Best cleaning routine for cloth nappies?

Question

Ok so i am planning on using cloth nappies throughout summer for our little boy when he arrives. I am just curious what is the best way to get the soiled ones clean and to avoid staining. I will be using liners to try and avoid as much staining as possible.

I realise i need to soak them but what is the best method and best bleach/ detergent to soak them in and then wash them in? What worked best for you? Thanks muchly

Answer 1

After soaking and washing the next best thing is natural sunlight.

It's amazing how clean the nappies appear after being outside in the sun. Even if they have marks on them the sun naturally bleaches them. Better than any bought bleaching solution.

Answer 2

Most people have two buckets, one with a laundry/nappy soaker which is changed daily and then a bucket of fresh water for rinsing before washing. You clean the nappy off, put in the soaker one leave overnight. Next day, put in rinse one, wash on warm or cold with laundry/nappy soaker and fabric softener if you want, hang to dry in the sun. Bleach is too harsh and will eat the fabric.

Answer 3

You don't need to soak them :) You also don't need to have various buckets of water around the place. I dry-pail my nappies - I use liners (the poo then goes down the toilet & the liner in the bin) and then pop the nappies, be they wet, dirty or both, into a bucket with a lid (actually I have recently started using a large pedal bin, so much easier to not bend down to the bucket & it has an insert with a handle, so it lifts out easily to carry to the laundry.)

Wash the nappies just as you would clothes, in a normal cold water cycle. Don't use fabric softener as it reduces the absorbency of the nappies. Line dry them in the sun, even if there are marks left when they come out of the machine the sun will take care of most of it (also, a few marks aren't a big deal, you know the nappies are still clean!) If you do have some nasty ones that you want to soak, the easiest way is to start the machine as you would normally, detergent etc, then once it has filled with water, switch the machine off. Leave it overnight & restart the machine in the morning.

Answer 4

Actually dont soak them!  You soak the p**p into them.  Wash them on cold and then on hot.  I've found the best thing for ours is to let them dry in the sun!  Bleach them and extra rinse them when you really need to.

Answer 5

you shouldnt bleach them and if you feel the need, try sunning.  if you still feel the need, use a tiny, tiny bit but not on anything waterproof as it will weare at it.  it will wear at the fabric as well, and must be washed out very well because it can irritate your babes skin, but definitely dont ever use on anything waterproof.

Answer 6

the best detergent to use in australia is LUX Soap Flakes. But any soap flakes will likely be just as good.

Soak the nappies in trizyme if you can find it (amway sells it) or you could try ordinary liquid detergent to soak them in.

Then rinse off in the washing machine (put in machine, put directly on rinse cycle) this will save alot of time and arm muscles!

next sloosh in the soap flakes (already mixed into warm water by hand in a jug, then just pour it into the machine) and let the machine do it's thing.

never use fabric softener, it will damage your washing machine and the material, instead, put white vinegar into the fabric softener compartment. the vinegar will kill 90% of bacteria in the machine and on the nappies, take out any left over detergent/soap, and make your nappies fluffy and soft (and not smell like vinegar).

Hanging them in the sun is AMAZING. the sun is a natural disinfectant and bleacher.