Fabric conditioner giving severe contact allergic reaction

[RapidRascal]

Having had minor areas of eczema on hands and feet all my life, the last few months have been hell. I developed all over head to foot exczema, threatening my employment.

It turns out on Patch testing that a 'dermatologically tested' fabric conditioner ingredient is gives me a Severe bullous reaction.

The ingredient is METHYLCHLOROISOTHIAZOLINONE also known as METHYLISOTHIAZOLINONE also called…5-chloro-2-methyl-4-isothiazolin-3-one and 2-methyl-4-isothiazolin-3-one and
Kathon CG and Euxyl K100 and Groton K. This cryptic non standardised nomenclature makes it extremely difficult to avoid and was very hard to pin down as it is also in dove soap etc

This chemical is in almost everything as a preservative. Is this familiar to anyone? Have you found shampoo, hair products etc that can still be used?

You poor thing. Interestingly I have just started using fabric conditioner again after years of not bothering (based on a mn thread ‘I’m a laundry detergent chemist AMA’ or similar, which was brilliant) and even though it’s the fairy gentle one, it’s been making me quite itchy.

Have you read Maggie o’farrell’s brilliant article about her daughters insanely bad eczema and going all natural with household chemicals? I don’t have eczema, but have suffered from psoriasis, other autoimmune issues and now my asthma’s flared - I think I’m going to go all natural in the new year.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/society/2016/may/21/life-with-extreme-eczema-maggie-ofarrell

Also:

mi-free.com/allergy-uks-endorsement-schemes-and-methylisothiazolinone/

Thanks for the tip. Its worth a read. If it works it works!

I am not a big 'Nature is always good' believer mind. Nature has no respect for contact dermatitis allergies or anything else. For example, black mould is a serious culprit, hard water areas, tree bark etc. Most ingredients are basically natural chemicals selected for their properties anyway.

Industrialisation has brought with it increasing prevalence of atopic conditions but no one knows why. One day maybe we will find out it is due to something we overlooked like artifical light lol!

mi-free.com/allergy-uks-endorsement-schemes-and-methylisothiazolinone/

good link! Thanks!

This article just made me realise that another source. The person I share an office with has started using an 'airfreshener' fragrance device. It stinks but I'm being polite.I had no idea the stuff can be in those too

No I agree, but what I think is interesting is that she moves to just natural soap. Think I’m going to make a batch in jan and see just how much I can use it for. Completely agree re mould etc.

As in, how much better is ‘natural spray bathroom cleaner’ than bog-standard. Possibly not much. But can we clean eg most kitchen surfaces with a tiny bit of soap and hot water rather than any other cleaners, ‘eco’ or not?

I try to buy "non-toxic" products as have a chronic health condition and eczema/rosacea etc.

I use liquid soap flakes with a small amount of Sal suds in my laundry. I used a mix of hydrogen peroxide and bio-d washing up liquid (which is fantastic w-up liquid and I also use it as shampoo as it's the only thing that doesn't aggravate my seborrheic dermatitis, and as hand wash in the kitchen (ok on my pompholyx eczema) as a stain "oxy" spray. I sometimes chuck in a scoop of Dri-pak laundry boost.

I was using white vinegar as a softener but honestly it's not great so I've started using Attitude fabric softener as a compromise. It's rated A by EWG so pretty good toxicity wise and it's available on Amazon.

As an aside salsuds diluted in a spray is a great general purpose cleaner and it smells a lot better than vinegar 😊