How to switch your laundry to fragrance-free

The short version

Switching to fragrance-free laundry means checking every product that goes into the wash, not just the detergent, and judging each by its ingredient list. The evidence we could read is thin in places, and this page says where.

We work from documents and have not tested any products.

Why the front label is not enough

The FDA’s wipes page says it has no regulations governing “scented”, “unscented” or “fragrance-free” on that product type, though labelling must be truthful. It says “unscented” typically means no noticeable scent and the product “may actually contain ‘masking’ fragrance ingredients”. It says a “fragrance free” cosmetic “should not contain any added fragrance ingredients”, but may still have a noticeable scent from other ingredients. The agency’s fragrances page adds that cosmetic fragrance ingredients may be identified “by name or simply as ‘fragrance’”.

Both pages are about cosmetics. We did not find a regulator page that applies the same definitions to laundry products. The practical conclusion holds either way: read the ingredient list. Our guides on fragrance-free vs unscented, unscented and sensitive labels, what parfum means and allergen names on labels cover the wording.

What the residue evidence says

A 2025 abstract in Acta Dermatovenerologica Croatica (PMID 41178659), written as a letter, reviews whether laundry detergents cause skin reactions. It reports:

• Patients often suspect detergents. A 1992 study found 26% of 3,841 patients with skin changes believed laundry detergent was the cause, and a 2002 study found 10.7% of 738 patients with suspected contact allergy did.
• The abstract says that the mere presence of an allergen in a product is in most cases not enough to identify it as the cause; the concentration, the method of application and “the residue left on clothes after washing must also be considered”.
• A patch test on 36 people previously sensitised to fragrance gave a mildly positive reaction in only 2, “and only at concentrations 20 times higher than the fragrance residue on clothing after washing”.
• In a study of over 700 patients, patch tests with detergent found it a possible cause of contact allergy in less than 0.7%. Of the same group, 18.4% reacted to fragrance, but none of those patients reacted to the detergent itself.
• It concludes that residual concentrations on machine-washed clothes are not clinically significant “even in individuals with very sensitive skin”. If skin changes sit in covered, high-friction areas such as the armpit and groin, it advises a patch test with a 0.1% aqueous detergent solution, and says such changes more likely come from substances in the clothing material than from residue.

Read this carefully. It is a summary of older studies, concerning detergents washed in a standard way. It says nothing about softener, dryer sheets or scent beads, which are designed to leave something on fabric. The evidence supports “wash residue from a detergent is small in these studies”, not “scented laundry products cannot matter”. We also read it only as an abstract.

How to apply it

1. List what goes into your wash. Detergent, softener, dryer sheets, boosters and scent beads are separate products. The abstract does not cover the last three, so judge each by its own ingredient list.
2. Replace detergent first, using the maker’s list. The fragrance-free laundry detergent roundup shows which products have lists with no fragrance ingredients and the date each was read. Brand pages cover Tide, All and Seventh Generation lines, since one brand sells both scented and fragrance-free versions.
3. Replace the drying step. See what is in dryer sheets and the fragrance-free dryer sheet roundup. Drop scent beads, which our scent beads and microcapsules guide explains, unless the list shows no fragrance.
4. Check boosters. The laundry booster roundup covers stain and whitening add-ons.
5. Expect some smell differences. A fragrance-free product can still smell of its other ingredients, per the FDA’s wipes page. The absence of fragrance scent is not itself a sign of anything else.
6. For babies or diagnosed allergy, see our newborn laundry guide and ask a clinician. We give no medical advice, and a certification mark such as the National Eczema Association Seal says a product is free from the ingredients on that body’s list, which is a separate matter from your own triggers.

What we did not find

No readable source measured fragrance carryover from dryer sheets, softener or scent beads, none told us how many washes clear scent from a machine or from towels and bedding, and none defined “fragrance-free” for laundry products. The list under “unknowns” on this page repeats these limits once.