Ivory Snow Stage 1 Newborn Liquid Detergent

Ivory Snow laundry detergent has been around for a long time (more than 75 years), and it's a go-to brand for a lot of parents. It comes in two formulas to meet the changing needs of babies: Stage 1 is hypoallergenic and gentle on a newborn's skin, while Stage 2 for active babies is tough on food stains, grass and dirt. But don't let a gentle formula fool you—as we learned in our testing, Ivory Snow Stage 1 Newborn Liquid Detergent stands up to some notoriously tough-to-get-out stains.

To put Ivory Snow Stage 1 Newborn to the test, we stained pre-washed 100-percent white cotton jersey swatches with everything from grass to spaghetti sauce, leaving the stains to set in overnight. We also stained a second set of swatches shortly before throwing them in the wash to see if there was a difference in the detergent's performance. Ivory completely removed washable marker and formula, and it also nearly removed stains from sweet potato puree and mud, performing better on these two stains than most of the detergents we tested. None of the detergents that we tested were able to completely remove stains from blueberries, coffee, mud and spaghetti sauce, , but when we followed the pretreating instructions on the bottle, the stains faded significantly. We also sent Ivory Snow to parents to try at home on their baby's laundry, and they told us that the detergent did a good job removing any staining from sweat, breastmilk, spit-up, urine and feces. They also said it kept their whites white and brights bright. And if you're a cloth diaper user, you'll want to know that Ivory Snow tests their detergents on 100-percent cotton and cotton-polyester blends, and they say it's safe to use on all fabrics.

Ivory Snow Stage 1 Newborn Liquid Detergent is a mildly scented detergent, and most of our parent testers found the scent very pleasant, with one saying it was somewhat pleasant. The majority of our parent testers also noted that the clothing washed with Ivory Snow still smelled fresh after it had been in a dresser or closet for a few days.

An important thing that a lot of us don't think about when we're buying laundry detergent is how easy it is to measure and dispense the detergent. Clear instructions on the back of the bottle and easy-to-see measurements that correlate are super helpful in using the right amount of detergent, which ensures your clothes are cleaned efficiently without detergent build-up and saves you money on the cost per load—a double win. We found that Ivory Snow had very clear instructions and easy-to-use cap measurements.

FINAL WORD

Overall, the majority of our parent testers agreed that Ivory Snow Stage 1 Newborn Liquid Detergent is a high-quality product that performs as well as or better than their usual detergent. Without hesitation, all of our parent testers would recommend this detergent to other parents or parents-to-be, and they'd purchase it themselves—a true sign of a product that does its job. This detergent's cost per load is in the mid-range for baby detergents, so it's not surprising that our testers felt that Ivory offered average value. When we combined the positive feedback from our parent testers, the detergent's performance in our lab tests, and the value of a gentle, hypoallergenic formula for newborns, it was easy to give Ivory Snow Stage 1 Newborn our Today's Parent Approved seal.