CART
MENUMENU
  • Shop Now
        • Air Filters
        • Bath & Body
          • Body Lotions & Oils
          • Deodorant
          • Hair
          • Hand & Body Soaps/Washes
          • Home Spa Products
          • Intimacy Salves
          • Kids' Bath & Body
          • Period Supplies
          • Shaving
          • Sunblock & Bug Repellent
        • Cleaning & Laundry
          • Air Filters, Fresheners & Purifiers
          • All-Purpose Cleaners
          • Bathroom & Tile Cleaners
          • Floor Cleaners
          • Dish & Dishwasher Soaps
          • Glass & Wood Cleaners
          • Hand Soap
          • Laundry & Dryer Products
          • Sponges & Cloths
        • Clearance
        • Clothing & Accessories
          • Baby Carriers & Strollers
          • Backpacks & Lunchboxes
          • Organic Baby Clothes
          • Play Mats & Baby Seats
          • Towels, Cloths, Swaddles
        • Dental Care
          • Dental Floss
          • Teethers & Pacifiers
          • Toothbrushes
          • Toothpastes
        • Diapering
          • Cloth Diapering
          • Diaper Creams & Powders
          • Disposable Diapers
          • Wipes
        • E-Books & Guides
        • Face Care
          • Anti-Aging Skincare
          • Cleansers & Exfoliants
          • Creams, Oils, Lotions & Serums
          • For Acne-Prone Skin
          • For Sensitive Skin
          • Lip Balms
          • Makeup
          • Toners & Mists
        • Feeding Baby: Bottle or Breast
          • Infant Formula
          • Breastfeeding Accessories
          • Baby Bottles
          • Bibs & Burp Cloths
          • Starting Solids
        • Furniture, Bedding & Decor
          • Area Rugs
          • Bed Frames
          • Bedding & Toppers
          • Carpeting
          • For Babies
          • Mattresses & Futons
          • Pillows
          • Art & Decor
        • Gifts
          • Baby Registry
          • Gifts for Her
          • Gifts for Him
        • Health & Wellness
          • Colds, flus, allergies
          • Cuts, bruises, rashes
          • Hand Sanitizers
          • Vitamins & Supplements
        • Kitchen & Eating
          • Coffee & Tea Supplies
          • Cookware & Gadgets
          • Dishes & Utensils
          • Food Storage
          • Lunch Boxes & Food Containers
          • Organic Napkins & Cloths
          • Super Foods We Love
          • Water Bottles & Sippy Cups
        • Pets
        • Pregnancy, Postpartum & Breastfeeding Products
        • Radiation Protection
        • Toys, Games, & Art
          • Art
          • Bath Toys
          • Infant and Toddler Toys
          • Puzzles and Games
          • Stuffed Animals and Dolls
        • Water Filters
  • Product Guides
        • Air Filters
        • Air Fresheners
        • All-Purpose Cleaner
        • Baby Clothing
        • Baby Food
        • Baby Lotion
        • Baby Shampoo
        • Baby Soap & Bubble Bath
        • Bar Soaps
        • Bread
        • Car Seat
        • CBD Oil
        • Cereal
        • Cookies
        • Cookware
        • Cow Milk
        • Deodorant
        • Diaper Rash Cream
        • Diaper Wipes
        • Dish Soap
        • Disposable Diapers
        • Face Cream
        • Fruit Popsicles
        • Hand & Body Lotion
        • Hand Sanitizer
        • Infant Formula
        • Laundry Detergent
        • Lipstick
        • Mascara
        • Mattresses
        • Mayo
        • Nipple Creams
        • Nutrition Bars
        • Olive Oil
        • Organic Prenatal Vitamins
        • Puffs
        • Shampoo
        • Sippy Cups
        • Sofa
        • Sunscreen
        • Teethers
        • Toothpaste
        • Toys
        • Yogurt
        • Water Filters
  • Blog
        • Breastfeeding & Weaning
        • Clean Travel
        • Formula Feeding Without Stress
        • Grandparenting
        • Healthy Holidays
        • Healthy Pets
        • Home Improvement & Yard Work
        • Illness & Natural Remedies
        • Mompreneurship & Career
        • Newborn & Infant Concerns
        • Non-Toxic Mattresses, Furniture & Decor
        • Non-Toxic Cleaning Products
        • Non-Toxic Kitchen Gear & Food Storage
        • Non-Toxic Toys, Clothes & Gear
        • Outdoor Products & Tips
        • Pregnancy, Childbirth, & Postpartum
        • Product Giveaways
        • Products We Love
        • Recipes & Healthy Eating
        • Safer Baby Supplies
        • Safe Product Guides
        • School, Arts & Crafts
        • Skincare & Haircare: Good, Bad, and Sneaky
        • Sleep for Babies & Toddlers
        • Start Here: Detox Your Home
        • Vaccines
        • Vitamins & Supplements
        • Water & Air Filtration
        • Weight Loss & Fitness
        • WiFi & Radiation Concerns
  • Consulting
    • Healthy Home Consults
    • Health Coaching for Healthy Eating
    • Quick Detox for Home & Body
  • About Us
    • About Gimme the Good Stuff
    • The Staff
    • Store Policies
    • Disclosures
    • Contact
    • Subscribe to Maia's Emails
  • Videos
  • Cart
  • Login
  • Sign Up
  • FREE SHIPPING ON ORDERS $50 AND UP
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Gimme the Good Stuff

Home > Posts > What’s Wrong With Dreft?

What’s Wrong With Dreft?

September 9, 2012 | BY Maia James
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure page.

This blog entry is part of our “What’s Wrong With” series, each installment of which profiles a different product and gives you the bottom line on its safety. Think of these as cheat sheets for our more comprehensive Safety Reviews (which we publish less frequently).

Any laundry detergent you use will leave a residue on clothing and linens, which is then inhaled and absorbed (via skin) by the people who come in contact with it. Many of you probably use a different detergent for your baby’s clothes, and you probably assume this detergent is a special formulation. This is very rarely the case. Most conventional detergents, be they marketed for baby clothes or grownup clothes, contain some combination of the following:

  • synthetic detergents, which are often made of petrochemicals;
  • phenols (established endocrine disruptors, of which BPA is the most notorious);
  • fragrance, which often contains phthalates;
  • optical brighteners, which are often made from benzene, a definite carcinogen;
  • bleach, which contains chlorine (an environmental toxin–and possibly a carcinogen and endocrine disruptor);
  • phosphates, which break down minerals and render detergent more effective, at the cost of harmful environmental ramifications.

dreftIf you ask your pediatrician what detergent you should use for your baby’s clothes, she’s probably going to suggest Dreft. Dreft’s prolific marketing campaign doesn’t includes a single example of their actual ingredients, so you might wonder what actually makes up the “gentle clean” of Dreft? Here’s a list of Dreft ingredients, and some that I don’t consider gentle include fragrance, propylene glycol, ethanolamine, ethanol, sodium hydroxide, diethylene glycol, polyethylene glycol 4000 (which Skin Deep scores as 5-8, depending on usage), and about a dozen other ingredients. It’s got more bad stuff in it than Tide does!

Better Bets

laundry soap 2

 

Tandi’s Naturals makes a laundry soap that works wonderfully on baby clothes and is tallow-based.

Check out our Laundry Detergent Shopping Review for a list of other Good Stuff.

 

Stay sane,

Maia_signature

 

 

 


If you liked this post, sign up for our newsletter to be alerted when we publish new content like this!

Filed Under: Safer Baby Supplies, Non-Toxic Cleaning Products, Posts, Newborn & Infant Concerns Tagged With: laundry, sneaky stuff

Reader Interactions


Share this:

Share the post "What’s Wrong With Dreft?"

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Reddit
  • Email

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Shop Easter!
 
CLEARANCE

Shopping Cart

Shop By Category

  •   Air Filters  |
  •   Body & Hair  |
  •   Cleaning  |
  •   Clothing  |
  •   Diapering  |
  •   E-Books  |
  •   Face  |
  •   Feeding Baby  |
  •   Furnishings & Bedding  |
  •   Health  |
  •   Kitchen  |
  •   Pets  |
  •   Pregnancy & Breastfeeding  |
  •   Radiation Protection  |
  •   Teeth  |
  •   Toys  |
  •   Water Filters

Featured Product Guide:

Our Safe Product Guides help conscious parents find safe, non-toxic, natural and organic products for their families and homes. Check out all of our guides find out what's good, what's bad, and what's sneaky.

Featured image

Safe Non-Toxic Hand Sanitizer Guide

So you’re looking for non-toxic hand sanitizer…You’ve come to the right place! But buckle up, my friend, because there is a lot of info in this guide! (That’s what I get every time I hire Dr. Hopkins to provide research!).

Learn More >>

Browse Shopping Guides

Browse Blog by Category

Browse Blog by Tag

about us Activities for Kids Air Filters air fresheners Air Purification Air quality allergies animals anti-aging anti-inflammatories antibiotics aromatherapy asthma attachment parenting autism Ayurveda baby bottles baby food baby food guide Baby Formula bad stuff bath products bathroom renovation beach Beautycounter bedroom birthdays black friday BPA Bread breakfast breastfeeding bug spray candy carpet CBD central america cereal Christmas cleaning cleanse coffee coffee & tea colds & flu cookies Cookware cradle cap dads dairy dental care deodorant dessert diapering diet dinners Dirty Dozen dish dish soap dogs drinks Easter eco-friendly Eczema energy Environmentalism environmental toxins europe European formula face care family time flame retardants flooring food storage formula formula feeding fruit futon gifts gimmethegoodstuff giveaway giveaways gluten-free Goat Milk Formula good deals greens Greenwashing guest posts gut health hair hand sanitizer healthy cereal Healthy Food at Disney Healthy Thanksgiving holiday sales home detox Honest Company Humidifier Immune boosters immunity insomnia interior design junk food just for fun kale kitchen products kitchen renovations laundry lip balm lotion Lumion lunch boxes lunches makeup mattress mattresses meal delivery services meat medications natural birth natural mattresses nature Non-Toxic Area Rugs Non-Toxic Carpets non-toxic coffee non-toxic mattress non-toxic mattresses NonToxic Bath Products nursing nuts nyc oils Olive Oil our team packaged food packed lunches paint Paleo Pesticides phthalates pillows plastics play pollution Poofy Organics pregnancy prenatal nutrition probiotics Project one-eleven Radiation Raw Foods recycling Resolutions Safe Toy Guide Sakara school-aged kids school lunch screens screen time separation anxiety sippy cups skincare smartphones smoothies snacks sneaky stuff soap social-emotional development sofas sofas/couches soup Spring sprouted flour sprouted grains sprouted wheat Staff stress sugar summer sunscreen teething Thanksgiving Ticks tile toddlers toothpaste Toxins toxins in coffee Travel triclosan vegan veggies wallpaper water water bottles water filters wine winter wooden furniture yams yoga

INSTAGRAM

@gimmethegoodstuf

gimmethegoodstuf

View

Feb 25

Open
7 months pregnant with Felix❤️. Secretly miss being pregnant, you guys! But definitely not doing it again. What about you? How many kids do you have and are you done? #pregnancy

7 months pregnant with Felix❤️. Secretly miss being pregnant, you guys! But definitely not doing it again. What about you? How many kids do you have and are you done? #pregnancy ...

Load More >> Follow on Instagram >>

Footer

About Our Founder

Maia James, the founder of Gimme the Good Stuff, has a lifetime of experience in the world of natural living, and has turned this passion into a career, now helping clients easily enjoy greener, cleaner lives, peace of mind, and better health.

Read more about Maia

Gimme the Good Stuff helps busy, conscientious parents easily avoid toxic products in their homes through our in-home consulting service, personalized shopping guides, and online store. We simplify the process of navigating the confusing world of “natural” products, and our readers, customers, and clients enjoy peace of mind and confidence that their home is a safe, healthy place for their families.
As Seen In...

Site Directory:

  • Home
  • About
  • Blog
  • Glossary
  • Product Guides
  • Store
  • Contact
  • Disclosure
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy

Connect with Gimme the Good Stuff:

approved-good-stuff

Good Stuff Approved:

copyright © 2021 Gimme the Good Stuff. All rights reserved. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Copyright © 2021 · Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in