by solveeczema | Sep 15, 2008 | About Products
When our son was a baby, we used a great diaper wipe from a company called Tushies. It had no detergent in it whatsoever, and the major cleansing ingredients were aloe and glycerine, which are also good for the skin. We loved that we could understand every ingredient – no ten-syllable words you can only find in a chemical industry manual.
The wipe worked well. But then the company changed the formula – it became just another one of those supposedly “natural” detergent wipes. When we ran out of the old formula, we switched to a spray bottle with filtered water and Bounty paper towels for diaper changes. If we tore the paper towels into individual pieces and stacked them next to the changing table, this turned out to be no more trouble than wipes. It also worked extremely well. After cleaning up with the water and paper towels, we patted the skin with a little cornstarch, and that was it. We never had any diaper rash, not once. So we stopped using the wipes and never looked back.
But wipes come in handy for more than just diaper changes. They are great for on-the-go clean ups. Teachers at school even ask parents for donations of wipes along with other school supplies.
I recently went to the store expecting to find nothing but detergent-soaked diaper wipes. I was pleasantly surprised. Tushies seems to once again be making a simple no-detergent diaper wipe under the Tushies name. I tried TenderCare wipes (which I believe are also made by the Tushies company) – the product works well, is flushable, and best of all, has a short, simple, truly natural and safe ingredients list. No detergents. Not even any ingredients I had to scratch my head about and look up on the Internet to be sure.
by solveeczema | Jul 1, 2008 | About Products
Here’s cause for celebration: Tom’s of Maine has launched a new line of SLS-free toothpastes. They are made of simple, straightforward ingredients. No detergents. www.tomsofmaine.com
More cause for celebration: some have fluoride. These may very well be the only non-detergent (and no-sorbitol) toothpastes with fluoride out there. (For people who don’t want fluoride, there are no-fluoride options, too.)
I have only one reservation – and only because I don’t know enough yet, not because there is a problem. The pastes in this line all contain a foaming agent called glycerrhizin, which I have not been able to adequately check out. It appears to have an impact on membrane permeability, but I cannot figure out whether it might have a positive effect here, a negative effect, or perhaps may not be of concern. From the things I’ve read so far, there may be no straightforward answer for us short of just trying it out.
Bottom line – spot test it first before using, and talk to your doctor if you have any concerns. We did a spot test, and so far so good. Yay!
I am thrilled to see a prominent natural product company like Tom’s of Maine offer such an extensive line of detergent-free toothpastes!
by solveeczema | Jun 25, 2008 | About Products
Check this out – someone is selling already grated soap for making your own soap-based laundry powder:
http://www.soapsgonebuy.com/
They sell Borax in bulk, too. I can’t for certain say that all of their products are non-detergent, but most seem so. (I would be careful to check out the unscented “powder” first by asking them directly, because they don’t say what brand of hard soap they start with or what ingredients are in it. However, they do seem to know the difference between “old-fashioned lye soap” and detergent.)
The site also has a section with laundry powder recipes using grated soap.
by solveeczema | May 25, 2008 | About Products
I’m still up to my, ahem, bootstraps in medical insurance appeal paperwork, but I thought I’d pass along a great article I just came across about so-called natural cleaners. It’s not about the detergent issues I discuss in solveeczema, but it has a good general discussion about less than scrupulous marketing in the “natural” cleaning products industry and a wonderful list of links, with all non-detergent and non-toxic cleaning suggestions at the end. Scroll down to the very end of the article for the suggestions.
Link to article
I hope I’ll get a breather from all this BS insurance paperwork soon. (What? My insurer chose those initials…) I will get back to the site and blog, and especially to overdue correspondence, as soon as I can.
by solveeczema | Apr 5, 2008 | About Products
I just ran across a promising resource: soapnaturally.org. The site is mainly for soapmakers, but there is a page with links to people who make traditional soaps around the world.
I have not been able to check all of them out – sometimes people claim to be traditional soapmakers, but they use raw materials that contain detergents (even SLS), so it’s important to check first. The sites I checked clearly described the soapmaking process on their sites, so they are true soap makers. (I have not used any of these products.)
by solveeczema | Jan 17, 2008 | About Products
Since it’s cold and flu season, and soon enough to be allergy season…
On a recent Oprah Winfrey program, featured medical expert Dr. Oz talked about rinsing sinuses using a “Neti pot.” I have no experience with this product, but the testimonials on the program were very positive. Someone on Oprah’s staff was able to get chronic congestion under control by using it. I also like that Dr. Oz admonished people to continue to figure out why they get chronic sinus congestion (if that is why they use it) and deal with the underlying problem, not just rely on the rinses.
Another option I have found is a product called “Simply Saline – Sterile Saline Nasal Mist” from Blairex Laboratories www.simplysaline.com. On the package it says it’s “The only sterile preservative-free nasal saline solution.”
The mist is very gentle, and I find, less frightening to children than other ways of flooding the sinuses with fluid to help clear congestion. I LOVE this product! And it’s just sterile saline. I just had a cold myself recently, with severe congestion, yet I was able to breathe and sleep every night because of this stuff.
While surfing over to Simply Saline’s web site, I found that Blairex also makes a diaper creme and ointment (the names of which I’m not going to print because of search and spam problems that come up with certain terms), as well as a new product for the face and lips, Boudreax’s Baby Kisses. (The links are to drugstore.com product descriptions, rather than to Blairex, because drugstore.com gives the ingredients while the manufacturer does not. I don’t know why it is so few manufacturers list their ingredients on their own sites! Drugstore.com is a great place to find product contents, one of the reasons I shop there.)
Looking at the ingredients in the above cremes, all are probably good barrier moisturizers. I have not used them or gotten feedback about them, but the ingredients seem similar to other good barrier moisturizers.
For one ingredient I have never come across before, Peruvian balsam, I found an informative link to help evaluate whether individual allergy might be an issue (or not): [link]
Boudreax’s body wash and shampoo, however, appear to be detergent based.
