Having red, itchy and dry skin? When it comes to having sensitive skin, there can be various triggers and one of them includes the way you do your laundry. This is especially crucial for mummies with sensitive skin babies and children because younger skin is even more vulnerable to irritation1.
This is because clothes have contact with our skin constantly, and if you don’t use the right methods to avoid depositing allergens and irritants when doing laundry, it can cause those pesky flare-ups.
So, here are five laundry tips for those with sensitive skin.
Tip 1: Know How Much Soap to Use
Certain laundry detergents may contain harmful chemicals that cause rashes, and even, contact dermatitis which shows up as a red, itchy rash that can be widespread or focused on body parts such as our armpits2.
Using too much soap when doing laundry could be a key culprit in causing this as it traps the detergent in the fabric, allowing these irritants to come into direct contact with the skin3. What this means is that detergent residue may be left on the clothes as your machine may not fully rinse off the excess detergent, therefore causing skin irritation when wearing these clothes.
Credit: Shutterstock
So, check the recommended usage instructions on your detergent to ensure you are using just the right amount.
Tip 2: Do an Extra Rinse Cycle
Now, we know that using too much soap can leave residue, but even when using the right amount, it is best to do an extra rinse cycle to be extra careful.
Doing this can get rid of any possible lingering soap residues. This prevents any possible irritation that you or your children can suffer from because of trapped detergent within your clothes.
Tip 3: Wash New Clothes Before Wear
New clothes are absolutely not clean. It is extremely important to wash new clothes before you or your kids wear them because they may contain any chemicals4, dyes5, allergens or bacteria6. These chemicals will leak more on the skin because of sweat too.
Credit: Shutterstock
In fact, allergic contact dermatitis from clothes is usually because of dispersed dyes that are present in brand-new, unwashed clothing7. Plus, before you took these new clothes home, they would have been tested by other shoppers as well, and that itself can leave more bacteria and even insects (such as lice!) on the clothing8.
Tip 4: Don’t Overload Your Washing Machine
As much as we want to quicken the laundry process by filling our washing machine to the brim, we shouldn’t. It is best to follow your manufacturer’s guidelines when it comes to loading in your machine, as overloading it will make washing clothes ineffective.
Plus, overloading your washing machine may leave residual detergent on the clothing, and we’ve already explained how harmful that can be to the skin.
The 5th, Final & Best Tip: We Recommend Using the New TOP Gentle Care
We know detergent contains harmful chemicals and they are the main cause of your laundry irritating sensitive skin. Thankfully, there are specialised detergents that are made for sensitive skin such as TOP Gentle Care.
TOP Gentle Care is dermatologically tested and formulated to clean well with its 3X Stain Busting Action and protects clothes with Fibre Care Tech. Moreover, it is a liquid detergent and is less risky than powdered detergent as there is less chance that it will leave detergent residue after your wash cycle.
Here are some other things that we love about TOP Gentle Care when it comes to laundry for sensitive skin:
- It contains the revolutionary TOP Advanced Micro-Clean Tech with Lion Japan’s Anti-Microbial Tech that effectively removes 99.9% of viruses (Covid-19 virus, Influenza A & HFMD virus) and bacteria*.
- It does deep cleaning by penetrating into each fibre core to dislodge invisible and visible stains like dirt, sebum and sweat while preventing them from redepositing onto your laundry.
- Clothes will also smell fresher for longer, and remain hygienically clean, making it suitable for the entire family – especially with the anti-malodour that prevents bad odours when drying clothes indoors.
- It has Anti-Mite Dust, which removes 99.9% of mite dust that can cause allergies.
TOP Gentle Care comes highly recommended by us because it effectively cleanses – while protecting the skin. Now we have given you tips, and a product recommendation for you to protect your family’s sensitive skin, it is time to put these to the test and keep your family’s skin safe.
For more information on TOP Gentle Care, visit www.topdetergent.com.my/gentlecare now.
*Tested by an independent lab in Japan.
References:
- (n.d.). Irritated skin on your child? It can be your detergent – Blue Net …. Retrieved February 20, 2022, from https://bluenethospitals.com/blog/pediatrics-and-neonatology/irritated-skin-on-your-child-it-can-be-your-detergent/2020-05-11
- (n.d.). Rashes from Detergent: Could Your Laundry Soap Be Causing. Retrieved February 20, 2022, from https://www.healthline.com/health/rashes-from-detergent
- (2019, June 15). Signs You’re Allergic to Laundry Detergent — Skin Reaction – Allure. Retrieved February 20, 2022, from https://www.allure.com/story/laundry-detergent-allergy-skin-reaction
- (2015, May 20). New clothes should be washed because chemicals can cause …. Retrieved February 21, 2022, from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3090175/Doctor-s-orders-wash-new-clothes-Chemicals-used-garments-wrinkle-free-look-shops-cause-allergic-reactions.html
- (2015, May 20). New clothes should be washed because chemicals can cause …. Retrieved February 21, 2022, from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3090175/Doctor-s-orders-wash-new-clothes-Chemicals-used-garments-wrinkle-free-look-shops-cause-allergic-reactions.html
- (2020, September 21). This Is Why You Should Wash Your New Clothes Before You Wear …. Retrieved February 21, 2022, from https://www.india.com/lifestyle/this-is-why-you-should-wash-your-new-clothes-before-you-wear-them-read-on-4147700/
- (2019, July 23). Why You Should Always Wash New Clothes Before Wearing Them. Retrieved February 20, 2022, from https://time.com/5631818/wash-new-clothes/
- (2015, May 20). New clothes should be washed because chemicals can cause …. Retrieved February 20, 2022, from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3090175/Doctor-s-orders-wash-new-clothes-Chemicals-used-garments-wrinkle-free-look-shops-cause-allergic-reactions.html
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