Allergic To Baby Detergent!

Tonight I put on a sweater I washed today, wore it a couple of hours, and discovered I’m allergic to something I never considered I could ever be allergic to!  I ran out of my normal laundry detergent which is Ultra Purex Natural Elements, and because of the snow I didn’t venture out to get anymore.  I’m highly allergic to a ton of laundry detergents and soaps.  You don’t even want to imagine the things that Tide does to my skin.  Actually my skin is so sensitive I even have to use natural acne treatment these days because the ones with harsh chemicals make me break out even more. Most of my life I’ve had to use the free & clear versions of stuff, but the Purex Natural Elements is one of the few that hasn’t bothered me, so I’ve stuck with it.  Sometimes I’ll use the Purex Complete 3-in-1 sheets, too, but they’re just not that practical for me since I hang my clothes on the line in the summer and don’t use my dryer much.

When I had Elliana I chose to use Ultra Purex Baby because let’s face it in this economy I’ll save some moola anyway I can, and the Purex Baby is mucho bucks cheaper than the other baby brands like Dreft.  Plus I figured if she happened to end up with my super sensitive skin Purex might actually work for her.  After a few trials with washing an item of hers with my clothes I discovered she has no problems at all with the Natural Elements, but I decided to keep washing her clothes in the baby stuff anyway.  If I ever run out of her baby detergent I do know I can throw her stuff in with my detergent without it irritating her.

Apparently it doesn’t work the other way around, though.  When I ran out of my Natural Elements I decided to wash the sweater I needed in the baby stuff.  I also ended up washing a load of pj pants so I could have my favorite fuzzy ones to sleep in tonight.  I only wore the sweater for about 2 hours before I noticed my arms were really itchy.  It got so bad I finally took the sweater off, and that’s when I saw I was getting hives all over my arms.  I know it wasn’t the sweater because a.  it’s a super soft sweater that I wear all the time (actually my fave one), and b. I tested it with the pj pants.  I only wore them for about 30 minutes before my legs started itching, and hives started showing up on my inner calves and thighs. 

Case closed.  I’m freakin’ allergic to baby detergent!  How the heck?  I swear my body does some weird things, but I never could have imagined I’d be allergic to the stuff made for the most sensitive skin in the world.