What to do if you are allergic to laundry detergent

Detergent is a common item in life. Most people use detergent to wash clothes, but everyone's skin type is different. People with delicate skin are prone to detergent allergies when washing clothes by hand. Therefore, when using detergent to wash clothes, you must pay attention to protect your hands to prevent allergies. So what should you do if you are allergic to laundry detergent?

1. Stop using laundry detergent

Sodium sulfonate, which is common in washing powder and dishwashing detergent, is an anionic surfactant and is alkaline upon hydrolysis. Non-ionic detergents are also degreasing, and there are also alkaline proteases in laundry detergents. These complex factors will have adverse effects on some allergic skin. After stopping use for a period of time, the skin will gradually recover. In this case, it is recommended that you wear protective gloves every time you wash. It is quite troublesome to treat allergic skin! If the allergy is caused by alkalinity, soaking in acidic vinegar should help reduce the swelling; if it is due to enzyme allergy, it is recommended to explain the situation to the doctor and seek symptomatic treatment.

2. Symptoms

Allergy to laundry detergent often manifests as hardening of the skin on the hands, allergy to alkali, peeling, whitening, easy shedding of the hands, burning or itching in the palms after washing clothes, etc. Some can cause systemic allergic symptoms. Since the main components of human skin secretions, certain foods or blood are proteins, and proteolytic enzymes can hydrolyze water-insoluble proteins into water-soluble amino acids, enzyme-added laundry detergent has a much stronger cleaning effect than ordinary laundry detergent. However, during the use of enzyme-added laundry detergent, the proteolytic enzyme is sometimes not completely consumed and remains in the clothes. When people wear these clothes, especially underwear, the residual proteolytic enzyme will decompose the protein in the skin, causing allergic symptoms such as skin itching and erythematous papules.

3. Others

When the skin is in direct contact with alkaline laundry detergent for a long time, the weak acid environment on the skin surface will be destroyed and its effect of inhibiting bacterial growth will disappear, which can easily lead to skin itching and even symptoms such as allergic dermatitis or leave pigmentation on the skin. Therefore, when using laundry detergent, the amount should be appropriate, do not put too much, rinse the clothes several times, and it is best to soak the washed clothes in clean water for a while. If necessary, soak them in boiling water to destroy the residual enzyme activity, which can help prevent allergies.