Having a baby can be a beautiful and messy adventure. Between dribbles, upchuck and accidents, doing laundry can become a repetitious task! Baby skin can generally be more sensitive than adults skin because it is so delicate. Although it is easier to wash baby clothes with your regular clothes, this can often cause irritation.
Sensitive skin can become irritated from using regular laundry detergent or powder. At Hudstone Home we believe in using ethical, organic and toxic free washing powder for all washing, but especially for baby clothes. We love gentle or sensitive laundry detergent or laundry powder. Gentle options like ours have little to no harsh chemicals, oils or fragrances. This will have the highest chance of protecting your baby’s sensitive skin from irritation.
Here at Hudstone Home, we currently offer two ethical and safe laundry powders that are great for washing your clothes, linen and towels and make great baby washing powders. They also work on tough stains!
Both our regular blend washing powder and sensitive blend washing powder are super concentrates and contain no fragrances, essential oils, additives, bulkers or fillers. Using a pure washing powder without any of these nasties means your baby's sensitive skin will be irritation free.
We recommend our sensitive washing powder for baby clothes just to be extra safe. The best part? It will work on all your other washing too – way more practical than using a specified baby laundry detergent.
Many people use fabric softener but in actual fact, softener is often not needed. You only need fabric softeners if you're using harsh chemicals that stiffen fabrics. Luckily, our washing powder doesn't do this! This saves you time and money!
Another hot tip is to wash your baby’s clothes separately from regular clothing. Throwing everything in one load can lead to irritation from the various particles on your clothes ending up on your baby’s clothes!
When should you wash baby clothes before birth?
Brand new baby clothes are generally soft and smell fantastic and fresh.
Unfortunately, we often don't know what they have been washed in. If your new baby clothes have been washed in bulk before they were sold, they may have been washed in harsh laundry liquids or powders. This type of laundry detergent is often stored in plastic containers. These can be unethical and contain harsh chemicals and toxins that cause irritation.
It is important to wash your baby's clothes before they are worn to make sure any of this old laundry powder or liquid is washed away to protect their sensitive skin. Although there is no set rule of the optimal time to wash your baby’s clothes before they are worn, somewhere between one to two weeks is best. This way the clothes are still clean and fresh, but there hasn't been enough time for any other nasties to get on them.
How you store your clothes is just as important as how you wash them. If they are folded neatly and in a dry, cool place, it will preserve the freshness and prevent sensitive skin from getting irritated.
Older wardrobes can smell old and musky and this can get seep into clothing, towels or linen. This can be combatted by scented draw liners, lavender pouches (lavender repels bugs) or cedar balls. You could also consider storing the baby clothes in an airtight tub to keep them fresh!
How to wash hand knitted baby clothes
You must wash hand knitted baby clothes very carefully because of the delicate make and because they're already tiny. The most effective way to wash hand knitted baby clothes is by hand. This is because the material can easily shrink or even stretch if it's put into a washing machine that tumbles or spins clothes.
Washing by hand will ensure you get the longevity of your hand knitted baby clothes too. When deciding the temperature, always check the label as this can change depending on the type of material used. If there is no label or the clothes were knitted by a lovely family member or friend, a good rule of thumb is to wash with cold water.
If hand washing, simply dissolve your laundry powder in a cup of warm water and then dilute it in your bucket or sink with cold water. Our sensitive washing powder is perfect for this!
If the baby clothes are hand knitted very tightly and are made from artificial material, you could wash them in a machine on a delicate or gentle setting. Make sure you use cold water and pop them in a laundry bag or pillowcase. Again, this will prevent stretching or shrinkage.
It's important to note hand knitted baby clothes can run if they have been made with artificial or polyester fabrics. If you have different coloured baby clothes, it might be best to wash these separately for the first two to three washes.
When drying hand knitted baby clothes, make sure you dry them flat to prevent stretching. Hanging them on a clothesline can cause clothes to change shape and the pegs could leave marks. You can put them in a towel first, roll them up and squeeze all the water out to make this process a bit faster. You can use a drying horse or even use a table covered in a towel.
Knitted baby clothes should not be tumble dried as it can shrink them and change their shape and anything left behind from previous loads could affect sensitive skin.
How to wash wool baby clothes
Woollen baby clothes are fantastic as they are naturally hypoallergenic and anti-bacterial. Wool clothes also don't need to be washed as often, hurrah for less laundry!
Washing woollen baby clothes and hand knitted baby clothes follow much of the same principles. Cold water, hand washing and lying flat to dry! The main difference is wool requires special laundry detergent. A wool wash does not contain the enzymes of usual laundry detergent or powders and won't break down the clothes, so it is important to use a specialised wool wash or laundry detergent.
If your washing machine has a good wool wash setting, you can try washing your woollen baby clothes by machine. Only start with one or two items though. This means if the machine stretches or shrinks them, you won't lose all of your previous clothing!
Wool baby clothes are like knitted baby clothes and should not be tumble dried.
Is it okay to wash baby clothes with regular detergent or powder?
This shouldn't be a problem or cause any harm to your baby's sensitive skin. If there is a chance your baby has super sensitive skin, it could get irritated from regular laundry detergent or powders though. At Hudstone Home we believe the clothes you wear, the sheets you sleep in and the towels you dry yourself with should be washed in safe and ethical products. This is best for the environment and your health!
Washing your baby clothes in safe and ethical washing powders or liquids is also safest for their health and sensitive skin. We recommend using Hudstone Home sensitive washing powder as it is perfect for babies and free from fragrance, essential oils, additives, bulkers and fillers.
Some extra tips for washing baby clothes
Use a laundry bag or pillowcase
If you wash your baby clothes and the rest of your families' clothes in one load using the sensitive washing powder, pop them in a bag! A laundry bag or even a pillowcase is great to use to keep your baby’s tiny socks, onesies and underwear together.
Use a pre soaker spray on harsh stains
If your baby has thrown up or spilt something and made a stain, use a spray like our All Purpose Laundry Spray. Using a spot spray is a great way to remove a stain instead of soaking all the clothing in a harsh washing powder or laundry detergent.
Fasten all hooks, buttons and clips
To preserve the life of your baby clothes and their tiny little clips, buttons and fasteners, make sure they're closed or buttoned before washing! This way they won't get caught on anything, fall off or break.
Soak cloth diapers
If you're washing a cloth diaper, give it a soak before washing and after rinsing the poop out. You can do this in cold water overnight with your washing powder or even for a few hours before your usual wash. If your baby does not have sensitive skin, you can use our safe and effective Pre-Soaker.
Use a toothbrush on tough stains
Use an old toothbrush to scrub stains out! You can even squeeze some lemon on the stain to get it to disperse.
Rinse twice
If the baby clothes were extra spoiled you can soak them in hot water for 30 minutes before you wash them to help remove the stains.
Store correctly
As mentioned earlier, store baby clothes in a cool, dry place, in a plastic tub or use scented draw liners, lavender pouches and cedar balls. This will keep them fresh and protect your baby’s sensitive skin.
