Why the Products Around Your Baby Matter as Much as What's on Them!

Most parents start their non-toxic journey the same way. You read something, or someone mentions it, or you just start paying closer attention. Suddenly you're looking at the diaper differently. What's actually in this thing? What's touching my baby's skin all day and all night?

That instinct is exactly right. It's where we started too. But here's what we've come to believe after years of thinking deeply about what babies are exposed to: the diaper is just the beginning.

What's Actually Around Your Baby All Day

Think about a single ordinary day. You do a load of laundry, onesies, sleep sacks, the little socks that somehow multiply, in whatever detergent is in the laundry room. You prep their food on a countertop you've just cleaned. You wipe down the highchair tray before every meal. They crawl across floors you've mopped. They mouth toys you've wiped off. They wear clothes washed in something you've probably never closely read the label on.

None of those moments feel like a big decision. But they add up.

Here's something most parents don't know: cleaning products in the United States are not required to disclose their full ingredient lists. The word "fragrance" on a label can legally represent hundreds of individual chemicals, none of which have to be named. Many products marketed as "natural" or "clean" contain ingredients that don't live up to those claims. And unlike a diaper, which you choose deliberately and replace every few hours, cleaning products are on every surface in your home, all the time.

We're not saying this to overwhelm you. You're already doing the hard work. We're saying it because once you know, the next step is actually pretty simple, and we found a brand that makes it that way.

Meet Branch Basics

Branch Basics was founded by three women, Marilee, Allison, and Kelly, whose own health experiences led them to a shared conviction: that cleaning products are among the most overlooked sources of harmful chemical exposure in the home, and that something had to change.

Their answer was a first-of-its-kind concentrate made from just a handful of plant and mineral-based ingredients, fully disclosed, that replaces every cleaner in your house. Laundry, dishes, all-purpose surfaces, bathroom, floors. One formula, diluted differently depending on the job. You vet it once. You trust it everywhere.

Pregnant mamas and babies are their benchmark for safety. It's not a marketing line. It's the standard they hold every formula to, and they won't budge on it.

We've been fans for a long time. When we started thinking about who was doing for the home what Kudos does for the diaper, Branch Basics was the only answer.

And if you're a Target family, you're in luck: Branch Basics recently launched in over 600 Target locations nationwide and on Target.com, with ready-to-use pre-filled spray bottles starting under $10. Kudos is already on those shelves too. Two brands, one cart.

The Routines Worth Rethinking:

You don't have to overhaul everything at once. Start where it makes the most sense for your family. These are the three areas we think about most when it comes to what surrounds a baby day to day, and where Branch Basics makes the biggest difference.

Laundry Detergent: Whatever's in your detergent stays in the fabric. It doesn't fully rinse out. It lingers in the fibers of every onesie, sleep sack, and swaddle your baby is wrapped in. Synthetic fragrances and harsh surfactants in conventional detergents sit against your baby's skin just as surely as the diaper does. The Branch Basics Laundry Detergent  brightens whites, lifts stains, and eliminates odors without bleach, ammonia, or fragrance. We think of this as the highest-impact swap you can make for a baby's world, and it's the one we'd start with.

Stains: Stain Remover: Go-to solution for tackling tough stains with ease. This ready-to-use cleaner is specially formulated to lift and eliminate stubborn stains from clothing, upholstery, carpets, linens, and more. 

All-Purpose Cleaning: The Concentrate The highchair tray, the changing pad, the toys on the floor, the countertops where food gets prepped. The surfaces your baby touches dozens of times a day. Most conventional all-purpose cleaners leave residue, and babies who mouth everything they can reach are especially vulnerable to that. The Branch Basics Concentrate dilutes into a genuinely human-safe all-purpose spray that works on everything. Seven ingredients, all named, all plant and mineral-based. That's it. And for parents who are tired of maintaining a cabinet full of different products for different jobs, this one is genuinely liberating.

A Few Things Most People Don't Think About:

These are the products our founder reaches for that don't always get the spotlight they deserve. Consider these the deeper cuts.

Dish: Dishwasher Tablets The spoons, bowls, and bottles that go directly into your baby's mouth get washed in whatever dish soap is at the sink. It's worth making that choice as intentional as the ones you're already making about what's in the food itself. Branch Basics' plastic-free, fragrance-free Dishwasher Tablets deliver a powerful clean without harsh chemicals. And they're one of the easiest swaps you can make because nothing about your routine has to change — you just put a different tablet in the machine.

Foaming Hand Wash It's the same Concentrate, just diluted for hands — gentle enough for babies, effective enough for adults. Most non-toxic hand soaps sacrifice performance or leave your hands feeling stripped. This one doesn't. And if you're washing your hands before every diaper change (you are), it's worth thinking about what you're reaching for at that sink.

Two Brands, One Conviction

At Kudos, we own the diaper. Our entire focus is on what goes into it, starting with the topsheet — the liner that sits closest to the baby's most sensitive area — which we make from 100% cotton instead of the plastic-based materials found in most conventional diapers. Our mission is to get as much plastic out of the diaper as possible, and we're working toward that with every single iteration.

But we've always known the diaper is one piece of a much bigger picture. The parents who choose Kudos are the same parents who want to know what's in their laundry detergent, what's on their countertops, what's in the soap by the sink. You're not just making a diaper decision — you're building a home with intention.

Branch Basics is for that same parent. And together, we think the two of us cover a lot of ground: what's on your baby, and what's all around them.

That's a home worth feeling good about.

Explore Branch Basics' full product lineup at branchbasics.com or find them in over 600 Target locations and at Target.com.