Washing nappies in a front loader
Front loaders are waterwise washing machines that provide you many options when it comes to washing your laundry. A good front loader wash routine follows the simple prewash + main wash format explained in Washing 101. This page includes information specific to front loaders, including suggested cycles and load sizes for best results. See the detergent page for product and dose information.
Ensure your poopy nappies are thoroughly rinsed before you run your machine. See poop removal if you're not sure where to start.
Front loader wash routine for cloth nappies
Step 1: Pretreat
Pretreating is optional. Some parents will need to pretreat, as some babies have stainy poops. After rinsing the poopy nappies (or spraying the poop into the toilet with a nappy sprayer), rub a laundry soap such as Sard/Sunlight/Velvet into the fabrics until they're nice and bubbly. Pop your nappies back into the pail until you're ready to wash them. You can also pretreat by adding Vanish/stain remover powder into your prewash or your main wash. Vanish works better for some babies than others, so go ahead and experiment to find which method works best for you.
Step 2: Prewash
Run a short cycle of 30-60 minutes, just your nappies in this load. You can complete your prewash at any temperature, but you will have best results with a temperature of 40-60 degrees.
Example cycles include Quick 30, Daily wash, Mixed load, Cottons + Speed perfect, Fast wash.
There is no problem with running a small load for your prewash.
Step 3: Main Wash
Run a long cycle of 2-3 hours for the best clean. You can add extra light-coloured laundry to this load to fill the machine, including anything that needs a good long wash eg. socks, jocks, tea towels, washcloths, swaddles and so on. Set the wash temperature to 40-60 degrees depending on your detergent choice.
Example cycles: Cottons, Cottons + Heavy soil (Fisher + Paykel), Cottons + Intensive (Samsung), Cottons Quick + Intensive (LG machines), Cottons + Speed Perfect off (Bosch), Cottons Stains (Bosch).
A full load will give you best agitation. A full machine (dry laundry) will compress down to around 2/3 full during the cycle. Overloading your machine will prevent your nappies from being cleaned properly, so don't cram the washing in until you can't shut the door!
Step 4: Dry
You can dry your nappies outdoors, indoors or in the tumble dryer. If you're drying outdoors, ensure your nappy covers/shells are in the shade as the waterproofing can be damaged by the sun. If you're drying in the dryer, you may like to dry your inserts only, and dry the shells on an airer or put them in for 10 minutes at the very end of the cycle. The dryer can melt or delaminate the waterproof outers, so if you're drying all in ones be sure to limit the heat to a warm temperature or check with your nappy manufacturer for their recommendation.
Front loaders are waterwise washing machines that provide you many options when it comes to washing your laundry. A good front loader wash routine follows the simple prewash + main wash format explained in Washing 101. This page includes information specific to front loaders, including suggested cycles and load sizes for best results. See the detergent page for product and dose information.
Ensure your poopy nappies are thoroughly rinsed before you run your machine. See poop removal if you're not sure where to start.
Front loader wash routine for cloth nappies
Step 1: Pretreat
Pretreating is optional. Some parents will need to pretreat, as some babies have stainy poops. After rinsing the poopy nappies (or spraying the poop into the toilet with a nappy sprayer), rub a laundry soap such as Sard/Sunlight/Velvet into the fabrics until they're nice and bubbly. Pop your nappies back into the pail until you're ready to wash them. You can also pretreat by adding Vanish/stain remover powder into your prewash or your main wash. Vanish works better for some babies than others, so go ahead and experiment to find which method works best for you.
Step 2: Prewash
Run a short cycle of 30-60 minutes, just your nappies in this load. You can complete your prewash at any temperature, but you will have best results with a temperature of 40-60 degrees.
Example cycles include Quick 30, Daily wash, Mixed load, Cottons + Speed perfect, Fast wash.
There is no problem with running a small load for your prewash.
Step 3: Main Wash
Run a long cycle of 2-3 hours for the best clean. You can add extra light-coloured laundry to this load to fill the machine, including anything that needs a good long wash eg. socks, jocks, tea towels, washcloths, swaddles and so on. Set the wash temperature to 40-60 degrees depending on your detergent choice.
Example cycles: Cottons, Cottons + Heavy soil (Fisher + Paykel), Cottons + Intensive (Samsung), Cottons Quick + Intensive (LG machines), Cottons + Speed Perfect off (Bosch), Cottons Stains (Bosch).
A full load will give you best agitation. A full machine (dry laundry) will compress down to around 2/3 full during the cycle. Overloading your machine will prevent your nappies from being cleaned properly, so don't cram the washing in until you can't shut the door!
Step 4: Dry
You can dry your nappies outdoors, indoors or in the tumble dryer. If you're drying outdoors, ensure your nappy covers/shells are in the shade as the waterproofing can be damaged by the sun. If you're drying in the dryer, you may like to dry your inserts only, and dry the shells on an airer or put them in for 10 minutes at the very end of the cycle. The dryer can melt or delaminate the waterproof outers, so if you're drying all in ones be sure to limit the heat to a warm temperature or check with your nappy manufacturer for their recommendation.
With a good front loader wash routine, you can enjoy smell free, stain free cloth nappies every wash
Why choose a front loader?
Front loaders are more water efficient than top loaders, using around half of the water of a traditional top loading machine. Front loaders heat their own water, which means that you have full control over the wash temperature. Some front loaders come with both a hot and cold connection, and others with a cold connection only. A machine with a cold connection means you won't use up all of your hot water running the machine. If your machine has both a hot and cold connection and you only want to use the cold connection, you can buy an inlet valve blanking cap to cover the unused hot connection.
How frequently should I wash?
Run your main wash every 2nd day for best results. The longer you let your nappies sit dirty or even prewashed, the harder it becomes to wash out the remaining soiling. Washing regularly will keep your nappies in great condition and reduce the risk of mould and degradation of your inserts.
Do I need to wash a full load every time?
A full load is optimal in that it will provide the best agitation. However, sometimes you don't have enough other laundry to bulk up the main wash. In this case, it's perfectly fine to run a smaller load size. It's better to run a smaller load every second day than wait until day 4 or 5 for a full machine.
Do I need to daily prewash?
There's no need to daily prewash unless you want to, but you'll still need to pretreat your poopy nappies each day so that the smells don't set in. If you're doing your main wash on day 2, you can complete your prewash and main wash on the same day. If you have nappies coming home from daycare in wet bags, or your kid is on solids and has smelly poop, then daily prewashing can be a good idea. If you're struggling to get your nappies clean in a 60 deg main wash on day 2, then you can experiment with running your prewash each day.
Do night nappies need special treatment?
Night nappies are much thicker than daytime nappies, and they contain more urine (and potentially more concentrated urine if your child doesn't feed overnight). You should rinse your night nappies each morning to reduce the urine load. See the washing night nappies page for more information.
Can I add towels to bulk the load?
Big items such as towels can wrap around the small nappies, which means your nappies won't get cleaned thoroughly. It's a good idea to use smaller items to bulk the load.
What should I avoid adding to the wash?
Avoid adding dark or bright coloured laundry to your main wash as the dye can run. You might also like to avoid adding your bright coloured baby clothes such as Bonds wondersuits as the colours can fade in the long hot wash.
Can I wash my nappies overnight?
Sure! Just start the machine and come back in the morning to hang them out. If your washing machine smells musty when you open the door, that's a good indication that the nappies aren't getting cleaned properly and you may need to make some adjustments. See the smelly nappies page for more information.
All I can see it suds! What do I do?
A drum full of white suds is an indication that you have too much detergent for the load size/soil level. Your machine will work by itself to clear a suds lock (usually by draining the suds or waiting for them to dissipate) and finish the cycle. Try dropping back by 1/4 scoop or cap for your next wash and adjust until you find the balance between clean and suds. If you can't get clean nappies with a lower amount of detergent, then try a different detergent. Radiant liquid is a good low-foaming option for most people.