Planet Ultra Laundry Detergent

www.planetinc.com

Seriously? A detergent on a baby stuff blog? Heck yeah! This stuff is genius. My baby has fairly sensitive skin, always has. From the beginning I was hoping to cloth diaper, of course I’m not a fan of laundry so there have been some challenges. Basically we’ve always been a little cloth and a little disposables. If her bum ever gets a little red, we pop her back into cloth and bingo bango the red usually goes away very quickly, no cream needed. To do cloth diapering right you have to get the right detergent. Regular old detergent has all kinds of nasties in them (seriously do some research and it’s kinda scary.) Then I read that if you are going to use a good natural detergent that really cleans, you have to use it for all your clothes otherwise if you just use it, say for your diapers, it will clean out your washer every time, thus depositing yucky stuff left from the other detergent on your diapers. Good times. So that meant a search for something that we could use for every thing. We found Planet, ordered it, loved it and the rest is history. Once we ran out and I used another mainstream brand in a pinch. Not wise. The redness on her bum got worse not better and while she didn’t break out, her clothes seemed to itch her too. We re-ordered Planet immediately, and while we have always used the liquid, I now also keep a box of the powdered for back-up. Not that the powdered is bad but the liquid is supposed to be better for hard water, which we definitely have. We also have a top-loading machine and use the Ultra Laundry Detergent, I have not tried the 2X Ultra for HE machines (you know, the one in the picture up there) but imagine it to work just as well.

What I like
This stuff leaves no odor, really none. This is a good thing, no perfumes to irritate baby’s skin and you know that everything is really clean when all the smell is out, not just covered up with perfumes. Then there is the no-buildup thing. I have not had to strip any of my diapers even once in the last year that we’ve been using cloth. They absorb great and that’s because there's nothing getting stuck in them from the detergent. As for stains, Planet works well. Honestly I don’t care if my diapers get stained (which is good because they all are), and I don’t wash them quick enough to prevent stains no matter what detergent I use. For regular laundry however, Planet is very good at getting out stains (given you get it in the wash in a reasonable amount of time.) The bottom line is that Planet is great for our clothes and way way way better for Mother Earth too as it’s certified to be 100% biodegradable. It contains no enzymes, no fabric softener, no brightener, no scents and no dyes. Very pure. Very good.

Here are some recommendations from the company about which detergent to choose:

* Planet 2X Ultra Laundry Detergent, HE (for both High-Efficiency as well as conventional washing machines. It is concentrated so you use less.): Approved on many cloth-diapering websites. A powerful cleaner that is gentle on sensitive skin. This is the product that we most often recommend for cloth-diapering.

* Planet Ultra Liquid Laundry Detergent (the one I use): Approved on many cloth-diapering websites. A tried and true formula. Works great in conventional washing machines, a little too sudsy for the newer High Efficiency machines.

* Planet Ultra Powdered Laundry Detergent (I also have this one): Also approved on many cloth-diapering websites, this is a great cleaner. Make sure you rinse well, especially if you have a baby with sensitive skin, and especially if you have hard water. Powdered detergents can be more prone to residue issues than liquid detergents.

* Planet Delicate Laundry Wash: more often ordered online than found in stores, this is a fabulous cleaner for hand-washing your delicates like silk and wool in the sink. Can be used in conventional washing machines but too high-sudsing for the High Efficiency machines.

I did a lot of research before buying a detergent. I would always encourage you to do the same, hopefully that's why you're reading this review. You may want to check out this great chart put together by PinStripes and PolkaDots: http://www.pinstripesandpolkadots.com/detergentchoices.htm

One more side note…. I order it from Amazon. They have a very good price. I shopped locally once and paid double… no joke. Planet Ultra Liquid Laundry Detergent, Case Pack, Four 100 Fluid-Ounce Bottles (400 Fluid-Ounces) or  Planet 2x HE Ultra Laundry Liquid Detergent, 32-Loads, 50-Ounces Bottle (Pack of 4)