Description
ATTITUDE Baby Laundry Detergent is an unscented liquid, listed at 67.6 fluid ounces and rated by the manufacturer at 80 loads, in a bottle ATTITUDE describes as HDPE number two plastic. It is sold for baby clothing, blankets and cloth diapers, and the same listing notes that 35, 40 and 80 load sizes exist, so check which size a given order actually delivers.
Why baby laundry is treated as its own problem
Detergent does not entirely rinse out of fabric. A residue remains, and that residue sits against skin for as long as the garment is worn. On an adult this rarely matters. On a newborn, whose clothing is in constant contact with skin and whose wardrobe is washed far more often than anyone else’s, parents commonly choose to reduce the number of things in that residue, which in practice means removing fragrance and dye.
That is the reasoning behind a product like this, and it is worth separating from any claim about what a detergent does to skin. This review makes no health claim of its own. The practical position is simply that an unscented, dye free detergent puts fewer variables against a baby’s skin, and that many parents and many pediatric services suggest exactly that approach. Anyone dealing with an actual skin condition should be talking to a doctor rather than reading a product page.
The claims, and who is making them
Almost everything notable on this listing is a manufacturer statement, and this review attributes rather than repeats. ATTITUDE states that the detergent is EWG Verified against the Environmental Working Group’s criteria, that it is made with 98 percent natural origin ingredients, that it is plant and mineral based, that it is 100 percent vegan and cruelty free, that it is free of enzymes, and that the bottle is made of the most easily recycled plastic. The description also says the detergent is risk free for all fabrics including cloth diapers, and then attaches an asterisk directing you to check your own manufacturer’s recommendation, which is the more useful half of that sentence.
Naturally derived, natural origin and plant based are not defined regulatory terms, and the 98 percent figure is not broken down anywhere. EWG verification is a third party program with published criteria rather than a government approval. None of this tells you how the product performs, and none of it should be read as a safety finding. Read them as the brand’s positioning and check the printed ingredient panel on the bottle, because the listing does not carry one.
Free of enzymes is a real tradeoff
The most technically interesting statement on the page is that the formula contains no enzymes. That is a genuine formulation choice with consequences in both directions. Enzymes are the components that break down protein, starch and fat soils, which on baby laundry means milk, food and the contents of a diaper, so removing them takes away the tool best suited to exactly those stains. The manufacturer’s reasoning is presumably that enzymes are also the component most often avoided in sensitive formulations and on cloth diapers, where residual enzyme activity is a common concern. ATTITUDE states the detergent removes odors and stains such as grass and food; that claim stands on the surfactants rather than on enzymes, and it is the manufacturer’s claim rather than a measured result.
Machines, temperature and fabrics
ATTITUDE states the detergent is compatible with both standard and high efficiency machines and works in all water temperatures, with a specific note that it is effective in cold water and therefore saves energy. Cold water performance is the more useful of those two statements, since most of the energy a washing machine uses goes on heating water, and baby laundry is run often.
On fabrics the manufacturer names whites, colors, delicates, baby clothes, blankets and cloth diapers. Cloth diapers deserve the caution the listing itself gives: diaper manufacturers publish their own washing instructions, some of them quite specific about detergent type and about additives, and those instructions override a general claim on a detergent bottle. Follow the diaper maker’s guidance, not this one.
Dosing, storage and safety
At 67.6 ounces and 80 loads the intended dose is a little over three quarters of an ounce, which is a small pour. The listing gives no soil level adjustment and no hard water adjustment, so the bottle label is the reference. Pour into the dispenser or into the water rather than directly onto fabric, because concentrated detergent sitting on a garment is the usual cause of a pale mark that only appears once the item is dry, and baby clothing is often exactly the sort of light colored cotton where that shows.
Store the bottle closed, upright, at room temperature and out of reach of children. Unscented does not mean harmless: this is still a detergent, and a bottle within reach of a toddler is a hazard whatever is or is not in it. Keep it off skin and out of eyes, and rinse promptly if it is spilled.
One rule applies to every laundry product. Do not combine this detergent with chlorine bleach in the same pour or the same container, and do not mix it with any other cleaning product in a bucket for a soak. If a load needs bleach or an oxygen booster, add it separately according to that product’s own label. On a baby wash in particular, the sensible habit is one product at a time and a good rinse.
Cost per load, and the alternatives
Eighty loads from 67.6 ounces gives a calculable cost per load, which is more than many listings in this category provide, and that number is the only fair way to compare it against a mainstream bottle. Specialty formulations generally cost more per load than volume brands, and the honest way to think about that premium is as payment for the ingredient selection rather than for cleaning performance, since the listing makes no comparative performance claim at all.
For alternatives aimed at the same requirement, our reviews of the Tide Free and Gentle laundry detergent and the Seventh Generation laundry detergent cover the mainstream and the plant based ends of the fragrance free shelf. The liquid detergent category lists the bottles side by side, and comparing stated load counts is the most useful thing you can do there.
Because this formula contains no enzymes, a separate treatment is worth having for protein stains. Our write up of the Dreft baby stain remover covers a targeted product for that job, with more in the stain removers category. Households that like this brand’s approach elsewhere can also look at the ATTITUDE shower and tiles cleaner, which is positioned on the same ingredient philosophy.
Who should buy it, who should not
Buy it if you want an unscented, dye free detergent with a published load count and you are comfortable that the ingredient panel lives on the bottle rather than on the page. Skip it if you need enzymes for milk, food and diaper soils, if your cloth diaper manufacturer specifies a different detergent type, or if you are buying on the strength of the natural and verified language, because those are the brand’s own statements and none of them describes how the detergent cleans.
