Step 1
Take the liner out of the nappy and dispose of it in rubbish if bub has done a poo or wash in a laundry bag and re-use up to 5 times if bub has only done a wee. If not using a liner and Bub has done a number two then ‘empty’ the nappy into the toilet. Any rests do no harm and wash away easily in the washing machine. Should it ever happen that a lot ends up next to the liner, then you clean the nappy with an old spoon or under the watertap and hang it over the edge of the nappy bin to dry.
If you solely breastfeed, your baby will have watery poo, which means no liner is needed and the nappies can go straight into the washing machine. Feels weird to do, but it is so handy! Just let your washing machine do its work.
Toss the nappy with insert in a dry pail or store dirty nappies in a wetbag. Please do not soak the nappies; a dry pail is much better to preserve the quality. It is best not to close the nappy bucket. Optionally, you can dip a cloth in some water with an essential oil, wring it out and place it over the nappy pail to make it smell more pleasant.
Step 2
Push the nappies out of the wetbag into the washing machine to keep clean hands.
Run a 30-60 minute wash (rinse & spin) at cold temperature with one of the washing powders mentioned in this blog.
Make sure the water drains away completely before starting the main wash!!
Insufficient wash for a main wash?
Run a 60-minute pre-wash at 40 degrees and 1000-1200 rpm and hang your half-clean nappies to dry or put store them in a clean wetbag until you have enough wash.
Step 3
Now remove the inserts from the nappies, if they have not fallen out already. Run the main wash at 40-60 degrees, 1000-1200 rpm and the cycle should take at least 2.5 hours.
Note that some ‘smart’ modern washing machines shorten the duration if there is not much laundry in the drum. Do not wash on eco mode and make sure enough water is used. Top up with tea towels, underwear, socks and baby clothes until the drum is three-quarters full to ensure sufficient friction (be careful with sharp items).
The nappies are perfectly clean when they come out of the wash odourless. Be aware that nappies will start to smell over time if the detergent is wrongly dosed for a long time. Read more about detergents here. If you can still smell detergent, you have used too much laundry powder. If they do smell unclean after washing, they have not been washed long enough, the wrong dose of detergent has been used or your machine needs a maintenance cycle run.
Step 4
The nappies cannot be tumble-dried, but luckily they dry in no time!
Hang the nappies out over two lines so that the elastic bands do not stretch. Never place the nappies on the heater and only hang the inside of the nappy wet in the sun to avoid damage on the waterproof layer. Inserts and baby wipes can be dried in the dryer at medium temperature. Putting a dry towel in the dryer will make the laundry dry even faster. Stretch out the inserts as soon as they come out of the wash to ensure they keep their size.
If you use Happy Naps at night too, you will find that they smell a bit more than daytime nappies. Wash this nappy by hand first thing in the morning before adding it to the nappy bin or run a pre-wash with the nappies from the day before to prevent dirt from building up in the nappy.
Do not keep dirty nappies in the nappy bin for more than 48 hours
If you pre-wash daily, you can keep the nappies longer and do the main wash once you have collected enough laundry.
