The Best Laundry Detergent for My Family

There's a lot of simple household tasks which may not occupy a large amount of our mind. When it comes to laundry, all most people want is for it to be over. Taking a little bit of time and thought can have your skin thank you. Laundry detergents obviously rub off on the clothing they clean. Many may contain harmful chemicals which can irritate the skin and potentially cause rashes. Detergent liquids and powders also can carry a large amount of scent. Most of the time this is pleasing to the nose. Sometimes a scent doesn't carry over though.

Detergent ingredients. When people talk about cleaning ingredients in detergent, they are often being slightly misnamed. It isn't the ingredients within detergent that actually cleans clothing. It's actually the water. Cleaning ingredients instead work to remove the grease and other molecules that are keeping dirt stuck to the clothing. There are several different ingredients which can be included in detergents. Many can contain ingredients like citric acid or borax. Common detergents tend to have multiple ingredients which work to lift the dirt and grease off of the clothing to let the water do the work. Each ingredient tends to be good against one or a few of the things that can stick to clothing. The best brands find a way to perfectly mix together ingredients and get the best clean.

Top laundry detergent brands. When it comes to detergent, there's one name that tends to come to most people's mind first. That brand is Tide. Tide has been producing laundry detergent in almost every form and for any type of clothing. Tide isn't the only detergent that people have come to love though. Many people swear by different detergents. Gain is popular for people who love scents. All offers their detergent in every form, from liquid to pods to powder. Arm & Hammer is a brand many love due to the heavy presence of baking soda within the ingredients. Other popular brands include Woolite, Cheer and Purex.

Sensitive skin brands. There are many brands of laundry detergent which claim to be hypoallergenic and completely free of any kinds of dyes or perfumes. Many of these are smaller brands. Some of these include Babyganics, Charlie's Soap and Dropps. However, there are also sensitive options from the main brands as well. Gain has the Gain Botanicals version. All offers up an "All Free Clear" version of their detergent. Even value brands like Purex also offer up a hypoallergenic option. Purex specifically has the Purex Free & Clear line of detergent for people sensitive to some ingredients.

Alternative options. Many people have chosen to try to get away from laundry detergent entirely. These people have had enough of buying expensive detergent from the store. Many of these alternatives can be ingredients within some brands of detergent as well. Borax is a well known multipurpose cleanser. It's especially good for children's clothing as it removes urine. Soap nuts are all natural and don't bother people with skin problems. They work for several washes before they need to be replaced. For people who are looking to get their clothing looking new and shiny, they turn to a couple of common liquids. These are lemon juice or vinegar. They do a great job of getting rid of stains. Lemon juice specializes in the whites, while vinegar does a great job on black clothing.

Making your own detergent. Rather than purchasing laundry detergent from a brand, it's entirely possible to make your own laundry detergent using some of the ingredients that are commonly used. There are many different recipes which can be used and a quick search online will give alternatives. This recipe is very simple. It only requires three ingredients. The first is two parts of washing soda. Then also two parts of borax. The final ingredient is grated fels naptha soap, but it's only one part. For people who can't find that, it's possible to use other mainstream bars of soap like Ivory as long as it doesn't include scents and perfumes. Each load of laundry only needs three tablespoons of this detergent. For people using a high energy washing machine, just one tablespoon is plenty.