The skin of newborns and toddlers is thin and fragile. Careful washing of their clothes is therefore essential.
Between overflows and leaks of all kinds, milk stains, small jars on Short Sleeve Body , regurgitation and burping at the end of a meal, there is a multitude of detergent choices to solve different issues.
To start with, it's best to wash baby clothes separately from your laundry. We recommend putting small clothes in a net to prevent them from being engulfed in the drum of your machine, moreover it will be easier to sort once out of the machine.
The 7 tips for washing baby clothes responsibly
On a daily basis, washing baby clothes takes up a lot of time.
Here are some tips for taking care of it effectively without risking irritating your baby, while being responsible and as environmentally friendly as possible.
1 | Choose clothes made of cotton or natural fibers.
Cotton and linen are materials suitable for babies: they reduce allergies and are easy to wash. In winter and in cold weather, opt for warm natural materials such as wool, cashmere, angora and wash them in a special wool cycle or by hand. The wool cycles are specifically adapted for those materials, you can place each sweater in a small net in order to limit their premature wear. The washing temperature can range from cold to 40°C, the main point is to choose the right program which will allow a slow rise in temperature in order to prevent the wool from shrinking or felting, for spinning we recommend a spin at maximum 800rpm.
2 | Use little or no conventional detergent.
Finding a detergent for babies is complex. Those "without preservatives" have the advantage of being less irritating without guaranteeing their composition and their impact on the environment and on the pollution of washing water. The mention "hypoallergenic" guarantees almost nothing, it is only that dermatological tests have taken place without guaranteeing the absence of allergens and other chemicals which are not very advisable for an ecology enthusiast. We recommend that you use an alternative to detergent such as Ops clean, which will remove everyday dirt as well as germs, bacteria and viruses from clothes. For stains, we advise you to remove stains before starting your wash cycle. You can do this with Marseille soap or the addition of sodium percarbonate in the detergent drawer for example.
However, if you wish to use conventional detergent, you can reduce the dose in order to limit the amount of residue present on the fibers of the clothes at the end of the wash.
You can find our tips to remove stains baby clothes in an ecological way in the dedicated article here.
3 | Avoid using fabric softener.
The fabric softener is applied to the laundry during rinsing. Due to this, the baby's skin is in continuous contact with around twenty products, most of which come from petrochemicals. In addition, the presence of softener promotes bacterial development on the laundry. To wash baby clothes, alternatives like Ops clean are enough to have clean and healthy laundry for our babies. We do not recommend perfumes, whether synthetic or of natural origin. Babies have a sensitive sense of smell and especially need the smell of their parents, the addition of perfume hinders the identification of their parents. If you still want to perfume baby clothes, choose natural perfumes. Do not use essential oils that are too concentrated for newborns.
4 | Don't hunt for any bacteria.
The skin itself is populated by more than a trillion bacteria that play an essential role in our skin barrier, eliminating them all makes no sense and may ultimately reduce our natural immunity. Washing at 30°C with an ecological detergent or with an alternative such as Ops clean eliminates the main bacteria, and germs present on the clothes. Once dried, other bacteria are eliminated. By drying clothes in the sun, bacteria are also eliminated by UV rays. Washing at 60°C or higher temperatures accelerates the wear of clothes which will therefore be unusable more quickly. Using aggressive products promising the eradication of almost all bacteria, have an action that extends into the washing water, it is the aquatic ecosystem that then suffers the consequences.
5 | For stubborn stains, detach before washing with soap.
Baby's clothes are often stained, but there are everyday stains and heavy stains. For small stains of milk, urine..., the action of the machine will suffice. For more stubborn stains (small jars, fruit, etc.), use Marseille soap or another ecological solution before washing.
6 | Put the laundry away when it is completely dry.
If baby clothes are still slightly damp, do not put them away in their cupboard as bacteria will develop inside. Wait until it is completely dry to put it away.
7 | Use the iron on rarely washed clothes.
For clothes that get less dirty (jackets, winter overalls, play mats, etc.), you can use your iron in steam mode to kill any dust mites that may have lodged there. It can also work without touching the garment with the steam boost modes for synthetic materials.
And what about you, do you have any tips to share with us?
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