Best Fragrance-Free Baby Laundry Detergent

What makes a detergent a baby detergent?

Less than the aisle suggests, and the brands’ own pages say what. Seventh Generation names one formulation difference. Its baby detergents “include an additional enzyme blend, pectinase, in order to fight against those stubborn baby stains,” on top of the protease, amylase and mannanase blends its regular detergents carry. ATTITUDE goes the other way. Its baby detergent is “free of enzymes,” and the page describes it as “specially formulated for your little one’s clothes and ideal for their delicate skin.” Dreft’s pages describe a “hypoallergenic formula” and a brand “used by families for over 90 years,” and name no ingredient that differs from a regular detergent.

“Hypoallergenic” appears on both Dreft pages, so it is worth knowing what the word is. The FDA, writing about cosmetics, says “there are no Federal standards or definitions that govern the use of the term ‘hypoallergenic.’ The term means whatever a particular company wants it to mean.” A detergent is not a cosmetic, and no agency defines the word for laundry products either. This guide reports where each page uses it and does not rank on it.

Fragrance-free, unscented, free and clear: what each page says

The three phrases are not interchangeable, and each brand here picks one. Seventh Generation’s Free & Clear Baby page carries “Fragrance Free” in its title and says the formula is “formulated with no dyes or fragrances.” ATTITUDE’s fragrance selector reads “Unscented,” and the description calls it “our unscented laundry detergent.” Dreft’s Free & Gentle page says “No perfumes,” “No dyes” and “Unscented” in three separate lines. Babyganics puts “fragrance free” in the product’s name and says nothing more about it. Seventh Generation’s EasyDose Baby page lists its scent as “Free & Clear” and never uses the words “fragrance free” at all.

The check is the ingredient list. A scent shows up there as “fragrance” or as the named oils behind it, the way Seventh Generation’s scented baby detergent page lists lemon peel oil and bergamot fruit oil, and a page that publishes its list lets a reader see either. Four of the five pages here publish one, and none of those four lists a fragrance ingredient. Dreft’s page does not, so its “no perfumes” stands as a statement without a list behind it on the brand’s own site. That difference, a claim a reader can check against one they cannot, is this guide’s ranking.

Our pick: Seventh Generation Free & Clear Baby Laundry Detergent

Seventh Generation’s page does everything a reader looking for a fragrance-free detergent needs, in one place. The name says fragrance free. The ingredient list names every ingredient with its function, and no fragrance is among them. The page claims EPA Safer Choice, USDA Certified Biobased at 97 percent, and Leaping Bunny certification. Its FAQ answers the machine questions directly: “compatible with HE machines,” formulated “to work in both hot and cold wash conditions,” and “septic safe when used as directed.” And it states the load count, 30 loads at the medium dose, which is the figure a reorder depends on.

One caveat. The list ends with two preservatives, benzisothiazolinone and methylisothiazolinone, which the page labels as synthetic. They are there, they are named, and the page makes no claim about them either way. A reader avoiding those two has the runner-up.

Runner-up: ATTITUDE Baby Laundry Detergent, Unscented

ATTITUDE’s page publishes its list with percentage ranges for the surfactants, 5 to 15 percent anionic and 5 to 15 percent non-ionic, which no other page here does, and the rest under “contains also.” It is “free of enzymes,” claims EWG Verified certification, says it is “made for high-efficiency (HE) and standard washers” and “effective for cold water wash,” and its title says “dermatologically tested.” The bottle holds 35 loads, and the page offers an 80-load refill.

It is second for two reasons the page itself supplies. The last six ingredients carry no stated function, and the page says to check the packaging because “our products are constantly evolving.” And the page says nothing about septic systems, where Seventh Generation’s answers the question.

Also consider: Dreft Free & Gentle Liquid Laundry Detergent

Dreft’s Free & Gentle page makes the plainest fragrance statement of the five, “No perfumes,” “No dyes,” “Unscented,” and claims that it “meets EPA Safer Choice & NEA Product Standards,” the second being the National Eczema Association’s Seal of Acceptance. The association’s own product directory lists “Dreft Free and Gentle Liquid.” It “works in all washing machines, high efficiency (HE) and standard (both front- and top-load),” which is the only front-loader statement on this list. The page’s ingredients line reads, in full, “Ingredients include biodegradable surfactants (anionic and nonionic) and enzymes,” and the button beneath it leads to SmartLabel.

It sits third because the list is elsewhere. Runlow does not read SmartLabel, so the record carries what the brand’s own site says and nothing more. The page also gives no load count for the 92-ounce bottle, only “measure with cap.” A reader who wants the NEA seal specifically has one choice here, and this is it.

Also consider: Seventh Generation EasyDose Baby Laundry Detergent, Free & Clear

The EasyDose is the same brand’s baby formula in a 23-ounce bottle rated for 66 loads, with a cap the page says “measures the right amount.” The ingredient list is published with functions, as on the Free & Clear page, and shows no fragrance. The page claims the same three certifications. It is fourth rather than first because its page never says “fragrance free”; it lists the scent as “Free & Clear” and leaves the reader to read the list, which is exactly what this guide did. The directions also skip the HE and cold-water statements the Free & Clear page makes, and the label text reads “CAUTION: Harmful if swallowed.”

Know before you buy: Babyganics 3x Laundry Detergent, Fragrance Free

Babyganics’s page lists fifteen ingredients, which is more than most, and says nothing about any of them. No functions, no machine type, no water temperature, no septic statement, no certification, and no load count for the 60-ounce bottle. “Fragrance free” is in the name and no fragrance is in the list, so the claim holds on its own terms. The page describes the formula as “made without sulfates but with amazing, plant-derived and enzyme-based cleaning power,” and the list shows two enzymes, protease and amylase. A reader gets a list and a name, and has to bring every other question to the bottle.

What we left out

Dreft’s Stage 1 Newborn detergent was read and recorded and is not a pick. Its page makes no fragrance statement either way, and its ingredients, like Free & Gentle’s, live on SmartLabel. Seventh Generation’s scented Concentrated Baby detergent was read and left out for the obvious reason; its list names the essential oils behind the scent. ECOS’s site has no baby detergent page; its baby section points at the brand’s regular Free & Clear detergent, which has its own record under laundry detergent.

How we researched this

Every fact in this guide comes from each brand’s own website, read on the date each product record shows. Nothing was retrieved from a retailer listing, and nothing was taken from SmartLabel. Fragrance statements, ingredient lists, machine compatibility and certifications are quoted from each manufacturer and are the manufacturer’s own claims; each certification is recorded as a claim, since the issuers’ directories could not be queried by exact product with the tools available. The FDA’s page on the word “hypoallergenic” is about cosmetics and is quoted as that. Runlow has not tested any of these detergents and makes no claim about how any of them affects a particular baby’s skin. No prices are shown. Every retailer link goes to a search results page for the exact product, not a specific listing, so it stays accurate regardless of what’s currently in stock. How many bottles a year your household goes through is a question for the Laundry Detergent Calculator.