We have many parents who ask us what is the best way to wash their cloth nappies.  Generally parents get their own routine after a time but to start with they may be nervous about using cloth nappies.  So we decided to break down washing cloth nappies into a simple to understand step by step guide which will hopefully answer your questions. If you have other questions that are not covered in this, please contact us on 0800 Tots Bots or read our FAQs page which has more information on it.

 

Step one: Removing the nappy

Firstly you must take the soiled nappy off your baby.  We suggest you have an old ice cream container in which you can place any soiled nappies and used wipes in while you pop the clean nappy onto your baby. 

Solids in the nappy?

No...continue on to step 2

Yes - then you must dispose of all solids in the toilet (this is the case if you are using disposable nappies as well)  If you are using flushable liners in your Tots Bots nappy, carefully remove the liner from the inside of the nappy and flush the liner down the toilet.  If you are using reusable liners,  we suggest you take the nappy and the liner into the toilet and hold the re-usable liner in the toilet and flush the toilet onto it to remove any solids that are on it.  Then wrap the liner up in the nappy ready for washing together.  If there is some fecal matter on the nappy itself then we suggest you hold the nappy firmly and flush the toilet on it or alternativley, you may prefer to use a nappy sprayer for convenience.

 

Step 2: Dry Pail your nappies

Nowdays we do not have to soak our nappies because the detergents and machines now do the work that our soakers used to do.  If parents do soak their nappies they may wear the elastics and fabrics out earlier than expected because some of the soakers can be quite harsh on some modern fabrics.  Also the less chemicals used the better it is for your babies skin.  This is why we suggest dry pailing which is simply a dry bucket with no water or soakers in it.  This is also much safer for baby (no buckets of water around) and will save you from heaving heavy buckets of nappies and water into the washing machine.  If you want to keep smells at bay, pop a couple of drops of tea tree oil onto a small square of fabric which can be washed with the nappies.

 

Step 3: Wash the nappies

When you have a load of nappies or perhaps less but are ready to wash them, tip the contents of your bucket into the washing machine. 

To minimise the amount of washing you do, save more money and to lower your nappies eco footprint, we suggest our clients put their nappies through a rinse cycle first and then add all of their babies other clothes into the same cycle.  Some washing machines even have a special cycle just for nappies.

When you wash your nappies you only need to use a fraction of the amount of liquid / powder you would normally use to wash your clothes.  We suggest around 1 - 2 tablespoons.  Pop this in your machine as per your manufacturers instructions.  Turn the machine on and.....walk away....the machine does all of the nasty work for you while you have time to spend with your baby and family.

We have a few Can's and Do nots for this section which we have listed below which will also dispel a few myths about washing cloth nappies.

You can:

  • Wash your nappies/covers at 40 or 60 depending on the wash care label
  • Wash your nappies in cold as long as you use a fast disolving powder like Reflect or use a liquid detergent.  We do suggest the odd hot wash if you wash on cold all of the time to give your nappies a boost wash
  • Use a laundry mesh for added convenience.
  • Use a small amount of Napisan in the wash cycle if you feel the need to
  • Wash them with other clothes if the solids have been removed
  • Use canesten if you need to

Do Not's:

  • Don’t use bleach or other harsh stain removers, as they will shorten the lifespan of your nappies and will void your guarantee.
  • Do not use fabric softeners as this leaves a residue and decreases the absorbency of the towelling
  • Do not Use baking soda or vinegar - Bicarbonate of soda and any acid (ie. Vinegar) when heated in solution corrodes cotton and bamboo fibres. Whilst a lot of sites etc. recommend using them to sanitise and soften nappies they will drastically shorten their lifespan.
  • Do not use bio detergents - There is an enzyme present in some bio detergents called cellulase which is corrosive to bamboo fibre and cotton.  We recommend using non biological powders as they are better for both baby and the environment.

 

Step 4: Drying your nappies

Once your machine has completed the task of washing your nappies (wow that was easy), it is time to dry them. 

Here you have two options:

  • You can pop them on the line to dry with the rest of your washing and then walk away and let the sun dry, bleach and sanitize your nappies while you spend time with your family.  A days worth of Tots Bots Nappies will add around ten nappies and ten pegs to your washing line.
  • If you are short of time, you can tumble dry the nappies on a cool setting but we do recommend our clients line drying wherever possible. 

Line drying saves you money and reduces the eco footprint of your nappies.  In the winter, some parents may struggle to get their nappies dry on the line so we suggest they pop them in the dryer to finish them off at the end of the day or our nappies dry well infront of the fire or in the hotwater cupboard overnight.

 

Step 5: Folding your nappies

This is the best part, you take your nappies off the line or out of the drier and you pop them in your chosen storage place near where you change your baby they are all ready to go - NO FOLDING involved leaving you time to do many other things or sit and enjoy the evening on the couch!

 

Step 6: It is so easy!

It may have all sounded a bit ominous when you first start researching using cloth nappies, but when you consider that

  • you do not have to use all of the nasty chemicals you may have thought you would have to use
  • the nappies are likely to be far simpler to care for than you were led to believe
  • plus you will save thousands of dollars over a 2 - 3 year period you would be crazy not to give it a go!