A fragrance-free laundry routine for a newborn

The short version

Method note: we work from documents and have not tested any products or washed anything ourselves. This page sets out what two health-information sources and one peer-reviewed abstract say, and says plainly where they stop.

A fragrance-free routine for a newborn’s clothes has four parts: choose a detergent whose maker’s ingredient list shows no fragrance, use no more than you need, rinse thoroughly, and leave out fabric softener. The sources we read support the second, third and fourth parts more directly than the first, and none of them says laundry causes or prevents any condition. For a baby with a rash, the person to ask is a pediatrician.

What the American Academy of Pediatrics page says

HealthyChildren.org is the American Academy of Pediatrics’ parent site. Its “Cleaning Baby Clothes” page (retrieved 2026-11-14; last updated 2009) makes these points:

• It is generally a good idea to wash all clothes before using them. An exception might be outerwear, such as coats and jackets, that does not have much contact with the skin.
• Baby clothes are often washed separately using special “baby” detergents that supposedly leave fewer residues, but many if not most parents toss their baby’s clothes in with the rest of the family’s laundry.
• On choosing a detergent, it says to buy one that smells good and gets the dirt out, and to feel compelled to invest in a milder “baby” detergent (or hypoallergenic or fragrance-free “adult” detergent) if your baby develops any signs of skin irritation.
• Detergents in general do not strip away the flame-retardant properties of sleepwear, but soap flakes can.
• It carries a disclaimer that it should not substitute for the medical care and advice of your pediatrician.

Read that carefully. The page does not recommend fragrance-free detergent for every newborn. It makes it a step to take if skin irritation appears. A household that chooses fragrance-free from the start is making a precaution beyond what this page asks for, which is a reasonable choice but not a medical requirement. Because the page is from 2009, newer AAP wording may differ.

What a UK eczema resource adds

Eczema Care Online (retrieved 2026-11-14; no review date shown) writes for families of children with eczema, so its advice is aimed at a narrower group than “every newborn”. Its page on washing clothes says:

• Often it is possible to use much less washing powder or liquid than the product label suggests, so there is less product left on clothes. It advises using the least amount needed.
• You may have heard that a non-biological product is better for eczema, but there is not much scientific evidence for this. It says the same about whether liquid is better than powder, and about sensitive-skin ranges, though some families prefer them.
• Try not to use fabric softener on the child’s washing, because it has things in it that can cause an eczema flare-up.
• When trying a new washing powder or liquid, wash only a few of the child’s items first to make sure their skin does not react.
• One family quoted on the page uses an extra rinse cycle to make sure all the soap is rinsed out. That is a family’s own practice, not a recommendation from the site.

Notice what is not there: the page does not discuss fragrance in laundry. Its softener advice is the clearest overlap with a fragrance-free routine, because dryer sheets and softeners are commonly scented; see what is in dryer sheets and fragrance-free dryer sheets.

Why fragrance gets singled out

The most direct link between fragrance and infant skin in our sources comes from a different product group. A 2016 review in Dermatitis (PMID 27172304) says allergic contact dermatitis may be an under-recognised cause of diaper-area rash, and that infant skin in the diaper area is “uniquely susceptible” because of more permeable neonatal skin, a moist environment, frequent contact with irritants and barrier breakdown. The authors analysed 63 diaper wipes, 41 topical diaper preparations and the three top-selling diaper brands from two large US retailers. Botanical extracts, including members of the Compositae family, were the most common potential allergen. Other allergens identified with high frequency included alpha-tocopherol, fragrances, propylene glycol, parabens, iodopropynyl butylcarbamate and lanolin.

That abstract concerns products that sit on the skin. It says nothing about detergent residue on clothes, and it does not say fragrance caused any particular baby’s rash. We cite it for one narrow reason: it shows paediatric dermatology researchers listing fragrance among potential allergens in infant care products, which is the reasoning behind choosing fragrance-free for items that touch a newborn for long periods. For product categories next to laundry, see our pages on fragrance-free diapers, diaper cream, wipes and baby wash.

What “fragrance-free” means on a detergent

“Unscented” and “fragrance-free” are not the same claim. The FDA’s page on fragrances in cosmetics (retrieved 2026-11-11) says even some products labelled “unscented” may contain fragrance ingredients, because a maker may add just enough fragrance to mask the smell of other ingredients without giving a noticeable scent. It also says that in cosmetics, fragrance ingredients can be listed simply as “Fragrance”. That page covers cosmetics; we did not read a rule for laundry detergent, so we state none. What we can say is the test this site uses: read the maker’s own ingredient disclosure and look for fragrance, parfum, aroma, perfume, essential oils or named fragrance chemicals. Our guides explain fragrance-free versus unscented, how to read an ingredient list and why the FDA allows “fragrance” as a single label word.

Also note what a fragrance-free label does not cover. A detergent can be free of fragrance and still contain other ingredients, such as preservatives or enzymes, that a person might react to; the maker’s list shows them. Our roundup of fragrance-free laundry detergents records each product’s ingredient list, the source and the date we read it, and the laundry booster page does the same for additives. Scent-boosting products such as beads are covered in laundry scent beads and microcapsules.

Putting the routine together

1. Decide your starting point. Per the AAP page, family detergent is common practice and a switch is suggested if irritation appears. If you would rather start fragrance-free, check the maker’s ingredient list first rather than relying on “gentle” or “unscented” wording. Our switching guide covers a household changeover.
2. Wash new clothes before use, as HealthyChildren.org advises, apart from outerwear that barely touches skin.
3. Test a small batch when you change products, as Eczema Care Online suggests, so any reaction is limited to a few items.
4. Use little. Start from the label dose and reduce only if you are comfortable with the cleaning result; Eczema Care Online says less is often enough.
5. Rinse well. An extra rinse is what one family quoted by Eczema Care Online does; no source we read tested whether it matters.
6. Skip fabric softener and dryer sheets, per Eczema Care Online.
7. Keep other soft goods consistent. Bedding, burp cloths and hospital-bag items touch a baby too; see our hospital bag guide.

When to ask a professional

Do not use this page to decide what is causing a rash, dryness or other skin change. HealthyChildren.org points readers back to their pediatrician, and a clinician can decide whether detergent, a diaper product, saliva, heat or something unrelated is involved. If you want to understand where to look afterwards, our hypoallergenic definition guide explains what that word does and does not establish.

What we did not find

We found no trial testing fragrance-free detergent on newborn skin outcomes, no source on detergent residue, and no regulator text on detergent labelling. The AAP page is old and thin, and Eczema Care Online is aimed at children who already have eczema. The remaining gaps are listed under “unknowns” on this page.