help from USA moms

[Shri]

Where can I find
- cold water sterilizing tablets/solution
- laundry detergent and conditioner (non bio, non perfumed etc)

suitable for baby things? the sterilizing for bottles etc and the detergent for clothes and bedding.

I don't want to buy a steam sterilizer as we do not have much space at all and we do not have a microwave and I can't get into boiling everything every day.

Since I intend to bf, it will only be for the ocassional thing.

In UK you can find these things easily, everywhere, but I can't seem to find them here!

 

[Vickie]

I'm in Canada but we've found the non perfumed, dye free laundry detergent at Wal-mart here. We bought Cheer (because I'm not allergic to Cheer), but they had several brands including Tide.

 

[Samantha675]

I use Charlie's Soap for all our clothes and linens now. It is a veg based detergent that has nothing in it. I don't even bother with softner now, and I love how my clothes feel. I switched over all my washing as I figure that baby would be in contact with my and DH's clothes, bedding and such. You can find it at https://www.charliesoap.com/

 

[Shri]

Thank you ! I'll look into these. What do you use to clean all the baby gear with? I've been given some second hand stuff - crib etc and I want to clean them really thoroughly but not use any toxic chemicals, of course. I can't seem to find out if vinegar is ok to use with baby stuff.

 

[maybebaby]

My girlfriend recommended Cheer as well, and of course, most stores sell Dreft which is supposedly made for babies. My gf said she hated the smell of it so switched to Cheer. I'm pretty useless when it comes to the tablets though...

 

[Sarahkka]

Another product I'm pretty sure you can get in the States as well as Canada is the Ecover line for laundry (and cleaning).
I think it's actually a euro product, originally? So you might already know it.
Try health food stores like Whole Foods.
It's a bit pricey, but it's super gentle and great for baby stuff. I use a bit of it with Nellie's Laundry Soda (you could try borax), to make it stretch further.
Borax is very gentle and safe for skin and fabrics.
I never use fabric softener. I've never found I needed it with the products mentioned above, but Ecover does make one if you like.
And yes, vinegar is safe for baby things.

 

[brownhairedmom]

I'm in Canada as well, my mom told us we need to buy Ivory Snow laundry detergent for the baby's clothes.

 

[chefamy1122]

your best bet would probably be a store like Whole Foods....

 

[Vickie]

Vinegar should be fine for baby's items I also haven't used any fabric softeners, and have had no problems with the clothes/bedding coming out stiff.

Ivory is supposed to be pretty good--my MIL used it with her kids, but I'm not fond of powder detergents and couldn't find a liquid version of it.

 

[BeanieMummy]

Almost every major brand of Laundry detergent is making the free of everything detergents now, I was able to find them in Walmart Kamrt target Jewel and Dominicks. As for washing down the baby stuff I bleach the hard plastics then rinse VERY welll in clean water and the fabrics go into the wash