Eczema and laundry help needed

rosie-marie

Not sure whether this is the right place for this so please forgive me if it's in the wrong place (only registered today).

My children have eczema so I am trying to cut out chemicals in our home to help. Can anyone suggest washing/laundry advice that will use as little chemicals as possible that works and is also inexpensive as we are on a tight budget. Looked at the supermarket today and felt nervous about trying different brands.

Apologies if this has been done before, I am sure its a common problem.

moo2moo

Being practical try a bit of everything and see what happens. The cheapskate way of doing this is to e-mail the manufacturers requesting a trial sized sample.Wash a load of bedding in it. If you survive 8 hours sleep without waking up itchy then use it, if not try the next one.

Also reducing the quantity thats suggested by 50% reduces the irritation.

rosie-marie

moo2moo wrote: »

Being practical try a bit of everything and see what happens. The cheapskate way of doing this is to e-mail the manufacturers requesting a trial sized sample.Wash a load of bedding in it. If you survive 8 hours sleep without waking up itchy then use it, if not try the next one.

Also reducing the quantity thats suggested by 50% reduces the irritation.

Thanks. I was going to ask whether using half will make a difference. Will try that.

Seakay

Also, use a non-biological powder biological can be really irritating if you have any sort of sensitive skin.
If you look on the permenant threads then the laundry gloop might be a safe and cheap option for you.
here's one discussion with a link to the recipe:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=35756&highlight=gloop

Gingernutmeg

You can get a free sample of Filetti here. It's expensive but if you're only using half and it works well for you then it might be worth it.

Or, you could have a look at something like soapnuts - you can often get small bags of these to try on ebay, ad if they work then do a search, there are LOADS of threads on them on here and I'm sure you'd be able to find the cheapest supplier. (The link here is just to show what they are, it was the first I found, I'm sure someone will be able to give you a personal recommendation - however I've just noticed they do free samples )

tiddles

Hi,

I have eczema and I find that Ecover liquid works really well; you can get it for £3.99 a bottle, and that normally lasts me a month of 6 or 7 washes a week, although I only use a little bit for each load, as we have soft water. I have to use stain remover with it sometimes.

Hope that helps.

Dioritt

My daughter suffers from psoriasis but since I started using 50/50 soda crystals/soap flakes she hasn't had any problems. I also use white vinegar instead of fabric conditioner. It doesn't leave your clothes smelling like a chippie, just nice and fresh. If you do want a scent, you can add a few drops of essential oil to the vinegar. No chemicals involved and it's much cheaper than buying special products, especially as the soda crystals and vinegar can be used for lots of other household cleaning tasks too.

phizzimum

I use supermarket own brand non-bio and never use fabric conditioner. I think often the cheaper powders are better with DD's eczema because they don't put perfume in.

rosie-marie

Seakay wrote: »

Also, use a non-biological powder biological can be really irritating if you have any sort of sensitive skin.
If you look on the permenant threads then the laundry gloop might be a safe and cheap option for you.
here's one discussion with a link to the recipe:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=35756&highlight=gloop

Looks worth a try. Thanks

rosie-marie

Gingernutmeg wrote: »

You can get a free sample of Filetti here. It's expensive but if you're only using half and it works well for you then it might be worth it.

Or, you could have a look at something like soapnuts - you can often get small bags of these to try on ebay, ad if they work then do a search, there are LOADS of threads on them on here and I'm sure you'd be able to find the cheapest supplier. (The link here is just to show what they are, it was the first I found, I'm sure someone will be able to give you a personal recommendation - however I've just noticed they do free samples )

Brilliant! thank you so much. I have heard of soapnuts but never knew where to get them.

rosie-marie

phizzimum wrote: »

I use supermarket own brand non-bio and never use fabric conditioner. I think often the cheaper powders are better with DD's eczema because they don't put perfume in.

Noticed daughters skin was worse after using Comfort Creme (on offer at Morrisons). I will try using vinegar as fabric softner. Which cheaper powder is good?