Nothing is in closer contact with skin than the clothes your baby wears and so getting clothing and laundry right could be the single most important thing you can do for your child. Signs that clothing or laundry are triggers for your baby’s eczema include things like full body eczema, intense itching, skin that worsens on contact with water, or a clear nappy area.
Every person’s skin is unique and what works for one individual won’t be the answer for another. Personally I think it is absolutely critical that eczema babies have clothing that is safe, comfortable and non-irritating.
Laundering
A very common eczema trigger seems to be detergents. Simply changing laundry products to Non-Bio is often nowhere near enough.
Detergent Residue
“Tests done in 1995 at the Clemson University School of Textiles and Polymer Science showed that washing in regular detergent actually added a measurable amount of weight (contamination) to the clothes. Washing added 2% of the weight of the cloth in just 10 washings. The residue was equal to the full amount of detergent recommended to wash clothes. Let me be specific about this. When you pour in the detergent before the wash cycle, the amount used is equal to the amount of chemical left in the clothes after 10 washes. It doesn’t increase much beyond 10 washes because you reach a point where you are washing out as much as you are washing in.”
Even after switching to another washing solution, it will take many washes to rid the clothes of chemical residue already present in the fibres. This is one reason I ended up buying new clothes for my baby, he’d have grown out of his clothes before I managed to find a way of washing them till they were safe for him.
Laundry Solutions
Eco-balls offer an alternative way of cleaning, as do soap nuts a natural fruit that can be used in laundry (It is used extensively in ayurveda for problem skin conditions). They both offer a laundry cleaning soloution leaving little to no residue in clothing. Although they may not get clothes as brilliantly white as we’ve come to expect using modern detergents, this is a sacrifice many people are more than happy to make.
Old fashioned Soap flakes are especially kind to skin and clean clothes well, but will still leave a residue and scum build up (especially in hard water areas). So they will take a bit more rinseing and possibly additions of washing soda crystals too.
There are also powders available in supermarkets that are made to be kinder to sensitive skins, Surecare is one brand. If you do choose to use a detergent often 1/2 the recommended amount of product can be just as effective at cleaning but less irritating and an extra rinse cycle is a good idea too. Bicarbonate of soda can also help. It removes smells, stains and some hard water residues, leaving clothes fresh and soft.
Fabric Softener
Fabric softener should be avoided. If you’re washing with something that doesn’t leave a residue in your clothes, you’ll find that your clothes are naturally soft anyway. Another option is a little white viniger in the softner compartment.
Testing what’s right for you
It takes more than a couple of washes to know whether a new washing solution is better than a previous one, because a combination of several washing product residues may well be even more irritating than just one.
Clothes and laundry have such a big impact on eczema that I can’t stress enough how important it is to get right. There are no easy answers here and what is fine for one person won’t be fine for another; it really is careful trial and error. Clothing sits so close to the skin that it really is worth the effort to make sure it’s as safe as possible for your child.
Fabric choice
Cotton, bamboo and silk are all natural fabrics and allow the skin to breathe; meaning that these fabrics are generally best for sensitive baby skin. Organic certified products are also free from reaction causing chemicals such as formaldehyde. Organic fabrics are much softer and more breathable than regular cotton products making them a superior choice for delicate baby skin. Check clothing for tags and labels that may rub and itch.