Best Baby Laundry Detergent for Eczema-Prone Skin

What does the eczema seal on a detergent mean?

It means the National Eczema Association accepted the product into its Seal of Acceptance program. The association’s own application page sets the terms. A product “must be fragrance free,” with “no fragrance ingredients or strong fragrance, scent or anything aromatic in nature.” It cannot contain any ingredient on the association’s “Ecz-clusion List.” The brand submits the full formula “with exact concentration levels” and a “full report on clinical safety testing.” Accepted products appear in a public directory, and each listing carries a reminder that people with eczema “have the responsibility for identifying ingredients in any product that could potentially irritate their skin.” The ingredient list is still yours to read.

How do you check a detergent’s eczema seal?

Search the association’s online product directory by brand name. Every listing names the product and the company, prints an ingredient list, and links to the brand’s own page. All three picks here were found that way, and each record says how closely the directory’s listing matches the brand’s current page. A seal printed on a bottle is the brand’s statement. The directory is the association’s.

Our pick: Noodle & Boo Ultra-Safe Baby Laundry Detergent, Fragrance-Free

This is the one pick whose directory listing and brand page say the same thing. Both list water, three plant-based cleaners, glycerin, two water softeners, a soil remover aid, sodium hydroxide and two enzymes, protease and amylase. The page gives each a function in plain words, so a reader can see what every ingredient is there to do. It says the formula is made without dyes, sulfates, phosphates, phthalates, optical brighteners, chlorine bleach, parabens and formaldehyde donors, and that it was “developed for both high efficiency (h.e.) and conventional washing machines.” The brand also claims EWG Verified status for this version.

One caveat. Noodle & Boo sells a scented version, Crème Douce, under the same product name, and its list carries a fragrance with four named components. The seal and this record cover the Fragrance-Free bottle. The page also states no load count, so the record carries the bottle’s 64 ounces and nothing more.

Runner-up: Forever New Baby Delicate Laundry Detergent Powder

Forever New’s page lists eight ingredients, each with a role, from sodium carbonate as the cleaning agent to zeolite as a mineral booster. It says the powder is “specially formulated as a High Efficiency (HE) wash” and works in standard machines too, at 2 tablespoons a load. Its “Free Of” list starts with fragrances and runs through sulfates, bleach, optical brighteners, dyes and phosphates. The National Eczema Association’s directory lists the product and links to this page.

It sits second for two reasons. The page names two components only in general terms, a “nonionic surfactant” and a “1% Natural Odor Eliminator (Proprietary).” The directory’s listing names more specific ingredients where those two appear, so the two lists don’t read the same, and the record matches the listing by its link and product name. The brand’s own page also names no seal.

Also consider: Dreft Free & Gentle

Dreft’s page says the detergent “meets EPA Safer Choice & NEA Product Standards,” and the association’s directory confirms the listing for Dreft Free and Gentle Liquid. The page says “No perfumes,” “No dyes” and “Unscented,” and that the formula works in “all washing machines, high efficiency (HE) and standard.”

It sits third because the brand’s own page has no ingredient list. Its ingredients line reads only “Ingredients include biodegradable surfactants (anionic and nonionic) and enzymes,” and the full list sits on SmartLabel, which Runlow does not read. The directory prints a list of its own for this product, but the record carries only what the brand’s site says.

What the pages leave out

None of the three brand pages publishes the clinical testing the association’s application requires. That testing goes to the association. None of the three pages states a load count, so cost per load can’t be worked out from them. And the seal is a statement about a formula, never a promise about one baby’s skin. The association says as much in every listing. Best Fragrance-Free Baby Laundry Detergent covers five more baby detergents on fragrance alone.

How we researched this

Every product fact in this guide comes from each brand’s own website, read on the date each record shows. Each eczema listing was checked in the National Eczema Association’s own online directory, and the seal’s requirements come from the association’s application page. Nothing was retrieved from a retailer listing, a review or SmartLabel. Other certifications are recorded as manufacturer claims, since the issuer’s directory could not be queried by exact product with the tools available. Runlow has not tested any of these detergents and makes no claim about how any of them will suit a particular child’s skin. No prices are shown.