HE Washer....

I use All Free. It comes in a white bottle and is free of dyes and perfumes. It has the HE logo on the bottle. The All has never irritated my sons skin, but some children are more sensitive than others. Try to avoid perfumes and dyes in whatever you choose. Besides I use All on my clothes and the baby spends a good amount of time snuggled against me.

Personally I didn't use dreft on any of my kids. It's much more expensive than other detergents and no, it's not safe to use with a HE washer. Dreft is recommended because baby's skin is delicate, but I never had a problem with Tide/All. You might want to try fragrance free detergents, I know they have those that are compatible with the HE washers. Good luck!

I have never heard that Dreft is bad for these washers. We have a front load washer and only used much less then stated on package in the washer and had absolutely no problems with it. Good luck.

Congratulations C.!
My children are 13,16 and 18 and never used dreft. I've always used Tide with no perfume or dyes. I have a HE washer and use 1TBS for all loads, with the exception of towels and jeans use 2TBS. Just make sure you measure it out. You don't have to use the expensive HE soaps. I was told by several people including the sales person and my sister (who had a repair man out and told her) that all HE soaps are really detergent that has been thinned out, so that's why all you need to do is use less.

I use Tide free HE as well and, just to be safe, the extra rinse cycle. I even use a touch of downy free for fabric softener. I couldn't get a poop or formula stain out with the baby detergents if my life depended on it so I stuck with Tide

Just use one that's free of dyes and fragrances and you should be fine. Dreft is just an un-needed expense for most people. I have always used plain old ALL Free & Clear but I'm not sure what brand would make the equivalents for HE.

I just had my second child and I've always used free detegents-- like arm and hamor or all. Not the HE type-- but same concept. Dreft is really the same thing, it just costs 2x as much.

Check the manual or with the manufacturer of your washer. They usually will state a 'preferred' brand.

Ultimately, it will come down to what you like and what does not irritate your little one.

Hey C.!
We just bought a new washer at the end of 2007 and love it!
We use the "he" detergent from Costco which is the Kirkland
brand. Someone told me it is Tide but I don't know that for
sure. One reason I do like it though is my oldest son has
very sensative skin, like we cannot use Downy fabric softner b/c of this, and this detergent does not bother him. :-)
It's very affordable too.
Hope this helps, have a great day!
~L.

I've had my HE washer for 5 years and my son is 2-1/2. I've used most of the HE laundry detergents on the market as well as regular detergents depending on what's on sale. My son has shown no allergic reaction to any detergent. If he did, I would switch to only using baby detergent. The one thing I have noticed with the HE washer is that some detergents become way too sudsy and you have to use an extra rinse cycle while others that are not HE, are not as sudsy. Try to find the one that works best. Or try an HE detergent that is free of perfume and dyes.

Hope this helps,

MC

I use All Free and Clear HE, and that worked very well even when my son was a newborn. If you really feel more comfortable using a soap that's made for infants just use less of it, about half what's recommended on the bottle. That drastically decreases the likelihood of overflow.

I have an HE Washer and have been using Dreft in it for over two years! You just use about 1/3 of what you would for a normal washer. Good luck and God Bless!

C.-

I have a five month old (our first also)I do not use any special detergent for her clothes. I use Tide because I have very sensitive skin and Tide is the only one that does not cause a reaction to me. Don't believe everything you hear or read about having to use different products to wash your babies clothes. I would suggest using whatever detergent that you use for your clothes for your babies clothes as well. Hope this helps.

B.
Redford, MI

We were told by our service person to use about a tablespoon of regular detergent to equal that of HE detergent. HE use less water so you don't need as much regular detergent. Hope that helps!

We have a GE TROM high efficiency washer & dryer. You can use dreft (FYI - All make a similar version for half the price), you just use about half of the amount. I got this bit of advice from my GE maintanence guy (we have our washer & dryer serviced once a year to keep things in good working order).

You definately should check your warranty on the washer because you don't want to use anything that will devoid the warranty terms/conditions. You may want to look into using a more eco friendly detergent that doesn't contain phosphates and is biodegradable - these tend to be low sudsing which is what you need for your HE washer.

We have a fancy HE Washer/Dryer Too. I was hesitant about using Dreft, so we have been using ALL Free (for HE) for my son's clothes - he is now 8 weeks. Seems to work really well and we do use the extra rinse cycle. He was developing a rash on his face, but it was from our clothes - I believe, because it was only on his face. (We were using normal Tide HE), but now I have started to rinse all of the adult clothes on the extra rinse cycle too. I usually buy ahead when detergent is on sale, so I have a bunch of Tide HE to use up. Once we've used all the "normal" Tide HE, I will use All Free or Tide Free on all of our clothes. I will also start using Downy Free - as one person mentioned - I didn't know they had that.

Hi C. - I have been buying the Method brand detergent. They have a detergent specific for baby clothing and it is for HE washers. I find it at Target right by the Dreft. Good luck!

I use Gain HE or Tide HE for the ADULT clothes and STILL for my 4 and 3 year old. I use Dreft or Baby All. and with the 2-3 loads I do a week for the kids...I forget it's not HE. I too have high effiency washer... I've very picky on babywash..CONGRATS on the pregnancy and marriage. I'm sure you'll make a good mom... :)

Hi C.!

I have a 19 month and a 4 year old. And even when I had a regular washer and dryer I always use TIDE FREE. I have very sensative skin and so does my 19 month old daughter. For some reason it's the only detergent that does not make me break out into hives and it comes in HE and there always seems to be a coupon for it in the weekend newspaper :)
Good Luck and Congratulations!!! A wonderful part of your life has begun and let me tell you after years of fertility treatments just know how blessed you are!

J. in Macomb

I never bought any baby laundry soap.. When my daughter was born- I washed her clothes in Tide- and she had no reaction- no problem... So I have always used Tide on her clothes.

I prespot all stains with TIDE - I dont buy any of the spray on stain removers.. Tide gets almost all stains out.

Breast milk does not stain.. but formula and babyfood stain.

Tide does make a HE soap and they also make a FREE soap.

So you can certainly use those.. but I would try to use whatever soap you use for your own laundry- If the baby has no reaction then just do the baby laundry along with the rest of the family laundry.

-- PS.. you will be doing so much laundry with a new baby- it will make your life a bit easier if you can mix in the baby laundry witht he rest of the family clothes.

We use Tide Free for HE washers (it's free of perfumes and dyes); we've never used Dreft for our baby's clothes.

However we do change the washer setting to extra rinse and she's never had any irritations to the Tide.

Shaklee makes a wonderful detergent. Their softener smells so good. All their product are safe for babies and the enviroment. R. A.

We shop at Costco and Kirkland has a perfume and dye free HE detergent, which is 1/2 the cost of Tide and way cheaper than Dreft. My daughter has sensitive skin and reacts to other peoples clothes when they cuddle with her (she gets a rash on her cheeks)and she has had no reaction to the Kirkland brand. FYI they also have REALLY cheap diapers their Kirkland brand is made by Huggies and they carry Huggies.

I have never used Dreft for either of my children. I didn't want to have to keep worrying about keeping 2 separate detergents in the house so i talked to my pediatrician and she said that Tide was just as safe for a baby as dreft so thats what i have always used and luckily tide make a HE formula so i would recommend using it. Hope this helps.

I have a normal washer but I have always used tide for my daughters clothes, I did use the dreft I recieved from my shower but never bought any. I do use Target brand dryer sheets no scent no dyes and LOVE them (I normally am picky with my dryer sheets but LOVE them!!!) Good luck and Congradulations!!

As a mother of three grown children and three beautiful grandchildren, I also have an HE Washer. I have used Tide HE Liquid Free (no dyes, perfumes). Also, Downy Ultra Liquid, Free and Sensitive. Several of us have sensitive skin and this combination seems to work well. I have washed the grandchildren's clothes with no problems. Follow the manufacturer's suggested amount of product use so there will not be any detergent or softener residue.