Washing Cloth Nappies... It's Not Rocket Science

Here in Australia, we’re part of a very small percentage of the world’s population that generally finds caring for cloth nappies quite a breeze.

We have washing machines to do most of the dirty work for us, and we have a legal right to use our clotheslines, so staining isn’t as much of an issue for us as it might be in other parts of the world where washing can’t be hung in public view.

We have access to clean water, the best in detergent formulas available on supermarket shelves and the capacity to make it all work together to create beautiful clean nappies for our babies’ precious little bottoms.

Yet there is so much ado about washing nappies. And there has been since the advent of the modern cloth nappy.

• Which detergent do I use?
• Can I tumble dry them?
• What about the poo?
• Can I use cream?
• What temperature should I wash at?

It all becomes confusing and can make cloth nappies seem far more onerous than they really are.

Which is why one of the first things the Australian Nappy Association produced when it began back in 2014 was a set of general washing instructions that would help parents to fall in love with the ease of cloth.

As an accredited member of the Australian Nappy Association, we support and recommend the Association’s following washing guidelines and their simple, effective 5-step wash routine.

If you’re looking for further information about each of these steps, you can check out our post HERE which breaks down each step and explains why it is important. 

Beyond all that though, it’s really very easy. I’ve been using cloth full time for the past 12 years… and I’m no martyr. I have many competing priorities in my life and if washing cloth nappies was difficult or onerous, I probably would have slipped back to part time use a long time ago.

The fact that it’s so simple is what makes it so doable.

SO, IF YOU’VE BEEN TOYING WITH THE IDEA OF CLOTH, BUT CAN’T QUITE BRING YOURSELF TO MAKING THE LEAP, HERE ARE SOME GREAT STARTING POINTS:

1. Just start with one a day. Seriously. Here’s WHY and HOW.

2. If you want to dive right in to full time use, you’ll probably want to do a separate load of nappies every other day, in which case – HERE is how to clean them.

Now over to you! Let us know in the comments what you find the simplest thing about cloth and what you’d tell new parents who are concerned about the workload.