Fragrance-free liquid laundry detergent · babies and kids
Spit-up, purée, blowouts, grass. Out. With nothing on the label you’d have to look up.
Petite Solution is the detergent a pediatric ICU nurse made for her own kid. Enzymes do the work, in cold water, with no fragrance, no dyes and no optical brighteners. Every ingredient is printed on the bottle.
30 days, no questions · Free shipping over $35 · About 64 loads a bottle
- No fragrance
- No optical brighteners
- No dyes
- Every ingredient printed
- 64loads a bottle
- 38¢a load
- 0fragrances, dyes or brighteners
The wash test
We washed six stains in cold water. Here’s what came out.
| Stain | After one cold wash |
|---|---|
| Formula | Gone |
| Spit-up | Gone |
| Sweet potato purée | Gone |
| Blowout | Gone |
| Banana | Gone |
| Grass | Faint shadow. Gone on the second wash. |
Cold water, HE front-loader, one capful (30 ml), no pre-treating, one wash. Photographed before and after on white cotton.
Your machine, water and stains will differ. If it doesn’t work on yours, the guarantee covers it.
Petite Solution
- 30-day guarantee
- Free shipping over $35
- Cancel a subscription anytime
“Gentle” is a marketing word. Here’s what I look for instead.
Fragrance-free means fragrance-free.
Not “unscented,” which can still contain masking fragrance.
No optical brighteners.
They don’t clean anything. They coat fabric with a chemical that makes it look whiter, and it stays against your baby’s skin.
Every ingredient, printed.
The full list is on the bottle and on this page, with what each one does. If it’s in there, you can read it.
The back of the bottle
What’s in it, and what never is.
In it
- Aqua (water)Carries everything else and lets it pour.
- Sodium lauryl sulfoacetate (coconut-derived surfactant)Cleaning agent that loosens dirt and oils.
- Decyl glucoside (corn- and coconut-derived surfactant)Cleaning agent that loosens dirt and oils.
- Sodium citrate (citric acid salt)Binds hard-water minerals so nothing is left on the fabric.
- Glycerin (vegetable glycerin)Keeps the enzymes stable in the bottle.
- Protease (protein enzyme)Breaks down milk, formula and spit-up.
- Amylase (starch enzyme)Breaks down cereal, purée and banana.
- Mannanase (gum enzyme)Breaks down the thickeners in baby food and formula.
- Citric acid (citric acid)Sets the pH so the wash is gentle on skin and fabric.
- Sodium benzoate (food-grade preservative)Keeps the bottle from growing anything.
Never in it
- Fragrance
- Dyes
- Optical brighteners
- Chlorine bleach
- Phosphates
- Borax
- SLES
- Methylisothiazolinone
If we add anything, it goes on this list first.
One bottle is about two months of baby laundry.
A newborn makes around eight loads a week. A 32 fl oz bottle is about 64 loads at one capful (30 ml), so it lasts roughly eight weeks and works out to 38¢ a load. Subscribe and a bottle arrives every 8 weeks, before you run out.
Shop Petite Solution, $24
Why a pediatric ICU nurse started a home brand.
I spent eleven years as a pediatric ICU nurse, caring for some of the most medically fragile children there are. When our first daughter was born, that experience changed the way I looked at everything we brought into our own home.
Finding products that were genuinely gentle and actually worked turned out to be surprisingly hard. We were constantly comparing labels and piecing together a dozen different brands.
Parents shouldn’t have to be chemists to understand what’s in their home. Every ingredient should have a purpose, every product should do its job, and nothing gets added just because it can be.
— Casey
Read the whole story30 days, no questions.
If it doesn’t get the stain out, or your baby’s skin says no, email us within 30 days and we refund the bottle. Keep what’s left.
Start here: the dryer balls.
Six wool dryer balls, no fragrance, no sheets, no coating. They cut dry time and soften without putting anything on the fabric. Toss them in with every load and never buy a dryer sheet again.
Our first app · on the App Store
The Family Plan.
Everything someone would need to care for your kids, in one place on your phone, shared with your partner and ready to hand to a sitter. Build the Family File in five minutes, free.
See the app
The Family File, built in about five minutes.
Home tells you what’s still missing.
Premium keeps it for you.
Download on the App Store
Free to download. Premium from $0.99 for the first week.
Things I wish someone had told me.
All postsWhat to actually bring to the hospital (and what to leave home)
A former pediatric ICU nurse’s hospital bag list, split into what mattered and what was a waste of space.
The diaper cream I trust, and the one I stopped using
Why a former PICU nurse keeps Triple Paste in every diaper bag, and what she learned reading the label on the “clean” brand she gave up on.
“6-month” clothes are really 3–6 month clothes (and other reasons to stop buying so many)
Baby clothing sizes don’t mean what you think, and it’s the reason half the newborn clothes you get are never worn.
Questions
Can I use it on newborn clothes?
Yes — that’s who it’s made for. It’s fragrance-free and dye-free, with no optical brighteners. For the first few weeks, an extra rinse cycle is a good habit. If your baby has eczema or a diagnosed skin sensitivity, talk to your pediatrician first. This isn’t medical advice.
Does it work in cold water and HE machines?
Yes. It’s a liquid, so it mixes fully in cold water, and it’s low-suds for HE machines. The wash test above was run in a cold HE cycle.
How many loads is a bottle?
About 64 per 32 fl oz bottle, at one capful (30 ml) a load.
When does it ship?
Orders ship within 2 business days. Shipping is free over $35; the options and costs are shown at checkout before you pay.
Where is it made?
In the United States. The plant is named on the bottle.
What’s the return policy?
30 days, no questions. Email us and we’ll sort it out.
More on the app, shipping and returns in the full FAQ.