Images Credit: ShutterstockAs a first-time parent, the amount of laundry created by the tiny baby can surprise you for sure. Your baby can make some interesting and sometimes frustrating mess between spit-ups and explosions.
Parents mostly need additional mileage out of their driers and washers with such mess. But regular baby clothing laundry is more than just about hygiene and aesthetics. A baby’s overall well-being and health conditions are highly dependent on proper washing of clothes.
Experts (pediatricians and dermatologists) have called for additional care with baby clothes washing. This comprehensive discussion covers a simplified yet highly insightful guide to washing baby clothes.
When Do You Need to Wash Baby Clothes?
Likewise, you’ll put, wash, and fold everything dirty in a basket right away. But the preparation must start well before the little one is even born – according to pediatricians. The parents must wash all wearables properly to make the clothing free of dust, residue, dirt, etc.
With your baby in the world, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer to anything right away. It depends on time constraints, personal preferences, available clothing, and even the weather. Experts suggested washing everything for preemie, newborn/infant, and 0-3 baby wearables.
Wash Your Baby Clothes Easily – A Step-by-Step Guide
Every parent desires their babies to remain healthy and comfy with clean clothing. Experts emphasized the following baby clothes washing instructions –
1. Looking into Care Labels
How to know which clothes need what type of washing firsthand? Take a look at every item’s laundry label to develop a clear idea. These labels should reveal the correct temperatures and cycles needed. For clothes without such direct labels, you can approach someone who specializes in laundry.
2. Sorting the Clothes
You better group the clothes by dark, medium/moderate, and light colors. It’s because wet mixing of all colors may initiate bleeding. Different fabrics require varying temperatures, cleaning ingredients, and effort. Employing the right measures will maintain fabric integrity while preventing potential damage.
3. Checking for Stains
Diaper blowouts, spit-ups, or baby foods will surely leave tough stains on a cloth at some point. It’s a must to treat every stain before initiating the wash. It’s because the stains become tougher to treat upon washing. Make sure to choose the right stain removal technique to protect the fabric’s integrity.
4. Starting the Laundry
Load the baby garments into the washing machine and set every factor to the required limit. Detergent type, detergent amount, washing temperatures, washing cycles are the most concerning facts. Don’t overload the machine with everything at once. It may cause incomplete cleaning of the wearables.
5. Doing a Double-Rinse
Once the ‘delicate’ washing cycle ends, experts recommend to press the ‘rinse’ button gain. A double rinse may seem like an extra burden for many. But you must get rid of all residual detergents from the clothes thoroughly. It not only prevents skin irritation but also discards potential allergens for the baby.
6. Drying the Clothes
Now that all the clothes are properly cleaned, you need to dry the garments. Air/natural drying is indeed the best way to dry baby clothes. However, you can use dryers in low-heat settings to remove the moist. Avoid excessive heat, sunlight, or airflow, which severely damage the light fabric to cause skin irritation.
7. Inspecting the Clothes
The clothes are dry and ready to be shelved in the wardrobe. Anything disruptive should catch your eye by now. Still, take a good look at every cloth while folding the small garments. More specifically, pay attention to features like buttons, hooks, or snaps. They must not come off and/or hold a sharp edge.
Quality clothing is likely to be an indirect concern here. If the clothes aren’t up to the mark, even the best washing can’t hold up. Feel free to look at the baby girl clothes inventory for top-notch wearables.
Hand Washing the Baby Clothes
The guidelines mentioned right above suit parents with a working washing machine. What to do when you don’t have one or the machine is broken? You can always opt for hand washing anytime, anywhere.
Look at the clothing label to determine any particular cleanup instructions.
Pretreat every stain for complete removal from the clothes with suitable ingredients.
Having mildly warm water confined in a bowl, tub, or bucket for soaking.
Mixing a gentle detergent in appropriate proportions to agitate the water.
Fully submerge the clothes in the mixture to let them soak for 30 – 6 minutes at least.
Rinse the clothes until the water runs clear and wring them to remove excess water.
Don’t go for machine washing all the time since some clothes are better suited to manual cleanups. Grouping/sorting, double-rinsing, drying, and inspecting the clothes are the same as machine washing.
Choosing the Laundry Detergent
Can you just use the regular detergent for newborn clothes? Or What detergent should you choose to wash infant clothes? How to know whether the detergent is safe for the baby?
These are some common questions when it comes to getting your hands on the best baby clothes-washing detergent. It’s probably because there are so many detergents available in the genre.
Consider the points mentioned right below to purchase a laundry detergent from the market –
Look for non-biological detergents, as biological ones may contain irritating enzymes.
Prioritize no-fragrance detergents, as some babies may react to concentrated scents.
Avoid unscented detergents with a masking effect yet highly irritating for newborns.
Choose hypoallergenic detergent without any chemical dye like bleach or brightener.
Problems like eczema, cradle cap, or rash may still affect your infant’s sensitive skin. Experts want you to consult a pediatrician right away to resolve the irritation as soon as possible.
Many enthusiastic parents even craft homemade detergents to avoid confusion and misinformation. You can have either of the three detergent forms – Tablet, Powder, or Liquid.
How to Remove Stains from Baby Clothing
Cleaning a stain shouldn’t take much effort or hassle, with treatments applied right away. But you don’t have to panic with set-in strains either. But choosing the stain remover is where everything gets tricky.
Baby cloth stains mostly contain organic compounds (milk, foods, vomits, urine, manure). Removers with enzymes can easily break down such tough-to-treat issues.
You can stick to traditional removers containing white vinegar and baking soda. Applying the mixture and letting the stain soak into the ingredients can remove most stains.
Dos and Don’ts for Baby Clothes Washing
Although the baby turns your house into a joyous space, there’s more to the already-overwhelming clothes cleaning. Experts recommend the following actions to do or not make the most of your laundry –
1) Do the Followings
Carefully go through everything about cloth materials written on the label.
Starting the laundry with baby loads instead of family members’ garments.
Always wash the baby’s nappies separately, even from other baby clothes.
Try to do the laundry every day (for frequent outfits essential for the baby).
Save the secondary (not frequently used) clothes for once-a-week batching.
Soak the washed clothes in warm water to eliminate all leftovers/residuals.
Keep cleaning ingredients (detergent, water, bowl) accessible and available.
2) Don’t Do the Followings
Using any kind of fabric softeners, bleach, and/or dryer sheets on baby wearables.
Applying chemical-based dyes or scents by yourself to the washed or dirty clothing.
Drying or storing improperly washed clothes with fresh and cleaned wearables.
Not paying attention to the storage where folded or hung baby garments will rest.
Allowing the stains to settle down instead of starting instant removal treatments.
Why Wash Baby Clothes Separately?
You may think of doing all the laundry together to save time. It may seem like a good idea for the family, but surely not for babies. There are concerning reasons to avoid such acts, such as –
Exclusive baby detergents can barely cope with the heavy cleaning requirements of adults.
Baby clothes don’t come clean as necessary with the detergent working on adult garments.
Washing all wearables altogether isn’t very effective in killing germs, allergens, or microbes.
Instead, the baby clothes may end up catching more microbial to cause/trigger reactions.
Baby clothes are designed differently than adult clothes, requiring special/careful cleaning.
Overlooking the ingredients has severe consequences in baby clothing, unlike adult fabric.
That’s why experts further advise washing the baby’s clothes separately from the entire family. It’s particularly important for the first 100 days, called the “fourth trimester.
Should You Pre-Wash the Baby Clothes?
As you should know, washing clothes is as much as important as any other baby-caring chores. You may receive old/used clothes from relatives through a baby registry. Or, it’s entirely possible to shop for new clothing from at-hand shops.
But clothes tend to catch and grow microbials upon long-time storage or exposure. And the baby’s skin is highly sensitive heavily susceptible to germs and allergens. So, you must wash every item properly and regularly to keep the harm away.
It also raises concerns regarding the sanitization of the clothes. Employing the ‘Sanitize’ cycle on the washing machine induces extra-hot water for disinfection. However, you may choose laundry sanitizing products to avoid shrinkage of the clothes.
Wrapping Up
Despite being cute and tiny, your baby can certainly generate an exhausting number of dirty laundry. You obviously don’t want the little ones to feel uncomfortable or unhealthy at any cost. That’s why you must proceed carefully while handling the baby clothes for cleanup/washing.