Wash cloth diapers? Made easy!

That cloth diapers need to be washed sounds daunting and difficult for some parents at first. Actually, however, washing cloth di apers is not particularly complicated, if a few things are observed. I will describe these in the following. By the way, these tips are also helpful for all other textiles.

Sufficient amount of water

Many modern washing machines wash the laundry in a very water-saving way. Unfortunately, this means that cloth diapers are usually not rinsed sufficiently. Some washing machines therefore now have the option of using additional water ("water plus" button) or pre-rinsing. Pre-rinsing also removes coarse soiling from urine and stool.

Suitable washing temperature

Personally, I would usually wash the diapers at 60 degrees. Many detergents contain disinfecting additives, so a boil wash is only necessary in a few exceptional cases. I would do the higher temperature wash only for contagious infectious diseases such as diarrhea. Here, a hygiene rinse can and should be used additionally. Please note that many manufacturers recommend washing at 40 degrees, at which the laundry usually gets clean. Washing at higher temperatures will void warranty claims.

Appropriate filling

If the washing machine is filled too full, the diapers cannot be rinsed sufficiently. Therefore, care should be taken to ensure that the machine is filled appropriately, neither too full nor too little. In addition, if the machine is too full, detergent residues cannot be properly rinsed out of the fabric.

Correct detergent dosage and additives

Detergent should always be dosed according to the manufacturer's recommendation. Often, too much detergent is used, so that even after washing, residues are still visible in the fabric. This can result in a significant loss of absorbency. It also makes sense to use a water softener. The Oldenburg region has a medium water hardness and the softener should be dosed accordingly. With many detergents the dosage is thereby also again somewhat lower. No other additives such as softeners should be used when washing.

Other tips

There are special detergents for cloth diapers, but they are much more expensive. Actually, any full detergent can also be used, although I would always recommend the sensitive variant, as it contains fewer additives. Some materials such as bamboo viscose are somewhat sensitive to washing. Here it makes sense to use a detergent without enzymes, because these attack the fabric.

The cover image comes from pixabay.com.