Laundry advice

Reusable diapers are cleaned best when washed at 60 degrees Celsius. First, use a pre-rinse or “speed wash” cycle, preferably cold (20-30 degrees Celsius), with a rinse to remove the dirty water, as well as a spin. With this cycle, you should use a little bit of laundry detergent, indicated as “slightly soiled laundry”. Then, use a main washing cycle at 60 degrees. Use the amount of laundry detergent stated as “heavily soiled laundry”. After washing, it is best to line dry your diapers. Many cloth diapers could also be dried in a dryer on low heat. Please check the care label on your diaper before you do that. Reusable diapers do tend to get worn out sooner when they are being dried in the dryer. We recommend against drying your diapers on a heat source such as a radiator.

For very detailed washing advice, including calculation examples for the correct dosage, it is best to read our blog.

Before the first use

All absorbent materials such as reusable diapers, inserts, boosters, training pants, nursing pads and reusable cloth menstrual pads need to be washed at least three times before use. Natural materials such as cotton and bamboo absorb optimally after ten washes. The first time, wash these products with laundry detergent, the other times, laundry detergent is not necessary. They do not have to dry between washes. This pre-washing gets rid of substances that have been used during the production process and also makes cloth diapers and boosters absorb better. Products that do not absorb, but are worn against the skin, should be washed once before use. Such products include covers and swim diapers.

In exceptional cases

If it is absolutely necessary, like with a bacterial infection, most reusable diapers can be washed at 95 degrees Celsius once. Do be careful and check the care label before you do so. Cotton pre-folds can always be washed at 95 degrees Celsius, but will get clean at 60 degrees Celsius too.

Laundry detergent

Many laundry detergents are suitable for washing reuseable nappies. Reuseable nappy producers prefer that you use a detergent without enzymes, bleaching agents and optical brighteners. In practice, however, most laundry detergents are good enough. We recommend detergent with less than 5% soap and containing surfactants. A detergent for colored laundry is better than for white, because of the bleaching agents and optical brighteners. Eco-friendly laundry detergents are generally too weak for reuseable nappies. Ecover and Sonett should surely be avoided for reuseable nappies, just like homemade detergents and things like soap nuts. They are not powerful enough to deep clean your reuseable nappies, which causes quicker wear and could cause skin irritation.

At this moment, we also advise against Formil. In the past couple of years, we saw a remarkable amount of warranty claims of leaking or delaminated covers that were washed with Formil. Without a clear, other cause. This is why we recommend a different laundry detergent.

Stripping

It can happen that your reuseable diapers will start to smell after some time. They smell like ammonia when your baby has peed in it. This is usually caused by a flawed laundry routine, like using too little detergent. Cloth diapers that smell like ammonia also tend to absorb worse than before. To get the diapers clean, you can try to wash them in the right way a couple of times in a row. Please check the recommendations above. If this does not suffice, you can consider stripping your diapers. There are several ways to do that. Please contact us for an extensive stripping method.

General tips & tricks

Start your diaper laundry with a pre-rinse cycle. Use laundry detergent in this cycle and make sure the washing machine gets rid of the dirty water afterwards.

Use the amount of laundry detergent that is described above. With too little detergent, the cloth diapers can start to smell, and with too much, you can get detergent buildup, which will also cause them to smell and absorb less.

Hang the diapers out to dry, if possible. Cloth diapers with stains will get dazzling white if they are hung in the sun to dry. Moreover, the sun works like a disinfectant!

Inserts do not have to be taken out of the pocket diapers, they will fall out during washing.

Keep dirty diapers in a diaper pail with a mesh laundry bag, bucket liner or wet bag. The diapers can be placed into the washing machine together with the bag. Do not soak the diapers before washing! This will damage your diapers.

Breastmilk poop will dissolve in the water of the washing machine. Use a liner for babies who are formula fed or start to eat solids. The stool can be thrown away on the liner. Most liners can be reused by washing them a couple of times, unless they have been soiled.

Better not to use

• Bleaching agents/ stain removers
• Vinegar
• Borax
• Fabric softener