I’m not very happy with the laundry detergent residue problem. It is quite possibly responsible for the spate of itching that both Fahim and I have been suffering, although he thinks it isn’t because it’s worse at night for both of us.
He thinks he’s allergic to my cats.
Okay, but the cats aren’t in the same room with him when he’s sleeping, so how does that itching at night theory not work for laundry detergent, but does work for cats?
After all, we DO sleep on sheets that have been laundered using that same laundry detergent. "But I don’t itch during the day, and my clothes have been washed in the same laundry detergent."
A thought just occurred to me. What with his clothing rotation system (and yes, I am always mocking this, even if only internally), have the clothes he’s wearing now been washed using that same laundry soap? Or is it possible that the first clothes washed in that laundry soap have yet to be rotated into circulation? Does he know? Does he remember?
Yeah, he’s a funny boy. And I love him anyway.
The thing about the laundry soap is I don’t use very much. I have a history of being allergic to laundry detergents – in Canada. It’s something I knew to watch for. I still think it’s possible that it’s the laundry detergent.
Here’s another freakish coincidence. Fahim and I both have sensitive skin. We both have allergies. We both have to be careful about the products we use – as in shampoo, conditioner, soap, toothpaste, things like that. We had to get a different toothpaste just for me because the one he was using I reacted to. We had to get him a special soap because the one we had he reacted to – maybe. I don’t know that many people – heck, I don’t know anyone else – who has to be as careful with products like me because of sensitivities – and then Fahim walks into my life. Who’da’thunkit.
Anyway. I don’t use very much laundry soap. And yes, what we have is labelled as soap. But it looks like I’m either going to have to cut down on it even further, or I’ll have to heat up a pot of hot water for every load. Hot water would help it dissolve better, I think. Perhaps I need to give that a try.
But see, we bought a 2.5 kg bag, and at the rate we’re using it, it’ll last us anywhere from 3-6 months, possibly longer. The instructions on the bag – in Sinhalese and Tamil, not English – say to use 6 tablespoons for a load, but they don’t specify whether that’s for a small, medium, or large load. I’ve been using less than that from the beginning anyway. Just as a matter of form.
Oh heck.
After we run out, we’ll be buying smaller bags – as in, the smallest size available – as we experiment until we find something we both like.
Ah, so.
And now? Dunno.
Fahim is going to go to a skin specialist, I think. He’s getting eczema breakouts, too, that aren’t going away, along with these allergy hives of his. He’s definitely getting the brunt of this onslaught. Poor guy.
Ironically, my sinus related allergies seem to have disappeared since arriving in Sri Lanka. I no longer have any sinus problems at all. Ironic considering there’s way more pollution and dust in the air here than there ever was in Canada. That’s two ironics in two successive sentences. No, wait, that’s three ironics . . . But now there’s four ironics . . . I mean five . . . AAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
