I just wrote about my new home-made laundry soap. Now there’s a problem. It’s just as cheap as I thought, and just as easy to make — all that is fine. The problem is that my younger son appears to be irritated by it! His back has little bumps all over it. You can’t see them — they’re not red or anything — but you can feel them when you run your hand along his skin. Like a reptile. Yuck. So, I’m testing the theory by washing his clothes in my store-bought detergent that I still had, to see if it goes away. Last night, I put him in freshly-rewashed pajamas, and today in freshly-rewashed clothes. His bumps seem to be less. If it clears up in a few days, then that will seem to be the answer. That’s ok. I can hack it. I’d rather wash his clothes, and only his clothes, in “expensive” detergent, while the rest of us get the cheap stuff. Because for the last year or so I’ve washed all of our clothes in the brand-name detergent. It’s possible that if his rash clears up and stays gone for several weeks, that I might start adding in an item or two of his clothes, and see how it does. He may grow out of it; or if I expose him little by little he can get used to it, instead of jumping in with both feet. Maybe if I just do an extra rinse….