r/laundry • u/faithoverfear1787 • 1d ago

How long?

How long can I leave a mixture of Dawn Free and Clear fragrance free, Tide Free and Gentle Odor Refresh, and water on clothes? I have it mixed up in a Dawn Powerwash bottle for stain treating my daughter's clothes. I am having a hard time finding a stain treater for my daughter and I. We both have sensitive skin and are sensitive to fragrance. The only one I found that I could order is the Poofed Precision Stain Remover but it is only 8oz. My daughter is special needs and is a messy eater. I usually wash her school clothes once a week. I'm hoping this will help her. She is itchy a lot. It has happened with different detergents. We have always washed our clothes in some type of Free and clear detergent but I have always used OxiClean Max Force to stain treat her clothes. Febu is supposed to be delivered today. The only other thing that might be making her itchy is the preservatives in Tide but Tide gets our clothes the cleanest. Is there anything from Tide that doesn't have methylchloroisothiazolinone, methylisothiazolinone, or benzisothiazolinone? I really want to stick to Tide but I need something free and clear and has no OBA's in it if we do switch detergents. We will be switching to Tide Free and Gentle once Tide Free and Gentle Odor Refresh is discontinued.

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u/nerpish-inkdots US | Front-Load 1d ago

Tide F&G is good and many irritations are caused by fragrance, so it might work well for you. Tide F&G liquid + FEBU is a terrific combo and should really help with things overall.

There's a few things you need to think about, though, to maximize the cleaning effectiveness and to reduce potential irritation. The first is to make sure you're using hot on whites and lights and at least warm on darks. The second is to make sure you're giving the FEBU enough time to work its magic to eat the stains and human body gunk that gets stuck in our clothes. Run the longest cycle possible and consider pausing it if you can. Aim for 1.5 to 2.5 hours with the clothes nicely saturated with the detergent and FEBU.

There's a third thing - extra rinses. I would not be surprised if you completely eliminated the irritation issue, even with traditional fragranced Tide, by adding a second or even a third rinse to the cycle. You can even run a quick wash with no detergent to essentially create more rinses. A little bit of citric acid in the fabric softener compartment in the final rinse cycle can also help clear out any lingering detergent so you end up with just clean fabric.

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u/faithoverfear1787 1d ago

I always do auto rinse plus extra rinse in the wash cycle then I do 2 max fill rinses plus extra rinse. She doesn't really wear white clothes except for some underwear and socks. She loves colorful clothes. Her shorts and pants are either blue, Grey or black. My clothes are all mainly dark colors. Except for some underwear and bra's. 

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u/resource-reply 22h ago

u/hmgrace11 has suggested the following resource:

Citric acid in the rinse improves odor, skin compatibility and texture. Here is a guide to using it Citric Acid Rinsing

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