Best Way to Do Laundry for Baby Clothes

Parents are often surprised by the amount of laundry a tiny per­son can generate. If you’re using cloth diapers, make sure they’re not only clean but germ-free, to help prevent diaper rash. Many parents opt for a diaper service, especially in the first few weeks or months with a new baby.

Cloth Diapers

• Empty stools in the toilet and rinse out the diapers (even those that are only wet) before putting them in the laundry.

• Sprinkle a little baking soda or borax in the diaper pail to keep soiled diapers from souring.
• Soak soiled diapers overnight in the washing machine with soap and a commercial soaking solution. Run them through the regular cycle the next day. Add a second rinse cycle or run them through again without soap for a good rinse.
• Keep cloth diapers soft and fresh-smelling by adding a handful of baking soda to the first rinse cycle. Fabric softener is expen­sive and may irritate your baby’s skin.
• Try an old-fashioned diaper softener and whitener: vinegar. A cupful in the second rinse gets rid of soap and helps prevent diaper rash.
• Instead of bleach, use a quarter cup of ammonia in the diaper pail or laundry. It works great and doesn’t eat up diapers like bleach does.
• Use an inch or so of kitty litter or baking soda at the bottom of the diaper pail to absorb odors. Change the litter once a week to keep it fresh.
• Rub a little baby oil on plastic diaper covers that are becoming dry and brittle, or add a little baby oil to the rinse water.

Stained Clothes

• Soak stained clothes or mildewed hand-me-downs in hot water with a half cup each of vinegar and laundry soap.
• Soak stained clothes overnight in hot water with a cup each of laundry detergent, bleach, and dishwasher detergent. Finish the wash cycle in the morning, run a second warm cycle, and give them an extra rinse to make sure all the bleach and deter­gent are removed.

• Use a moistened cloth dipped in baking soda to dab soured dribbles on your baby’s clothes.
• Carry a stain remover stick in your diaper bag, or keep one near your changing area to apply to stains before they set.
• Remove formula stains from color-fast clothes by dipping a toothbrush in Murphy’s Oil Soap and scrubbing the stain out.
• Remove formula stains from white clothes by wetting the stain and sprinkling it with scouring powder containing bleach or baking soda. Brush it out with a toothbrush.