Adventures with Laundry: OxiClean Liquid

Babyling would like you to know that, somehow, this grass will end up ground into his clothes.

So, to keep this all aboveboard, I am going to admit that this is another sampling opportunity I got through Smiley360. I was given a chance to try out OxiClean 2in1 Stain Fighting Liquid on Leoling's laundry. Like any 14 month old just discovering the joys of walking and spreading baby mayhem, he produces some real challenges.

I shall make no pretense. I HATE doing laundry. Cleaning is just not my bag, baby. But I do like finding things that make doing laundry less onerous. OxiClean powder has served me well before, though I usually opt for the less expensive Totally Awesome powder from the dollar store. I have found that pre-soaking Leoling's bibs and the worst of his onesies in the stuff increases my chances of not ending up with horridly stained laundry. Even if the little guy's clothes were all white, I just don't like bleach--it smells strongly, and I am paranoid about using the wrong amount and having holes eaten into garments.

So, getting a free bottle of this stuff to try actually made me WANT to do laundry, this once. Ha, ha! I documented some of the nastier bits of wash, and the after-wash effects, on Pinterest, if you'd like to see them. I'll feature just a few items here.

The Good:
2-4 day old food: All washed out. Even the reddish barbecue chip powder and the ground in red sauce.
White garments: White as can be, for the most part.
Dirt ground into footie pajamas by a Shoeless, Recently Walking Baby: Mostly cleaned off, only a faint trace of gray left
Colored Clothing: No visible fading or bleeding of any garment
Black Clothing: No issue
Overall Treatment: Fluid didn't leave any little undissolved lumps, or clump on anything (an issue I've had with Totally Awesome powder on occasion. And yes, it really IS called that. It was easy to measure, as well!

The Indifferent:
It didn't seem to have any more overall cleaning power than the powder.
The smell was a little odd as a liquid, but didn't linger after washing.
I did end up splashing some on myself, but there was no sting or anything.

So, I don't actually HAVE a bad to put here. The fluid is perfectly acceptable, and in some ways easier to use than the powder. It is heavier to tote to the laundromat, but it's defintely nicer than bleach, and the lack of residue is truly appreciated. It is very user friendly. I'm not sure how the OxiClean brand liquid compares to the Totally Awesome brand liquid, as I haven't tried that yet, so I will keep you up to date when I get around to it! I believe this format might work better for pretreating, as well, but this initial trial was just as a standard laundry add in. (You just pour in the liquid, it's pretty much 'a cup for a load,' and it seems pretty forgiving as far as rinsing out goes.)

Hugo Naturals: Baby Hugo Oil

I have to admit that I'm not crazy about the texture of most baby lotions I've tried. Because of that, I've taken to using oil on Leoling after-bath, instead. In the past, we just used food grade coconut oil, but the packaging is a bit messy. As I had a little money to spend, I decided to give Hugo Naturals a try. The whole "food grade ingredients" thing is pretty appealing to me. I admit that I was fairly fond of their Baby Hugo Shampoo & Body Wash, so I took advantage of a discount code to give their baby oil a shot.

So, without further ado...

Baby Hugo Oil

Leo approves of the purple, flowery label. 

First Impressions:

The product has an interesting pump design that limits the flow. We've had some pretty nasty accidents involving packaging in the past, so I admit that I was happy with the bottle itself. Then came the moment of truth...smelling it.

Leoling tried to eat it. No lie.

The lightly textured, amber colored fluid smelled dominantly of vanilla, with a faint coffee hint beneath. This isn't quite so surprising after a look at the ingredients--it actually has coffee extract in it.

Trying it Out:

It took about three squirts to have enough to rub into Leoling's skin. The oil warmed readily, and didn't absorb into my hands right away. Of course, this also meant that it took a little more rubbing into the little guy's skin than our usual coconut oil, but he didn't seem to mind. It certainly adds to its value as a massage oil. The scent remained constant, a moderately strong vanilla odor that lingered.

I tried this one on my husband and myself as well. The husband liked it, but not as much as our usual coconut oil. I found it took a little longer to soak into my own skin, as well. It seems like the moisturizing effect shows more the next day.

Overall:

I am a pretty big fan of the bottle. The oil itself smells pleasantly of vanilla, with a sort of underscent of coffee, which comes out overall sweet and dark. The scent lingers much longer than in the case of the company's baby body wash. That could make or break it for someone, depending on how they feel about lingering scents. I appreciate that the ingredients are entirely non-toxic, so if little guy actually had managed to eat it, he would have been unharmed.

All that said, I think we as a family prefer plain coconut oil over this. However, it is fairly nice. With a mixture of sweet almond, jojoba, and borage oil, accented by several herbs, it seems to condition skin well and doesn't soak in so quickly that it's tricky to use for massage, while still not leaving one overly greasy afterwards, like I find mineral oil to. 

Infants' Advil® & Children's Advil® Friends' Mission

As a follow-up to a Smiley360 sample and share I took part in a few months ago, the company is offering this survey for a chance at a gift card. I suppose it doesn't hurt to share it, as it's really no worse than buying a lotto ticket with your time.

Leo doesn't much care for this stuff anymore, but it was our go-to fever reducer before he started making himself throw up liquid medicines.

Infants' Advil® & Children's Advil® Friends' Mission: Enter 4 a chance to win a $200 gift card from Smiley360 by taking a short survey http://smiley360.com/1796394.cfm

Hugo Naturals: Baby Hugo Shampoo & Body Wash

In my quest for the ideal shampoo for Leoling, I started out looking for a key ingredient: Chamomile. That's what lead me to this product. Hugo Naturals brags on using food grade ingredients, and offered the first natural product I found that wasn't citrus scented. The Baby Hugo line was fairly well reviewed in what resources I could find, though they were scattered. I will pretend no nobility; the decider in this case was that it claimed a vanilla scent, and I am particularly fond of vanilla. However, the EWG's Skin Deep database did rate this one pretty well as regards safety. Since Leoling likes to try to drink his bathwater and often steals his washcloths to chew on, I really do prefer safer products.

We did opt for the somewhat pricy (11.99 retail) full size bottle, as trial sizes aren't available. I found it discounted, but still, it was a bit wince-worthy and picked up as a theoretical treat for his birthday.

Without any further ado...

Baby Hugo Naturals Chamomile & Vanilla Shampoo and Body Wash

Leoling's lion puppet models the bottle in his place.
After-wash photos will be added at a later date.

First Impressions:
The pump bottle seemed like a clever design. I'd seen a few other products like this, but this particular one is the first I've tried. The fluid was a bit thicker than other baby shampoos I've sampled to date, with a silky feel, and it smelled sweetly of chamomile and vanilla, giving it an overall cake-batter scent.

Trying it Out:
Baby Hugo Shampoo & Body Wash didn't just foam, it lathered smoothly and richly with very little needed for the effect. The sweet cake-batter type scent remained at a moderate, pleasant level throughout. Leoling rather liked it! It felt pleasantly smooth and was actually quite nice to work with. Rinsing did take a little longer than with the Burt's Bees product, but it rinsed clean and left Leoling's hair feeling silky soft.

Leo's hair was its most manageable so far after use of this product. I could add body to it through different brushing techniques if I cared to, or it would lay nicely flat. His hair was shiny and seemed at its most natural color. This one was the third I turned to, and the first that left Leo's scalp looking moisturized and healthier. It left his skin similarly softer, though I still continue to use a lotion or oil on him post-bath. The scent fades to only a faint, pleasant hint of itself after rinsing. This has proven gentle enough to use on a daily basis--one year olds have a talent for getting messy!

Overall: 
To date, Baby Hugo Shampoo & Body Wash is my favorite product for Leo. I even tried it on my own hair and skin, and found the texture quite pleasant. I only have two problems with this product, which we both otherwise love: the price, and accessibility. I feel it's worth twelve dollars a bottle, don't get me wrong! We are still on our first bottle after two months of nearly daily use, with only about a week altogether of using any other products. (New body products are a hobby for me, and Leo likes the novelty.) But that can feel like quite a commitment. Hugo & Debra Naturals, the company that makes this one, does often offer discount codes on their site, however.

The other tricky point is that I have yet to find this particular product in stores. I have had good experiences ordering straight from Hugo & Debra Naturals website, and have found it discounted before on a few other sites. I personally don't mind ordering online as long as I can work out the costs, but that might be a bit of a turn-off for some.

Really, my main wish is that the company offered a trial size, so I could buy this for friends to try out without feeling like I'm forcing a huge bottle of something they haven't judged for themselves on them. Still, I liked this one so much that we also tried their Foaming Milk Bath, and will soon be trying their baby oil

Burt's Bees: Baby Shampoo and Body Wash

In my quest for the perfect shampoo for Leoling's fabulous hair, I've seen some fairly positive reviews of Burt's Bees products. However, I've ALSO seen that a bottle of their baby shampoo/body wash tends to cost around eight dollars, and I couldn't even smell them first. So, I got pretty excited when I found a trial size, one ounce bottle at a local shop.

I admit that after the Ricitos de Oro incident, I really wanted to aim for trying more 'natural,' low chemical shampoos. Burt's Bees products tend to come up when these concerns are raised. EWG's Skin Deep page, which rates the relative safety of health and beauty products, gives this product a pretty good rating.

I paid for this on my own. At two dollars for an ounce, it's sort of a middling priced product.

So, without further ado:

Burt's Bees Baby Bee Shampoo & Wash

Leoling's puppet is modeling in his place for now.
I'll rewash his hair to get after shots for you later.

First Impressions:
The scent was a faint honey odor, with a weird, hard to describe under-scent. The texture was thin and light, and the fluid was very faintly honey colored. It sudsed readily and took very little to work.

Trying it Out:
The thinness of the liquid was handy, as the bottle is a little stiff and hard to squeeze. It took only a dime-sized amount, and might have taken less, to soap up Leo's hair and have some to spare for his skin. It sudzed readily, though not excessively, and rinsed away easily without obvious residue. The under-scent faded during use, leaving the overall experience one of a faintly sugary honey scent and easy washing. After rinsing, his skin did feel a little dry, though. His hair was quite shiny, light, and moderately manageable afterwards, but there was no obvious moisturizing effect.

Overall:
I didn't think I was going to like this one once I popped the seal and smelled it. However, after giving it a try, I could see switching off to this one periodically when my favorite seems to be less effective. It cleans well, but lacks the moisturizing quality I was hoping to find to promote scalp health. His skin felt a little less smooth afterwards, so I made sure to lotion him up extra well. He seemed to enjoy the scent, which was a good sign. This one isn't one to use on fine hair if you want it to smooth down without effort, but that baby fluff look is easily accomplished without the dried out effect Ricitos de Oro left.

However, Baby Bee is some pricy stuff. That's my limiting factor in settling for a bigger bottle of this one--I just don't love it enough to pay an average of eight dollars a bottle for it.

Ricitos de Oro: Baby Shampoo

When Leoling hit about ten months old, suddenly the tried-and-true, ubiquitious Johnson & Johnson's yellow baby shampoo just wasn't cutting it for us. It left his fine blonde hair dull and somewhat unpleasantly textured, and his scalp a bit dry and flaky. This made me sad, because I can't stand it when my scalp itches, so it didn't seem fair to leave the little dude like that.

Since he's fair haired, I started my quest for a new shampoo for him with one thing in mind: chamomile. Chamomile is a natural highlight enhancer, smells pleasant, and always seemed like a welcome ingredient in my own shampoos. When I was reading, I found a few descriptions of Ricitos de Oro that made it sound worth my time. That it was supposed to be great for fair hair was a bonus for me. I won't cry if Leoling's hair changes color, but I want it to be the prettiest hair of its color it can be while I'm in charge of it. This one wasn't a sampling, I paid for it myself.

Ricitos de Oro Chamomile Shampoo
The homepage is in Spanish.  Some of the favorable reviews, and the ingredient rundown, I found to read in English were on the Walgreen's Homepage: Click Here if Curious

Leoling's lion is standing in for today.
When his nose is better, I'll give his hair a rewash in this to show photos of how it looks. 

First Impressions:
Ricitos de Oro looks a LOT like Johnson & Johnson, color and texture wise. It has a funny bottle with a rattle top, which is amusing. The smell upon opening the flip top, however, was overwhelmingly chemical. I was actually a bit unsure about using it at that point, and reread the ingredients to make sure I hadn't somehow accidentally bought into some chemical hair lightener. Apparently not?

Trying it Out: 
The strong smell faded fairly quickly while I was washing Leoling's hair with it. It foamed nicely and rinsed well. I admit that the smell made me extra cautious while rinsing, so we didn't have any issues with water runoff in eyes to challenge the tear-free claim.

Once I dried Leo's hair, all the dulling residue had been stripped off. It looked the lightest and shiniest it had in months. The lingering scent was incredibly faint, and primarily just a hint of chamomile. It left his hair very light--it stuck up and curled slightly, and would not be tamed down without a little water.

Overall: 
Ricitos de Oro did work as advertised--it left my son with brighter, shining hair. However, it did nothing to help his dry scalp, and didn't really seem to moisturize his hair at all. I didn't particularly mind that it was a shampoo-only as opposed to a shampoo/body wash, but I can't say I cared for the strong chemical smell. Because of that element, and how tricky it was to get, I would probably skip this one in the future.

Ricitos de Oro isn't sold in any local stores. I had ALMOST ordered it off Amazon, marked up absurdly, but we got ahold of a bottle at a little Mexican grocery store in Indianapolis for 4.00. So, price wise, it was comprable to Johnson & Johnson. 

Seventh Generation Baby Products: Baby Detergent

Along with the previously mentioned Seventh Generation products I listed, I got to try their 4x Baby Laundry Detergent for free, courtesy of Smiley360. I won't lie, laundry isn't exactly a hobby of mine, but I'm definitely not complaining about getting to try detergent for free!

Leo would like you to know that this WILL get ground into his clothes. Somehow.

I...have my reasons to do plenty of laundry, after all.

So. Without any further ado...

Seventh Generation Baby Natural 4x Laundry Detergent

First Impression:

I really didn't ask for much of it, to be honest. There was a very faint, almost impossible to catch herby smell to the colorless fluid. That's it.

Trying it Out:

So. I really did put this to the test. In fact, I regret not taking before and after shots, because most of Leo's clothes in that load were filthy, nasty testaments to his current habit of smashing things on himself and having especially foul diapers. I love the kid, but wow. However, when I took the load out, low and behold, everything was clean! It didn't take any special usage directions or anything. I must warn that I DID add a scoop of Oxi-clean, but I do that with my usual Tide, and this actually did work beter.

Overall:

This left the clothes with no noticable smell. They were clean and pleasantly textured without the use of fabric softener after drying. I would actually like to get a bottle of this to try it with and without the oxy-clean, because it may actually do a better job with Leoling's especially befouled outfits than Tide. I could totally see myself buying this if I found a good price!