How to Wash Baby Clothes

Everyone knows that new baby clothes cannot be washed in a way that adults do. Baby diapers, sliders, and other items need to be washed correctly. However, few people know how to wash baby clothes correctly. Also, the question of finding a proper washing detergent for babies is no less important and requires attention from parents. We decided to write this publication as an answer. You will find the information on how to wash newborns baby clothes manually and in the washing machine, as well as some useful tips on caring for newborns.

Laundry Label Symbols

Some may think that picking the best baby clothing brands will ensure a lasting duration of outfits and withstanding numerous washing cycles. To a certain extent, it is true, however, proper care has significant importance. Not every person pays attention to labels that are present on items of clothing. Manufacturers indicate badges containing information about the material of which the clothes are made, how to look after it, at what temperature to wash, whether it is possible to squeeze, iron and so on. If you take into account all these tips, you can increase the life of your clothes, preserve the properties of the fabric and its color for a long time.

First of all, pay your attention to the following clothing care symbols:

1. A sign with a crossed-out water container indicates that this item must not be washed.
2. The same with water and a palm in it indicates that this material is suitable only for handwashing.
3. The same water container without any additional details, reports that this item can be washed both manually and with a washing machine.
4. You can see a variety of digital values. For example: 40, 60, 80, etc. These numbers limit the maximum washing temperature.
5. If you see 95 on the icon, then the material from which the thing is made can be washed at different temperatures and boiled.
6. The triangular image on the label tells us that you can use bleaching for this fabric.
7. A circle without additional elements: dry cleaning is allowed.
8. A square without additional elements: the product can be dried in a dryer.
9. Iron + 1 dot: maximum ironing temperature is 110 °CC, preferably without steam.
10. Iron + 2 dots: maximum temperature is 150 °CC.
11. Iron + 3 dots: maximum temperature is 200 °CC.

Following the information on the label, you could easily define the clothing care system.

How to Separate Clothes for Washing

For each type of fabric, it is recommended to avoid excessive temperatures, given the following simple rules:

• colored cotton items should be washed separately;
• lined silk products require dry cleaning;
• wool products should never be washed at high temperatures (over 40 °C).

It is important not to put a lot of clothes in the drum and use only a short spin mode and a short cycle. Wool products can be deformed if they are hung during drying, therefore it is always recommended laying them away from direct heat sources.

How to Wash Baby Clothes

Diapers and other things of newborns must be prepared before washing. Some mothers put diapers, vests, romper suits into the laundry basket, and after a couple of days, they throw them into the washing machine along with some adult laundry and wash them with ordinary washing powder. In our opinion, only an irresponsible mother who does not care about the health of his own baby can wash children's things in this way.

When preparing the dirty clothing to washing, you need to do:

• Before feces, urine and other impurities have not dried up on the clothes and diapers, they should be rinsed in cold water. If you rinse in warm water, traces of feces will remain on things. If there is no time to rinse the newborn’s things in cold water, you can put them in cold water and rinse them later.
• After rinsing baby's things, take a piece of baby soap and rub all the stains that you see on them. It is advisable to rub with soap on both sides so that the impurities will effectively become sour and then move away during washing.
• Wet, soap-rubbed things can be folded into a basin. You do not need to pour them with water. In this state, they can lie until the wash, which will have to start in the evening.

Choosing a Baby Laundry Detergent

Newborns’ clothing usually have contaminants of biological origin, which can be easily removed without the use of expensive super effective babies washing powder. It is best to start cloth diapers washing by hand with a piece of the baby soap, however, you can also wash numerous things of newborns or small children in a washing machine. In this case, ordinary soap will not work, you will have to use a hypoallergenic baby-safe laundry detergent, which the manufacturer allows using in the washing machine.

All baby laundry detergent can be divided into several groups:

• Phosphate-free powders;
• hypoallergenic powders;
• powders for newborns — those that are marked 0+ or the inscription for newborns;
• baby powders for an automatic machine;
• liquid detergents for washing children’s clothes.

There are a lot of options to buy best baby laundry detergent on the market: Garden Kids, Frau Schmidt Ocean Baby, Wish Baby and many others. It is not difficult to find, but you need to be careful. Before buying a powder, be sure to read its composition to find out the best natural baby laundry detergent among all. If the powder contains surfactants, phosphates, zeolites in large quantities, they are not suitable for care clothing. If your money is tight or you don’t trust powder manufacturers, you can make laundry detergent at home — this is also a good option, but more time-consuming.

Washing Cloth Diapers Manually

As it was mentioned above, washing clothes without detergent is also possible with a soap. If you have the time and desire, you can wash the baby’s clothes manually in a basin with water. Hand washing cloth diapers is a troublesome business, but also economical. You do not spend either electricity, or a large amount of water, or expensive powder for newborns, because you can also wash it manually with baby laundry soap.

“Poops” are better washed in cold water, but as you want to keep your joints safe, you need to set a water temperature of 15-18 °CC. Dip the things in water and begin to rinse and “chew” intensively. Things previously rubbed with soap should be cleaned, then rinsed, and then rubbed again with a piece of soap. After the next rinse, most likely, it will be possible to get rid of all the spots, if not, then the procedure will have to be repeated.

Machine Clothing Care

In an automatic washing machine, the washing baby clothes should also be carried out in a special way:

1. Put enough baby items in the drum of the washing machine.
2. Open the powder cuvette and pour enough of the detergent into the main wash compartment. Washing cloth diapers in hard water is not recommended, so pour Calgon and similar products too.
3. Close the cuvette and hatch. Choose a washing program. It is enough to choose a quick wash mode for 30-40 minutes. What is the wash temperature? Everything is simple here, we choose to wash things in cold water.
4. If the machine has a double rinse mode, then select it and start washing, if there is no such mode, then repeated rinse must be started manually. It is very important that all extra powder is rinsed out of things.

After Washing

As soon as you wash the children's clothing in the above ways, you need to squeeze it and hang all the clothes for drying. In this case, a drying cabinet or a washing machine with a drying function is ideal. Of course, these household appliances are very expensive, and if you don’t have the costs to buy them, you will have to put a conventional sliding dryer in the room nearby a heat source.

Some young mothers neglect ironing certain things, thinking that this is not so important. This is actually very important, even if you dry things at home. You need to iron all the baby’s things, on both sides and, preferably, with a steam iron, so you will definitely get rid of most harmful microbes that can settle on drying clothes. Aside from the hygiene considerations, ironing cute baby girl and baby boy clothing, you make it look tidy and neat.

Conclusion

Baby boy and baby girl clothing get dirty very fast. The sooner you master washing it without spoiling, the better it is. There are truly many things to be considered when washing babies` clothes. Labels on clothes can indicate the necessary settings that we can control and change accordingly. There is no significant difference whether you use the best washing machine for cloth diapers or manual washing if you follow the rules mentioned above. When you choose to clothe care cleaners — find out whether it contains surfactants, phosphates, zeolites, which are dangerous for babies. Do not neglect the rules specified in the article, and everything will be fine!

What problems with washing have you got? Share your stories, advises and troubles with us and get an immediate response.