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Washing Methods For Cloth Nappies

Some new mothers are intimidated by the thought of washing cloth nappies, but with these days of great detergents and washing machines it is a cinch. Our grans used to boil the nappies up in an outside copper; our mums used to soak them overnight in Napisan. Both methods got the nappies clean and sanitised, but were hard on the person doing it. Soaking in Napisan or similar means you have to lug heavy buckets of water around.

These days it is much simpler. Use a dry pail to store dirty nappies - after removing the poo - then simply wash them in the machine. Pooey nappies are the hardest to deal with, but if you use a nappy liner this is taken care of. A disposable nappy liner can simply be flushed - along with all its contents. Washable liners need to have the poo rinsed off. This should be done in the toilet, using the flush. If this doesn't work for you, then you can purchase a spray gun that attaches to the toilet cistern and produces a strong jet of water. Make sure you wear rubber gloves.


The hot or warm cycle in the washing machine will clean nappies quite well. In some cases you might want to do a pre-wash or allow them to soak in the machine overnight. Use half the amount of detergent so it will be sure to rinse out properly. Adding half a cup of white vinegar to the last rinse will help the nappies to remain soft.