Can anyone help. Dd allergic to every blimmin shampoo and washing detergent

[perfectplumpud]

I think it’s the floral perfume stuff they put in them. She has other allergies, hayfever, dust etc. can’t use child’s farm products as she’s allergic to those. By allergy I mean mild rashes, itchy all over and constant scratching and eyes watering/nose running. Don’t know what to do. Also have the same issue with washing powders too. Even fairy is a no go

I’ve found that Surcare are the only sensitive products that work for laundry. I also can’t have things around like reed diffusers or anything highly perfumed.
Your poor dd though ! We all get hayfever too in the summer and it’s miserable , anti histamines help, but I even have a reaction with those.
I hope others have better advice, but so many laundry products are scented these days.

Would MooGoo be worth a try as a shampoo?

Simple and faith in nature both sell fragrance free shampoo and conditioner. And boots sell their own fragrance free laundry stuff and your can get surcare in supermarkets.

Don't even get me started on room fragrance, recently stayed at an air BnB that had them in every single room including the hall and landing. Guaranteed migraine for me

We use Ecover for washing detergent, DD seems to be allergic to all others

I used Surcare for laundry and Simple or other unfragranced products, not necessarily from the children's range, for my son's fragrance allergy.

I always added an extra rinse to the laundry too, after the fabric softener cycle.

Remarkably, after about 8-10 years of avoiding fragrances, he outgrew it! (Same with a banana allergy too.)

The hayfever has remained though.

@LovelyDonkey yes all sprays and every store atm has some sort of ‘Christmas’ scent going on aka absolute hell for dd. I can’t go in the shops easily with her, streaming eyes and nose, sneezing fits etc. she has antihistamines everyday, we’ve been to the doctor. Not much we can do except try to avoid it all.
@Twasasurprise i live in hope! Never heard of a banana allergy. Glad your ds got over them except for hayfever.

I could never go anywhere near the Lush shop!
I can’t wear perfume. It is sad as some smell lovely , but it’s the unperfumed deodorant for me.

Aveeno shampoo maybe?

@perfectplumpud DD had this problem and after extenaive allergy testing it was discovered that she is allergic to glucosides which are in most shampoos.

These were introduced to replaces sulphates, so avoid any sulphate free shampoo because they will almost certainly contain glucosides.

Solid shampoo bars might be the answer. When DD surface I'll ask her which shampoo she uses.

Isolating the ingredient that caused all the issues was a game changer.

We use ecozone soap nuts for washing (daughter with allergies) and they have worked really well. Not as good on whites but using the soak option on my washing machine they seem to get most stains out well. Washing is the Faith in Nature unscented stuff.

You could try eco laundry balls; they have no detergent in them. https://www.amazon.co.uk/eco-wash-balls/s?k=eco+wash+balls

@applepinkierainbow if whites are a problem have you tried sodium percarbonate? It's an oxygen bleach that works miracles but it's v unreactive. Add an aside it gets stains out of mugs/teapots/flasks amazingly well

@RampantIvy thanks I will look at that ingredient, how would I go about getting dd tested in such detail? I have no allergies and struggling to manage it all. She can’t even walk past the washing machine atm without being set off.

Unfortunately the waiting list on the NHS was about 9 months, so we paid for private testing. The dermatologist we saw also works for the NHS and is a consultant in dermatology in an NHS hospital. It was worth every penny.

If you are near Sheffield I can recommend her. I can't answer about the washing powder because it isn't an issue. One thing to bear in mind though is that if you don't use any powder containing bleach it allows mould to grow in washing machines, and mould can also cause eczema. Using laundry liquids at low temperatures is the worst contender for this.

You need to wash towels and bedding at 60 degrees with any washing powder, and do a drum clean once a month.

Don’t the eczema society do stuff for these sorts of things?

Try liquid soap and soda crystals for laundry. DriPak do both. We switched to them and my daughter's eczema completely cleared up. It still flares up if she wears clothes washed at anyone else's house so know it made a difference!

I'm no longer in the UK, so can't advise on specific brands. For shampoos and things like that, I would ask in Boots, but ask an actual pharmacist. Go straight for the boring packaging stuff that cleans hair but has very little in it. We avoid Sodium Laurel Sulfate (sp?) as it plays havoc with my skin and scalp. It is in so much stuff though. I think we used to use a laundry detergent from Big Green Smile - Bio D 🤔Something like that. Now we use a local one, but still one that is unperfumed and has as few ingredients as can find.

I think it is much harder for parents that have no experience of this sort of thing, so do go easy on yourself. There's a lot to learn, but you will get there. Even if, like us, you have to regularly clear out the bathroom cupboard of shampoos and conditioners that are either itch-inducing or don't work as are too natural 😀Good luck!

I have had unexplained rashes, itching, allergies for about 4 years now and I can only use shower gel, shampoo and conditioner without sulphates. I use faith in nature and childs farm stuff.

fairy is terrible for my skin despite it's claims about "baby soft skin". I use Aldi own brand non-bio (the box looks like persil).
Aveeno and Simple for skin care.

I am allergic to perfume so can not have any scented products at all. What is interesting is stuff labelled sensitive can still have fragrance in. I use Tesco non bio washing powder, it has no scent in it at all. I use simple hair care products.

I use lemon juice, baking soda and lemon juice plus bleach, though as little as possible to clean. Zero scented candles or air fresheners.

Im allergic to most things but get on with Simple shampoo.

Fairy is very strong stuff in my experience! Rubber gloves plus Ecover washing up liquid might help.

I have found, although this may not be true for your DD, that powders - I use fairy non-bio - wash out without residue and don't have that clining quality that irritate my skin.

I would try to get a referral to an allergy clinic, I have urticaria, mine is autoimmune, the dermatology department at my local hospital were useless, but the clinic at St Thomas were very good. I met people who were being tested for various allergies. They had been referred , even though they were not Londoners.

You need an allergy referral from your GP. Isolating the specific allergens will make it easier to work out what may be safe for your dc. I had a few skin prick tests and one big patch test (~120 patches on my back in one go - weird, but not invasive or distressing). Waiting list may be horrendous, so I would also investigate going private if you can.

In the meantime try using fragrance-free products. But your whole household must use them, otherwise your dc will remain constantly exposed to them. IME it took nearly a year to eliminate my known allergens, because everything that hasn’t been used since the previous year was still contaminated, and it can take several washes to get rid of fabric conditioner residue. It also took a few months for my skin to fully heal, and I had to continue using steroid creams until it did.

Products I use:

Personal care:
Simple (but not their hair products, which I find very drying)
Clinique (check - although fragrance free is their thing, they do have some fragranced products).
Faith in Nature and Green People do some very nice ff products online.
Waitrose ditto, often in store.

When my skin is irritated I use a food grade oil on it. My favourite is coconut oil, just the tiniest dab goes a very long way and doesn’t leave my skin shiny. Almond oil and cacao butter are also good, but pure cacao butter is too heavy alone. I melt a small amount and dilute it with almond oil so that it does not set hard again. Always food grade, 100% pure, no additives.

There are ff toothpastes available online. I don’t use them because I need a specialist one. So I have some irritation in my mouth.

Household:

Laundry powder - Surcare (quite harsh, very good for whites and towels), Waitrose own brand (I can’t remember the range, possibly Pure?)
Laundry liquid - Surcare (better for colours IMO)
Liquid soap (for delicates, wool etc) DriPak Liquid Soap (Waitrose or Amazon)
Fabric conditioner -Surcare or Ecover Zero
Bleach - thin, because it’s the only way I can find it unfragranced, but online. Miltons is essentially the same thing, but vastly more expensive. Ecover oxygen bleach granules for laundry.
Washing up liquid - Surcare. Waitrose and Fairy also do ff, but not always available.
Dishwasher - Fairy (online only AFAIK). I’m OK with the regular scent tabs, but not the lemon scent ones if I open the dishwasher while it’s hot and steamy.

Household cleaning - I have gone back in time, got rid of almost everything and use old-fashioned methods. Bleach, bicarb, vinegar, soap, etc. And a handheld steam cleaner.

IMO the best supermarket for fragrance free products is Waitrose.

But it’s just a guess that fragrances are the problem. Quite probable, but unconfirmed. Your dc definitely needs proper assessment and diagnosis.