I used them in the past to unblock kitchen drains (liquid not powder variety). I was looking in the supermarket, and saw some proclaiming: NO PHOSPHATES NO PERFUME NO ENZYMES et cetera Have they been taken out because 0.1% of people are allergic to them?
You might find it's more that 0.1%.
We dumped bio in favour of Persil Non Bio years ago because both mess up the kids.
Phosphates get into the environment and are considered an extremely bad thing. (Hard to remove back at the sewage works)
There is a theory afoot that some enzymes aganst you skin are a bad thing (not proven). Should not be used in hand wash as rinsing them out is ineffective Each enzyme present is tailored to a specific stain, eg wine, egg, shit, urine etc etc.
Perfumes make you smell like a poufter. Is that good or bad?
A lot more than 0.1%. I don't have a figure, but I'd be surprised if it were not in excess of 10%. A survey amongst home helps in Nottingham when Ariel first appeared showed a very high incidence of dermatitis. Nothing I've seen over the last 40 years in pharmacy convinced me of anything different. Our first recommendation for folks with unexplained dermatitis was to get rid of any "bio" washing powders, and it often did the trick.
How do we know that it's not going to turn out like peanut allergy? Seems we've been getting it all wrong hence the soaring incidence of peanut allergy.
Tim
Ditto, because the bio gave my wife eczma.
I take your point, but see a difference. Peanut allergy is slightly difficult to be precise about, because like all "food allergies" the statistical waters are muddied by the number of gullible nutters who are being conned by the increasing numbers of quack practitioners. However, the recently proposed theory to which you allude that much of the real peanut allergy is caused by avoiding peanuts it almost certainly correct. I have been shot down in flames for suggesting that many times over the years - but there is no pleasure in knowing I was correct all along, as it would now appear. We already know that excessive cleanliness and living in semi-sterile boxes is causing the huge increase in asthma that we have been seeing (even allowing for the high rate of over-diagnosis) over the last couple of decades, so the peanut allergy theory should come as no surprise at all - it certainly didn't to me.
Enzyme washing powders may be different because they are not a natural substance to which we should be routinely exposed to presumably give us immunity - they are a chemical pollutant. I wouldn't say positively that the same might not apply, but I would think it most unlikely. As we have been exposed to more and more of the bio powders over the years, one would have expected there to be a lower incidence of allergy if the exposure theory were true - but it is increasing if anything. The other big difference is that much of the dermatitis is not allergic in nature anyway - it is plain straightforward physical damage to the skin - so the same theory could not apply.
Many papers over many years would show the opposite - there is no real doubt they do harm.
The smell, albeit often unpleasant to my nose, of washing powders and, worse still, fabric softeners, is not the problem. The chemicals used are. Fabric softeners produce as many, or maybe more, allergic reactions than the enzymes. The problem may well be the perfumes.
My other half used to use a certain brand of depilatory lotion on her legs. On one of those occasions her shins became so inflamed and oedematous that they bled through the pores. It took steroids to calm it down. I sent the offending lotion off for laboratory analysis, suspecting an error in formulation. The actual active chemical ingredient was there in exactly the correct proportions - nothing was apparently wrong. We subsequently managed to prise the information out of the manufacturers that they had changed the perfume agent in the product - and the lurid reaction was down to that alone. We withdrew them from sale in the Pharmacy anyway on the grounds that if they affected one person that way they might affect many others. Perfumes can be dangerous.
I grew up soaked in the stuff and I am mostly OK.
But in contrast, when we stayed at some log cabins before Xmas, the kids were itchy and restless all night - and had telltale rashes. I nipped down the launderette with their bed linen and gave it another wash with non bio and machine set to extra rinses and they were fine.
My comment wasn't really a serious one as I appreciate that there are big differences between allergies and dermatitis. Personally, we've used bio powders in our household forever and no one in the household (2 adults, 2 kids) has ever been troubled with dermatitis or eczema. Doesn't prove anything of course.
Tim
You should never handle any detergents. Or inhale the dust.
The stuff you buy is mixed with "bulking agents" but is still dangerous.
Liquid detergents are slightly safer as it's less likely to get to unwanted places.
Everything we eat/use is full of added s**te. Best to avoid it as far as possible. Grow your own food if you can. I believe most of the low level chronic ailments we have are caused by it. Here's one to think about.
Phosphates are an environment polutent in streams, rivers, etc, and too difficult/expensive to remove in sewage processing.
Many people don't want to wear perfumes (some are allergic).
In the UK, people are often told they're allergic to washing enzymes, which generates a market for non-bio detergent. There is no market for non-Bio detergents in most other countries, which is why they usually can't be found when you are outside the UK. Manufacturers and distributors would love to get rid of non-Bio because distributing twice the range of products jacks up the costs here, and the EU would love to get rid of non-Bio because it uses significantly more energy to get things clean. The medical evidence is that there's no justification for non-Bio, but in the UK, there is a lot of misinformation about it which doesn't exist elsewhere.
I *saw* my wife's eczema. She stopped using bio washing powder, it went away. I'm convinced, and I'm very sceptical about this "intolerance/allergy" lark. Although much less so since I developed an intolerance to mushrooms.
In message , Phil L writes
A friends of ours, who doesn't as a rule suffer from allergies or any such things has a real problem with some face/hand products - can't remember if cream or soap of some sort.
If she uses certain brands she gets dreadful rashes, puffiness around the eyes.
That's because they are all feelthy foreigners, silly.
which is why they usually can't be found when you
I cannot use bio powders as my hands and feet get dreadful eczema. Non-bio powder washes fine for most things on quick wash. Stain remover or for dog towels a long eco wash does the trick. Some people smell of detergent
I use non-bio as I have skin trouble and don't want to risk any more possible causes. For 'whites' it's Ecover powder (oxygen bleach) and for fluffy stuff it's BioD liquid. No optical brighteners or added pink stenches. The easy way for the manufacturers would be to stop making Bio products and offer the enzymes as a separate additive, then there'd be the choice.
Rather like the bluing agent used to be available separately.
Caustic works better.
The main thing that causes trouble with enzyme washing powers is that the solution is actually caustic and that may be sufficient to hurt people with a sensitive skin - especially if they are careless and get it on them without noticing or bothering to wash it off.
The problem is that there are always a few people who really are allergic to anything. Neighbours include one violently allergic to onions and another to shellfish though none to the most common peanuts.
I suspect the peanut allergy is largely down to the traces of peanut found in almost all processed food these days from an early age. Eating a decent quantity is safe enough but trace amounts can get mistaken by an underworked immune system in these hyper clean environments.
That sounds like a lanolin allergy. My wife has to be very careful with cosmetics as she became sensitised allergic to lanolin a long time ago.
The trick is to check the ingredients on all the products that cause trouble and then deliberately provoke a small reaction to test the causal hypothesis. Once you know the cause you can avoid it.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.