Dirty Nappy Storage

- Store your dirty nappies dry in either a Nappy Pail Bag or a large washing basket with holes in. The more airy the basket, the less they will smell!

- Never soak your nappies in water before a wash. This is a safety risk for toddlers due to drowning. The dirty water also creates a bacteria soup and damages the elastics. 

- If your child has very smelly morning wee, a quick handwash night nappies in the shower helps to get them extra clean in addition to the normal wash cycle.

- Exclusively breast and formula fed baby poop is water soluable and can be put straight in the washing machine. After food is added to a baby's diet, poop should be rinsed or scraped off. Ideal tools for this are a silicon spatula, a bidet attachment for the toilet, or using the shower and a bucket. (For the lucky, baby's poops can become 'ploppable' and can be rolled off the liner and into the toilet. This depends on the individual baby, and their weaning progress)

​

Washing

- Use a washing powder instead of a liquid or a pod. This is because it is easier to get an accurate dosage and is cheaper.

- Use a powder with under 5% soap. We use Neutral

- If you find your powder isnt quite enough, you can use Biotex prewash in the prewash.

- The pre-wash should be between 30-60 minutes long (your washing machines daily wash is usually a good option)  and separate to your main wash. this is because washing machines usually reuse the water from the pre-wash and you do not want your nappies to be washed in urine and poop soup!

- The main wash should be between 2-3 hours long. 

- Do not use fabric softener with your nappies. These will coat the fibres and reduce the absorbency.

- For prewashing, the washing machine does not have to be full. 

- For main washing, the washing machine should be full to ensure correct agitation. You can top up the wash with small items such as baby rompers, tea towels, socks etc. Avoid large items such as towels as they can prevent the correct agitation to wash the nappies. 

- Clean your washing machine once a month by running an empty long 90C wash with white vinegar.

​

Drying

- Never tumble dry PUL products

- Only tumble dry on low/safety. ideally line dry as excessive tumble drying can cause shrinkage

- For Bells Bumz AIO, hang the nappy by the insert as this prevents the weight stretching the elastics

- For Reusabelles AIO, you can gently turn the insert inside out to dry quicker

- Do not leave pul out in very hot sun for a long period of time as this can cause the pul to delaminate and cause leaks. 

- In winter a dehumidifier or a fan can speed up drying significantly. Other options is a heated drying rack, but we strongly suggest using a towel between the heated rails and any PUL or bamboo

- If your nappies are feeling a bit tough or hard you can put non-PUL items in the tumble drier for 15minutes. For all items that are feeling a bit tough, sit on them! the friction and heat will soften them up.

​

stains

Ideally stains should rarely happen in a good washing routine. However they can still happen. 

known stain causers: banana, blueberries, some vaccines, paracetamol, zinc based nappy creams, some breastfed babies and teething babies also have staining poop

solutions:

- double check how full the washing machine was. stains can happen if the washing machine was under or over full.

- Put the nappy back in the wash and see if another cycle can help

- Make a paste using oxi-bleach and scrub the stains. leave to soak for 20mins then put into the wash. i do this just before a nappy wash when needed. 

- if this still hasnt helped, you can hang directly in the sun while keeping the stained area wet. We have never had to do this as all the other steps have removed the stains.

​

for zinc nappy ointment, if not medically required, try other ointments such as lanolin or coconut oil which does not stain. If required, we recommend using a fleece liner to protect the nappy.