Washing routines

How to keep your cloth diapers clean and fresh

Tvättguide

This is a guide and information for those who are curious about or have started using cloth diapers and wonder how to establish an effective washing routine!

In essence, it's simple. Everything with cloth diapers goes into the washing machine. All products from Green Poppy can be washed at 60 degrees Celsius and then air-dried for the best results.

Let's start from the beginning. The diaper is wet and soiled. What do you do? As long as you exclusively breastfeed or provide formula, the poop is water-soluble and can be put directly into the washing machine. If your child eats solid food, you may want to check our guide on "But what about the poop?!"Men bajset då?!”.

During Diaper Change

Begin by removing any inserts from the diaper or separating inserts/fold diapers from the cover. If you're using a wool cover, you can reuse it as long as there is no poop on it. If the diaper has a PUL outer layer, it can go into the washing machine.

Detergent

For best results, wash your cloth diapers with perfume-free powdered detergent for colored clothes, not white detergent. The detergent should contain less than 5% soap, otherwise there is a greater risk of detergent residue remaining in the diapers. The detergent should also not contain bleach. When washing cloth diapers, you can use about two-thirds of the recommended amount of detergent, also to avoid leaving detergent residue in the diapers. If detergent residue remains, there is a risk of irritation to the baby's skin and the development of unpleasant odors. In such cases, a deep cleaning may be necessary (read more about it here on our site and here on Blöjupprorets site).

Into the Washing Machine

We recommend starting with a cold prewash without detergent to rinse the laundry. After that, run a long cycle at 60 degrees Celsius, preferably with an extra rinse. Depending on your washing machine's efficiency, you may need to run an additional rinse after the program finishes. This is primarily to ensure that all detergent residues are thoroughly rinsed out of the laundry. We recommend a minimum of 1200 revolutions on the spin cycle.

Time to Dry

When the laundry is done, it's best for all parts to air-dry. However, all Green Poppy products that don't consist of PUL can be tumble-dried, such as inserts, prefold diapers, and wipes. Tumble dry on low heat to help the inserts maintain their softness for a longer time. Some inserts may become a bit curled at the edges during tumble drying, but this can easily be fixed by pulling the inserts over the edge of, for example, a countertop after they have dried.

All done! And then you're ready for the next wash. Not too complicated, right?

Stains

If cloth diapers get stains from feces, there's no need to worry; they won't function any worse because of it. However, stains can also be treated. The gentlest and most convenient way is to lay out the diapers with the stain facing upward, in the sun, and let them sunbathe. You can also treat the diapers with, for example, stain remover soap.