I hate Vaska, does that count? If clothes go in essentially clean, they come out essentially clean. What a product!

I suggest a laundry detergent from a company whose CEO would never consider ingesting the product. I was told by my dermatologist that less than 1% of people are allergic to common detergents. That small rashes usually come from friction with clothing as well as a variety of other sources.

There's also nothing inherent in plant based material that is less allergenic. In fact, almost all of our allergies are from "natural" substances.

The first hit I got from google:

http://thedermblog.com/2008/03/12/itchy-rash-stop-blaming-your-laundry-detergent/

I like Vaska a lot, but I really, really, really appreciate the link. It reinforces the oft mentioned theory on this forum that aundry rinsing is the most important issue with regard to skin issues. Thank you for this link, dzz.

Pat

I do think that one rinse on a HE machine isn't good enough. I came to this opinion by looking at the rinse water in the tub. I don't know if one rinse may cause skin problems. But I do know I don't want opaque water dried into the clothes I am wearing.

dzzmiller- what detergent do you suggest? You don't like Vaska because you don't think it's very powerful?

and yes, hot water will make Vaska and any other "green" detergent work better. One Forum commenter said that hot water makes any detergent work better and I believe that is true.

Pat

I've tried Vaska in two different front loaders I have. It is highly concentrated and created far too much suds. It didn't do anything special in terms of cleaning or leaving clothes smelling especially clean. If the greenness of it makes someone feel better, or they are using a toploader I suppose it's ok. It's quite similar to The Laundress detergent though it costs less. I didn't have great results with that one either. Meh.

Both Mrs. Meyers and Caldrea are better in that category. I've used both of those.

Mainly, though, I have been using Persil Megaperls for the last 2 years with excellent result for whites. I like the color liquid and I have the new Walmart all purpose liquid (which seems to be the same as the German color liquid). With soft water we have and a front loader this gives me the best results. Persil also has some deodorizing properties and rinses very well.

But water really varies around the country and that, together with the machine, can produce tremendous variations in results.

Ecos with enzymes would be my suggestion. It is very similar to Vaska in terms of how soft it leaves cloth.