Keep your washing routine simple and your cloth nappies will thank you for it! 

In order to get the best from your cloth nappies we suggest you wash and dry them before use.  After 2 –3 washes your cloth nappies will gain their maximum absorbency.  It will also help to remove any manufacturing residues from your cloth nappies.  You could also try soaking them overnight in a bucket of cold water prior to washing.

We recommend dry-pailing—simply remove any solids into the toilet and put the dirty nappy into a bucket until you do a wash. Sprinkle baking soda into your bucket to keep it fresh.

Leaving your cloth nappies longer than two days after they have been soiled can cause smells to set and the urine will start to break the fibres down.  This will also reduce the lifespan of your nappies.

This helps to remove soiling from the nappies before washing.

You can wash your nappies on a normal cold, warm or hot wash (no hotter than 60°), use a third of the recommended amount of detergent.  Use a purpose made cloth nappy detergent (like Rockin' Green) to keep your nappies in top condition.

Line dry or tumble dry you nappies on Low/Cool—tumble drying all the time will cause your nappies to wear out faster. Stains can be removed by hanging in the sun—sunshine is a natural bleacher and sanitiser.

These products cause harm to your modern cloth nappies.  Fabric softener and soap based products (like Lux Flakes) will coat the cloth fibres making them less absorbent.  Bleach, Napisan and other enzyme-based detergents are not recommended for most modern cloth nappies, they are harsh and cause the fibres to break down, colours to fade and damages the PUL (waterproofing). 

Have you found that your nappies have been leaking lately, or have a funky smell?

Don’t panic yet, they may just need a strip wash to freshen them up. Why, you ask?  Well, after a while your nappies will accumulate a build-up from detergents or creams, and basically they end up with a ‘coating’ that prevents them from doing their job properly.  Try a strip wash and your nappy woes will hopefully disappear.

1. Cold rinse your nappies if they are dirty.
2. Run them through a hot wash (no hotter than 60 degrees) with 1/2 cup of baking soda and 1/2 cup of white vinegar OR 1/4 cup cheap dishwashing liquid.
3. Do a normal wash (cold or warm, no detergent).
4. Check the water while they are washing – if you see soapy bubbles keep running them through a rinse cycle until there are none.
5. If you’ve done 4 rinse cycles and you’re still seeing bubbles, do another hot wash (no detergent and no hotter than 60 degrees).
6. Keep rinsing until there are no bubbles.
7. Hang your nappies on the line in the sun to help remove any lingering stains.

If you have a really bad build-up issue you may need to do 2 or more strip washes to get your nappies back into good working order.

You could also try soaking your nappies for 2-3 hours in a bucket of warm water with 1/2 cup baking soda added. Then scrub the inner of each nappy with a nail brush and a tiny bit of dishwashing liquid to help remove build-up that’s worked into the layers. Do the strip wash process again but don’t add any detergent.  This is quite effective for nappies which have a stay-dry layer like microfleece or suedecloth.

WARNING PLEASE NOTE: Vinegar can damage PUL (the waterproof layer in your nappy) so use only occasionally.  Also, the use of baking soda and vinegar on bamboo nappies seems to be a cause of confusion.  It is believed that using baking soda or vinegar on your bamboo nappies can deteriorate bamboo fibres and ultimately ruin your cloth nappies.

Some manufacturers will void their warranty if you use either of these products on their nappies so please check with them first!

itti bitti recommend the dishwashing liquid method.

From the Close Parent website (The Pop-In nappy) – “Please don’t use vinegar either as it deteriorates the bamboo fibres in the bamboo nappies.”

From the Totsbots website – “Bicarbonate of Soda and Vinegar can dissolve cotton and bamboo fibres. Whilst a lot of nappy websites recommend using them to sanitise and soften nappies they will drastically shorten their lifespan and render your guarantee void.”

As strip washing is quite harsh on your nappies and time consuming, you don’t want to be doing it all the time. Try the following tips to help prevent build-up and smells.