Selecting a laundry detergent for cloth nappies and general laundry

Most modern detergents are suitable for washing cloth nappies. However, many people come to Clean Cloth Nappies with concerns about using the ‘wrong’ product or ‘harsh’ detergents against their baby’s skin. These are often based on well-meaning but misguided information surrounding detergents and washing cloth nappies.

Our website provides science-based explanations of laundry detergents that have been reviewed by qualified chemists. We are a source you can trust, combining science expertise and hands-on cloth nappy experience. With our wash routine recommendations, you can use most commercial detergents, along with laundry boosters and optical brighteners.

Pervailing cloth nappy myths about detergent

Some cloth nappy manufacturers provide washing instructions with restrictive and complex detergent requirements. For example, they might caution against using detergents that contain oxygen bleach, enzymes, built-in fabric softeners, optical brighteners and fragrances.

These restrictions are not correct; cloth nappies do not require specialist detergent and can be washed using mainstream commercial detergents. You can buy this at your local supermarket or department store.

How laundry detergents works

Commercial detergents consist of surfactants, enzymes, oxygen bleach, stabilisers, builders, water softeners and fragrances (if applicable). These work together to remove stains and soiling.

Not all detergent is created equally. The concentration and combination of surfactants and other raw materials (for example, enzymes and oxygen bleach) affect how effective the detergent will be.

A detergent that contains a mix of anionic surfactants, noninonic surfactants and enzymes will clean better than a detergent that contains only a single sufactant.

In the U.S., Tide and Persil are premium products in a business that can be divided into four performance tiers.

At the low end are ultra-economy detergents, which may contain little more than an inexpensive surfactant such as linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LABS) plus fragrance and color. Products on the next tier might add a surfactant aid, or builder, such as sodium citrate, a viscosity enhancer, and a second surfactant.

~ P&G and Henkel go head to head in the laundry aisle

Patreon members have access to our full detergent indexes. We have reviewed 216 different detergents, and include dosing guidance and minimum recommended temperatures.

Detergent ingredients

Surfactants

Surfactants actively remove soiling from fabrics. Different detergents contain different amounts of surfactants. It is important to use enough surfactants to remove all the dirt.

Anionic surfactants are effective at removing soil, clay, dirt and oily stains. 

Nonionic surfactants have good cleaning power, are milder on human skin, and are highly soluble. Differing from anionic surfactants, nonionic surfactants are virtually unaffected by the presence of multivalent ions in hard water. 

A mixture of surfactants is applied in detergent formulation. The anionic surfactant contributes to cleaning performance in soil removal and the nonionic surfactant contributes to making the surfactant system less sensitive to water hardness.

Enzymes

Enzymes help speed up and increase the performance of cleaning products. Almost all laundry detergents in Australia and New Zealand contain enzymes to help remove stains, increase whiteness, eliminate fabric pills, and prevent re-soiling.

Laundry detergent enzymes allow for shorter wash cycles and lower wash temperatures while ensuring the desired cleaning result. Simply put, they save energy.

Enzymes are also an indicator of a good detergent; the more types, the better. The enzymes themselves help with stain removal, but are only a tiny portion of the ingredients. Their inclusion is a sign of more thoughtful formulation. It’s trickier to get enzymes to work in a detergent; formulators need to balance the pH, ensure other ingredients don’t negatively interact with the enzymes, and prevent the enzymes from denaturing prematurely during transport. This complex formulation takes skill and is often only achievable at scale.

The role of different enzymes

Detergents contain different enzymes to target different stains; they are substrate-specific, targeting a specific active site, activating, and then washing away.

• Amylases remove polysaccharide (starch) stains such as pasta and potatoes.
• Cellulases remove particulate soil such as clay and rust and removes cotton microfibrils. This eliminates the fuzz and pills that make clothes look dull.
• Glucanase breaks down statch that amylase doesn’t.
• Lipases remove lipid (fat) stains such as butter, oil, and more.
• Mannanases remove mannan-containing stains such as barbecue sauce, chocolate and ice cream.
• Proteases remove protein stains such as grass, eggs, and bodily fluids.

Unfounded fears around enzymes in detergents

Some detergents in the UK are non-biological (non-bio), meaning they do not contain enzymes. It is safe to use bio detergent on your baby’s clothes and nappies.

There’s no evidence that using washing powders with enzymes (bio powders) or fabric conditioners will irritate your baby’s skin.

~ NHS – What you’ll need for your baby

Enzymes have been used in laundry products since the 1950s, are extremely carefully formulated, effective, safe and do not cause skin reactions.

Optical brighteners

Optical brighteners are fluorescent dyes added in tiny quantities to most laundry products, including those marketed for babies such as Purity and Amolin. They are not detrimental to fabrics or human health. In fact, optical brighteners are also used in personal care products such as toothpaste, makeup and shampoo.

The dyes fluoresce under UV light, making whites and colours look brighter. They are made to be residual, which means they stay on the fabrics. Optical brighteners are broken down by UV light or washed away in subsequent washes.

There is no scientific evidence that optical brighteners cause skin reactions. Studies of people with allergic contact dermatitis show no reaction to laundry products in nearly 100% of cases.

In studies that have been conducted in waterways, the level of optical brighteners present is well below the level that could be described to be harmful to aquatic life. Studies conducted at wastewater treatment plants (endpoint of wastewater from households connected to mains plumbing) show up to 98% of the optical brighteners are removed during the water treatment process.

There is nothing about the chemistry of optical brighteners that ‘builds up’ or causes fabric to repell water.

Oxygen bleach (sodium percarbonate)

Many detergents, especially powdered formulas and boosters, contain oxygen bleach (sodium percarbonate) for stain removal. When mixed with water it releases hydrogen peroxide and sodium carbonate. This process is called oxidisation and makes stains easier to remove.

For stain removal, adding oxygen bleach assists more than enzymes.

Fragrances in detergent

Fragrances are included in detergents to cover the smell of surfactants, which smell unpleasant. Sensitive, plant-based or ‘eco’ detergents still contain fragrance (as well as fewer or weaker surfactants), just less than the mainstream versions.

Many products claim to contain ‘natural’ fragrances, in most cases, this is a marketing claim as natural fragrances and synthetic ones are composed of the same raw materials.

Some people are sensitive to fragrances in laundry detergent and fabric softener. In this situation select a fragrance-free detergent.

Fragrance allergy is common and is believed to affect around 1% of adults. Rates in children and adolescents are around 1.8%. 

~ DermNet

Getting the best results from your detergent

Detergent performance is affected by:

• your water hardness level
• the amount and type of soiling
• wash temperature
• wash duration
• machine type (a front loader is more effective because of the assistance of gravity)

Using the right amount of an effective detergent and washing in warm-hot (40-60°C) water is the best way to keep your cloth nappies clean. Water temperature is important. In a nutshell, increasing the wash temperature provides better results than altering surfactants.

Use enough detergent to adequately clean laundry

Start with the amount of detergent advised on the package for a heavily soiled load (sometimes described as a large load/hard water) in your main wash, and around one third (1/3) to half (1/2) of that in the first wash.

Increase if there is additional soiling (such as multiple children in cloth or older children) or if items are not coming out clean.

Check for suds one-third (1/3) of the way through the wash phase of the wash cycle. Add more detergent until you see sufficient suds in the wash phase.

Each wash cycle is different, the level of soiling is never identical. You might have the same cycle length and water temperature but the the soiling and staining of each load is different. This means you need to be mindful of when to adjust the detergent dose (and chemical factors).

~ Anastasia, Environmental Scientist and founding Facebook group admin

Plant-based, sensitive and ‘eco’ detergents

Plant-based, sensitive and ‘eco’ detergents can contain fewer surfactants than mainstream detergents. For this reason, it is sometimes necessary to increase the amount of detergent above the manufacturer’s recommendation to achieve a great clean. Some plant-based detergents work better with a laundry booster.

What makes an environmentally friendly detergent

To be environmentally friendly a detergent must:

• use sustainable feedstock for raw material production, and
• be readily degradable in wastewater and not harmful to the environment (both aquatic, flora and the soil).

You might also want to consider the packaging, where the detergent is made, and how far it needs to travel to reach your house.

‘Eco’ credentials around the world

Products that are labelled ‘eco’ must comply with legislation, and ideally certification for the entire life cycle of the product.

Australian law requires all ‘eco’ claims to be accurate, substantiated, specific, not unqualified and/or general statements. Claims should only be made for a real benefit, not overstated and should consider the whole product life cycle.

The European Union uses ‘Ecolabel’, a certification awarded to products and services which have a lower environmental impact than other products in the same group. The label criteria were devised using scientific data on the whole of a product’s life cycle, from product development to disposal. This certification is available for Australian products also. The United States has similar ecolabel standards.

Washing temperature for plant-based, sensitive and ‘eco’ detergents

These detergents do not necessarily need hot (60°C) water to work. This is a myth! Surfactants’ ability to remove soiling is not reliant on whether it is plant-based or petroleum-based. Our detergent index contains several plant-based detergents that wash well in warm (40°C) water.