Dr. Bronners for laundry

I use Dr. Bronner's soap in day to day life aside from backpacking. It's made entirely from vegetable oil and you can get it fair trade, so it's pretty appealing in that respect.

I typically use it to do any kind of hand washing that I might have. I'm allergic to a lot of detergents that are designed for laundry purposes, so it works out well for me.

I've been using it for over a year now to wash my hiking clothes. So far all is well. I figure you still have to take the same precautions with merino and DWR upkeep that you do with normal laundering though.

But do take that with a grain of salt. I just learned in another thread that it's not okay to wash wool in hot water.

Thanks David. Yeah not worried about wool in hot water–I go simple and do cold mixed loads. Minimalism or laziness? Heh.

What I"m concerned about is:
1) Accidentally washing out the DWR on my windshirts. Done it before, very sad.
2) Accidentally washing out the lanolin from my merino which–as I understand it–is primarily what is responsible for its anti-microbial properties. Or am I wrong?
3) Accidentally impairing the wicking action in my base layers and fleece.

Anyone know anything about this and whether I have reason to worry with Dr. Bronner's?

I don't thing so, but I guess I'll be the guinea-pig. If no one brings anything negative to light. I just tried it last week with my 800 fill down bag (in a front load washer) and it worked very well. Plus the peppermint smell let me know when it had gone through enough rinse cycles. It lofted back up great.

Dr. Bronners web site states that they use no detergents, and that the lather is due to the extra virgin coconut oil they use.

I'm going to try Dr. Bronners on some merino and a gortex rain hat this week.

ps I washed my bag in Dr Bronners after reading Dave's post in the earlier thread. I also washed my windshirt in it and it seems to still be as water resistant as before, but I am reserving judgment just yet.

Cool, thanks! Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

I've been using Dr. Bronners for over 40 years! It's my only soap. It is SAFE for everything including brushing your teeth. It was reformulated a few years ago when the company went through some changes, but it's still a great product. I've washed my Hollubar down sleeping bag numerous times over the years and it still lofts almost as well as it did when it was made in the early 1960s!

Use it with confidence,
Peter