As a Mom of 2 boys under the age of 3, I do a lot of laundry. My kids have sensitive skin and this is a detergent I have no problem using because I know my kids will be ok.

chrissypotpie

Cherry Valley

I'm always on the hunt for gentle detergents and other products to use in our household because my kids have extremely sensitive skin. I'm happy to report that Arm & Hammer Essentials Free Laundry Detergent works exactly as promised! Our clothes came clean and nobody broke out in rashes or hives. Not even the baby! Having a bunch of crazy active kids means I deal with a lot of stains too. Consequently, every detergent I've ever purchased has doubled as a pre-wash stain treatment too. I usually just pour a little detergent directly onto the stain, rub it in and let it sit overnight before washing it. A lot of "gentle" detergents struggle in this aspect but Arm & Hammer Essentials Free Laundry Detergent performed like a champ! No stains, clean clothes, happy family. I'd even go as far as to say it works better than most "regular" detergents. I highly recommend giving it a try.

ObviouslyAnnie

USA

The Arm & Hammer Essentials Free Laundry detergent is eco friendly, as well as free of any dyes, fragrances, and does not contain any petroleum based cleaner. It contains baking soda which is great for an added boost to get out all those stains and odors that are tough to beat. It is great for people with sensitive skin, asthma, allergies, and it is even great to use on babies & kids clothing. I'm surprised by the bad rating of this detergent, because I found that it is a great inexpensive free and clear detergent. I have allergies and asthma, a lot of time other detergents irritate me and cause me to have allergic reactions. I haven't gotten any irritations from this detergent at all. I actually prefer the Arm & Hammer brand because I find that the baking soda in the detergent helps to get rid of tough stains and odors. I've never had left over stains after using this detergent. Not only that but I find since it is much more gentle it doesn't fade my clothes, and cause them to wear down faster. My dark clothes are still dark, my white clothes are crisp, and my colored clothes are still extra bright and clean. It even takes all the gym sweat and odors out of my workout clothes. This free and clear detergent works just as well as the more expensive versions that you can get at the health food stores at a fraction of the price. I love and trust the Arm & Hammer brand and would definitely recommend this product. Performance It gets rid of all stains and odors out of my clothes without masking them with any fragrances or dyes. I find that it completely gets all the sweat and odors out of my gym clothes. It doesn't fade or damage my clothes either, even though it's tough on stains, it's gentle on my fabrics. Scent The Arm & Hammer Free & Clear Detergent is free of any added dyes and fragrances. It has absolutely no scent to it, so it is great for people with allergies, asthma, and sensitive skin as well.

xheather570xx

Stroudsburg, PA

If you have sensitive skin, I advise against Arm & Hammer products, even this one. If you use Arm & Hammer and find you have itchy skin, dry skin, rashes, or KP (little bumps around your elbows and upper arms), you may want to consider switching detergents. I tried this detergent when I moved and couldn't find any of my usual brands. Huge mistake. I didn't make the connection to the new detergent at first and suffered through a week of being unable to sleep because of itching. I got a rash on my arms and legs, nightmare-levels of KP, and mild hives. It only takes a few minutes of exposure, and even if the fabrics are rinsed twice, I end up itching more and more as days go on. It also doesn't work very well unless you wash things in scalding water, and it really did a number on my colors. Lots of fading even after just a few washes. Performance It does a mediocre job in anything but hot water washes. Even in hot washes, my whites looked sad and mild stains lingered. It also faded the dickens out of a lot of my clothes. Scent Not much of anything going on. I found the overall scent chemically.

tennyocelestia

Centreville, VA

Most of the laundry detergent that I buy is scent and dye free; I am scent-sensitive and can't stand to have a floral scent on and in my clothing. Two of my boys have sensitive skin and get skin irritations from most laundry detergents that have scents or dyes added to them. There are some products that are free-and-clear that are worth it and some that just can't get the job done. The new Essentials detergent from Arm & Hammer uses baking soda as its main ingredient for cleaning power but it wasn't enough to get my socks clean without pre-treating them. I can deal with that but when I bought a bottle of this to try it out I wasn't all that impressed with how the whites turned out. I do love that it is scent and dye free but it isn't strong enough for the stains that we have on our clothes. Arm & Hammer has a whole series of Essentials from pet products to cleaning supplies; that's great for those who are concerned with the environment but if you have to wash things two or three times to get them clean you are wasting a lot of water and electricity in the process. I still have about half a bottle of this and will keep it around when I am out of the laundry detergent that I normally use. It's something that I would fel confident using on kids clothing because it contains no phosphates, dyes or scents but it might not be able to get out food stains from ketchup or chocolate or any type of milk based stains. Scent This is a scent free product.

AlexFortune

Undisclosed

We usually buy all-natural laundry detergents whenever possible, so when I saw Arm & Hammer Essentials Free Laundry Detergent, I was intrigued. I'm nearly done with my first bottle, and so far I've been fairly pleased. My husband and I both have sensitive skin, and neither of this has gotten a rash or other irritation from using this, which has no dyes or perfumes. In addition, it also gets our clothes clean, and it makes even stinky gym clothes smell fresh again. Performance Arm & Hammer Essentials Free Laundry Detergent gets clothes clean and removes light spots and not-too-tough stains without pretreating. It's fairly gentle on fabrics and doesn't seem to fade darks, but on the other hand, it doesn't seem to brighten whites as much as I thought it might. Scent Arm & Hammer Essentials Free Laundry Detergent is a "free and clear" laundry soap, so it doesn't have a very strong scent. (It reminds me of baking-soda toothpaste, but without the mint.) After using it, clothes come out of the dryer smelling fresh but not scented.

jtb915

USA