaction to it as the Tide Free. If this homemade recipe doesn't work, I may try it.

 

[loveysbydesign]

We use Charlie's Soap and Country Save for my kids and it has worked wonders for their eczema. I order it from Amazon!

 

[JennsBabySky]

Is she around anyone that wears heavy perfume? I know lots of teens tend to do that. I had a similar situation when I was 18. I started working at an upscale gift store at the same time I started college. I thought my skin was acting up due to stress, turns out I was allergic to the perfume packets that we sold in the store. I didn't realize it until I stopped working there -- two years later!

Good luck!

 

[hipchickie]

Thanks. She is 16 and has had it all of her life. Something is causing it to flare up now. I always do the extra rinse, even with the F&C detergent. We haven't tried purex in a few years. She had the same reaction to it as the Tide Free. If this homemade recipe doesn't work, I may try it.

where is it flaring up? I had had issues in different areas that I ended up figuring out what I thought the cause was, maybe I (or someone else) could help

 

[eatatmidnight]

It is flaring up everywhere except her face, neck and hands. It is especally bad on her legs.

I really want to try the homemade laundry soap, but don't know if it will work in my HE washing machine.

 

[stacielee]

It is flaring up everywhere except her face, neck and hands. It is especally bad on her legs.

I really want to try the homemade laundry soap, but don't know if it will work in my HE washing machine.

The homemade laundry soap is great for the HE machines. It's low sudsing. The recipe I use is this one:

1 Bar Grated Fels Naptha Soap (I grate it with the food processor than put it back in with the chopping blade and mix everything together)
3/4 Cup Washing Soda
3/4 Cup Borax

For light load, use 1 tablespoon.
For heavy or heavily soiled load, use 2 tablespoons.

 

[hipchickie]

Around that age my legs were really bad too. I would scratch them until they bled it was awful
Does she wear tights or leggings a lot? That may be rubbing her skin and irritating it. Same with tight shirts.

If she buys new clothes, make sure she washes them before wearing - I have a friend who has an excema trigger of formaldehyde, her derm told her sometimes clothes are treated with that to discourage pests during shipping. On the same note, she also can not use many shampoos and soaps because they contain triggers, has your daughter used any new shampoos or soaps recently?

How about lotions? Last year my hands (where I get it 90% of the time these days) were getting bad, and I bought a Eucerin product called "calming creme". I was slathering it on, and my hands were getting worse and worse - I literally could not sleep at night because they were so raw. I misplaced the lotion, so I had stopped using it, and they cleared up in days. I have used plenty of Eucerin products in the past, and though they are not my favorite, I *never* had an issue....if I hadn't misplaced it, it would not even have occured to me that it could be the cause.

I don't know about homemade detergent, sorry. I use about 1/3 the amount free and clear and a cup of baking soda per load, with the extra rinse, of course. The baking soda helps the detergent work better with less, and no scent

 

[Mickdeb]

Not to hijack, sorry OP, but a quick question about excema and kinds of treatment. DD10 just started with a small patch on her upper thigh (on back of her leg). Besides OTC cortisone cream any other suggestions?
Thanks so much, this is all new to me.

 

[a1970model]

My daughter (19) has had alot of problems with eczema, too. She would scratch her legs in her sleep, which only worsened the condition. We tried and spent so much money on so many lotions and treatments, which never really seemed to help. I second hipchickie's suggestions to try and find the triggers. Eventually, we learned to use simple, free-of-everything soaps for the shower (Ivory) and the one lotion that seemed to help the most was Gold Bond Ultimate with Chamomile. Anna has finally learned how to keep her skin moisturized regularly, which I think has helped. (Either that or its getting better as she's getting older.) As the weather began getting colder, she really started lathering on the moisture, and so far, she's kept it all under control.

Good Luck. I know how it feels to have your child suffer with this.

 

[eatatmidnight]

My daughter (19) has had alot of problems with eczema, too. She would scratch her legs in her sleep, which only worsened the condition. We tried and spent so much money on so many lotions and treatments, which never really seemed to help. I second hipchickie's suggestions to try and find the triggers. Eventually, we learned to use simple, free-of-everything soaps for the shower (Ivory) and the one lotion that seemed to help the most was Gold Bond Ultimate with Chamomile. Anna has finally learned how to keep her skin moisturized regularly, which I think has helped. (Either that or its getting better as she's getting older.) As the weather began getting colder, she really started lathering on the moisture, and so far, she's kept it all under control.

Good Luck. I know how it feels to have your child suffer with this.

I can't figure out the trigger. Nothing has changed at all. No new detergent, fabric softener, shampoo, lotion, clothes, fragrances, make up or anything that we can think of. I have checked to see if anything is "new and improved" but it is not. We will try the Gold Bond. So far the vaseline has been the best.

I am suprised about the Ivory Soap. We tried it years ago and had a bad reaction to it. It really dried out her skin.

 

[eatatmidnight]

The homemade laundry soap is great for the HE machines. It's low sudsing. The recipe I use is this one:

1 Bar Grated Fels Naptha Soap (I grate it with the food processor than put it back in with the chopping blade and mix everything together)
3/4 Cup Washing Soda
3/4 Cup Borax

For light load, use 1 tablespoon.
For heavy or heavily soiled load, use 2 tablespoons.

Thank you so much! Do you just put it in the dispenser?

 

[sillyjodes]

I have always thought that Borax would bother the kids eczema, so I've never tried a homemade laundry soap. We use a company called Melaleuca. There a direct order thing, so fair warning. We love their laundry soap without fragrance and their Renew lotion. It has saved my girls many a sleepless night.

 

[a1970model]

I can't figure out the trigger.

We finally decided that Anna's skin responded to the drier winter air. I had always noticed the difference in the air when I needed to use a little more lotion... but her skin went nuts due to it with the splotchy flare-ups. Her skin does beautifully in our humid summer ... but let that really cold air settle in and that's when she would get her flare-ups. We even tried running a cool-air and a warm-air humidifier in her bedroom, to no avail. Now, she begins moisturizing ALOT during the late fall to try and get ahead of it.

So far the vaseline has been the best.

Ohhh... I know exactly what stage your daughter is in. My heart goes out to her.

I am suprised about the Ivory Soap.

Oops... I mentioned your problem to my daughter as she just walked by and she corrected me... it was Dove that she used, not Ivory. It was still everything-free, though.

I hope the Gold Bond/Chamomile works for your daughter. It was the only lotion that would cool Anna's skin down and stopped the itching for her, and its what she still uses now to moisturize with.

 

[eatatmidnight]

Ok. The Dove unscented/sensitive skin is what she uses too.

I hope the Gold Bond helps too. It has been a rough semester. Swine Flu in October, Strep then tonsilitis and ear infection in November and Strep again and mono in December. And yesterday was her sweet 16. This is simply making her miserable. Sorry for the vent

 

[hipchickie]

I can't figure out the trigger. Nothing has changed at all. No new detergent, fabric softener, shampoo, lotion, clothes, fragrances, make up or anything that we can think of. I have checked to see if anything is "new and improved" but it is not. We will try the Gold Bond. So far the vaseline has been the best.

Continued exposure to triggers could be making her more sensitive to them as well - my friend that I mentioned had a trigger of formaldehyde never had an issue until she worked in a drugstore where she occasionally came in contact with shampoo/shower gels/etc that broke during shipping. The extra water in the product would have evaporated, so she would touch the concentrated remainder. Due to that she also developed triggers to nickel and phosphates IIRC - she has the oddest list of things that trigger her excema now...plastic shopping bags have formaldehyde, jeans buttons sometimes have nickel...

a little OT, but if your daughter has never had a patch test, it is a good idea.

and I love Gold Bond too

 

[stacielee]

Thank you so much! Do you just put it in the dispenser?

I do, my washer has the little dispenser drawer for detergent, softener and bleach. There is a liquid recipe as well, but it takes a little bit of time. I've had good luck with it and I've been using it for over a year.

 

[v.t.]

While I am not sure about detergent I have found the best lotion for eczema. I know this sounds crazy but.... there is a conditioner at Sally's Beauty Supply called Cure Care Conditioner. It is for skin as well as hair. It is great for a light lotion that I use daily to keep the eczema patches down. My aunt even uses it inside her ears (where her eczema is the worst.) It is fragrance and color free and only cost $2.79 for 20 oz.