Detergent,
14 A L L E R G Y & A S T H M A T O D AY SUMMER 2006 B R E AT H E R V I L L E . O R G
Soap and Eczema:
How One Mother’s
Extreme Home Makeover
Made a Difference
W
hen A.J. Lumsdaine’s four- considered every possibility and system-
month-old baby developed atically worked through each. Every-
small, bumpy red patches on thing he breathed, ate or touched was
his legs, the pediatrician identified the suspect.”
rash as eczema. His solution: Slather the One day, a sentence in a classic child
baby’s skin with moisturizers. care book (Touchpoints by T. Berry
Unfortunately, the eczema got worse. Brazelton, MD) caught her attention:
A blistery red rash soon blossomed over “Pure, mild soaps must be used for
the baby’s entire body and face. [baby’s] bath and … clothes. Traces of
Desperate to find relief for her baby, detergents stay in clothes and can pro-
A.J. began to research the problem on duce skin rashes in sensitive infants.”
her own. She and her husband refused to Thus began a journey that turned the
accept the opinion that the breakouts family’s laundry room and cleaning
were just random events, so they set out closet upside down – and ultimately
to problem-solve their son’s situation. restored their baby’s soft skin and his
“We realized there were many differ- ability to wriggle and giggle in his usual
ent causes of eczema,” she recalls. “We exuberant way.
800.878.4403 A L L E R G Y & A S T H M A T O D AY | SUMMER 2006
15
Environmental Detective Ben Soaps (www.calbenpuresoap.com,
A.J. drew heavily on her university 800.340.7091) and Vermont
training as a scientist and engineer, Soapworks (www.vermontsoap.com,
consulting a wide range of experts to 866.762.7482). Other nondetergent
make sense of the detergent connec- laundry products include Dri-Pak
tion. “I’ve tried to understand my son’s Soap Flakes (www.soap-flakes.com)
eczema from a biological perspective and Nikwax Tech Wash®
by talking to chemists, microbiologists (www.nikwax-usa.com).
and doctors,” she explains. “Deter-
gents increase skin membrane The Makeover
permeability in a way that soaps and A.J. learned that rinsing with water
water do not.” This effect is so strong is not enough to remove detergent
that cleaning instructions for water- buildup from cloth or hard surfaces.
repellant clothing and camping gear Instead, she recommends using soap to
A.J.’s son reacted to detergent in his parents ’
often warn against using detergents. clothes and hair too.
wash away the detergent residue.
“Eliminating detergent from our On her Web site (www.solveeczema.
home environment was not as simple org), she recommends a multicycle
as switching to soap flakes in the laun- companies to be sure their products are process of superwashing for clothes,
dry,” recalls A.J. “To get rid of our true soap.” towels and bed linens:
son’s breakouts, we had to completely For personal bathing, she recom- 1 – Wash laundry with soap flakes
remove all detergent sources in our mends finding a soap that is not too and a booster like Borax or
home. Just touching his skin with drying, such as a tallow soap. “Many Oxo Brite™
water from a clean dish out of the solid bar soap products in health food 2 – Repeat
dishwasher was enough to give him stores are true soap,” A.J. says. Her 3 – Wash with soap only
serious contact eczema within 30 min- Web site lists traditional soapmakers 4 – Wash full cycle with water only
utes. Our son’s face didn’t clear up like Ipswich Bay Soap Company 5 – Repeat with water only
completely until we began to wash our (www.ipswichbaysoap.com, With most fabrics, she found this
own hair in a soap-based shampoo.” 978.412.8121) or Oregon Soap 5-step process cleaned clothes enough
Company (www.oregonsoap.com, that they did not irritate the baby’s
Finding Soap 800.549.0299). skin. Occasionally, however – especi-
Soaps by definition are made from A.J. finds personal products and ally with synthetic-blend fabrics – it
plant and animal fats; detergents are laundry/household cleaners from Cal took more washing and rinsing.
synthetic chemicals originally made “Detergent residues in clothing must
from petroleum and now often from be completely removed,” she says. “If
plant oils. Unfortunately, pure-soap Traces of they aren’t, switching to soaps in the
laundry and cleaning products are few laundry can initially be more irritat-
and far between in the U.S. – you detergents stay ing. You really need to wash away the
can’t just walk in and buy them at the detergent residues with soap to get the
corner grocery. Because plant-based
in clothes and benefit.”
detergents are now commonly used by
the natural products industry, finding
can produce A.J. also replaced all her family’s
shampoos and body cleansers with
true soaps even in health food stores skin rashes in soap-based versions and used soap to
can be a challenge. remove detergent residue from
Luckily, if you want to find soap sensitive kitchen utensils, dishes and hard sur-
products, A.J. has done a lot of the leg- faces around the home such as chairs,
work for you. “Completely disregard infants. tables, sinks and floors.
the word ‘soap’ on the front label or “It took four months of careful
product advertising,” she says. “The observation and detective work to
word is used liberally for all kinds of track down all the sources of detergent
detergent products. I always check and in our home environment,” A.J.
doublecheck product ingredient lists recalls. “We were flabbergasted that
by calling or sending e-mails to such small amounts of detergents, such
16 A L L E R G Y & A S T H M A T O D AY SUMMER 2006 B R E AT H E R V I L L E . O R G
foods, especially produce that has to child’s eczema, this solution could
be washed as part of the processing, allow you to eliminate it. If you are
seem to contain enough traces of willing to do the work, the results are
detergents to give our son contact nothing short of miraculous.”
eczema.,” A.J. says. “It’s interesting to “My son seems less reactive as he
note that many of the foods people gets older and his skin becomes natu-
think of as causing eczema are also rally less permeable. Being in a
ones likely to accumulate detergent detergent-free home and allowing his
residue from processing, such as eggs skin to stay mostly healed makes it less
and some dairy.” susceptible to breakouts outside the
home. Once parents understand all
Is It Worth It? this, they are able to predict breakouts
A.J. Lumsdaine knows that her from exposure and eliminate them
soap solution is not a universal cure: quickly. I hear over and over again
“This will not help everyone with what a relief is that they feel some
eczema. But if the detergent sensitivity control over the eczema and that it is
described here is the cause of your no longer random.” I L.R.
A.J.‘s son thrived once their household was
Possible Signs of
detergent-free.
Detergent Sensitivity
as that left on dishes from the dish-
If you’re wondering if your child might be sensitive to detergent,
washer, could cause such a severe rash
A.J. Lumsdaine lists these signs to consider:
and that more rinsing with water didn’t
help. At first, we just couldn’t believe
• Your child’s eczema begins when he is an infant.
it, but then we switched to a nondeter-
gent dishwasher powder, and that • The eczema appears more where there is sweating or moisture.
solved that segment of the problem.”
• One or both parents have skin problems, eczema or asthma.
What’s To Eat? • He gets eczema all over, but you use disposable diapers and the dia-
Eczema in babies is often blamed per area is relatively clear of eczema.
on food allergy, but A.J. knew from • His eczema changes noticeably, either for better or worse, following
her chemistry lab days how hard it is a bath or shower.
to wash chemical residue from glass or
plastic containers. She suspected some • His eczema sometimes seems to fluctuate wildly from day to day.
of her son’s apparent allergies were • Washing just with water can sometimes cause an outbreak.
actually a reaction to detergent.
When he first began eating solid • He gets particularly bad eczema on his cheeks or chin where he rests
foods, he seemed to be allergic to it on your shoulder or against your hair when you hold him.
everything. For instance, he broke out • He reacts to many things by allergy skin testing but relatively few by
in a rash after eating plain rice por- allergy blood testing.
ridge A.J. had cooked herself.
However, when she switched to soap- • His eczema is worse on exposed skin, especially as he crawls around
based dishwashing cleanser and during the day.
washed away the detergent residue on • His eczema does seem related to what you are using to wash him or
the rice cooker, the baby began to eat the laundry with, but switching products has never made it go away.
her home-cooked porridge happily
with no reaction.
Store-bought foods were also a Used with permission from A.J. Lumsdaine, www.solveeczema.org
problem for him. “Many processed
18 A L L E R G Y & A S T H M A T O D AY SUMMER 2006 B R E AT H E R V I L L E . O R G