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Front Loader Sanitise for Cloth Nappies

We don’t recommend following an in machine wash bleach sanitisation method because the amounts given actually provide an extremely low dosage in order to safeguard for user error, we feel that the bleach dosage can be more effective, easily calculated and less likely to damage nappies if used in a bucket or equivalent. For our recommended method click here. For our Cloth Nappy Nerds Hire Kits that are sanitised between hires please click here.

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Sometimes you need to reset your nappies, this should only be a rare occurrence but can happen for a number of reasons: due to a wash routine that hasn’t been giving you the best clean, ammonia build up, stains, bacteria or fungus (candida, ringworm, mould). It’s also a good idea to reset your nappies when you have bought preloved items, to make sure they are safe for baby. This is often called a strip and sanitise (S&S). It is simple to strip and sanitise cloth nappies if you follow the instructions below. For details of how to strip cloth nappies click here.

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- Please note this is at your own risk, there is a risk of damage to elastics and pul especially if the nappies are towards the end of their natural life. 

- You should not need to reset new nappies or nappies only owned by you if you have a good wash routine please join our facebook group Cloth Nappy Nerds if you need help with your wash routine and we have a simple wash routine here and template you can download here. Doing reset will invalidate manufactures warranties.

All parts of nappies (including wraps and pul pocket shells) will need to be reset. 

For light mould you should start with clean nappies, then do the RESET then do the CLEAN. They may need an additional vanish soak to remove the staining from the mould. 

For very stained or smelly nappies or for more than light mould please contact us for support. For items without PUL or elastics you can CLEAN and RESET (Sanitise) in one step by washing on a long 90 degree cycle with detergent and a scoop of vanish.

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We don’t recommend following an in machine wash bleach sanitisation method because the amounts given actually provide an extremely low dosage in order to safeguard for user error, we feel that the bleach dosage can be more effective, easily calculated and less likely to damage nappies if used in a bucket or equivalent.

 

Option B We do not recommend this method. Step-by-step guide of how to bleach sanitise cloth nappies in a front loader washing machine. 

 

I have had to halve the ppm of bleach to 75ppm to allow for user error as we still do not advise that this method is used.

There are a lot of assumptions that go into this so I want to explain how this method has been reached.

Fluff love university recommends 1/3 cup of 5.25% bleach in a small top loader and motherease recommends 1/2 cup of bleach in a front loader. I have chosen 1/3 cup of 5.25% bleach as motherease did not state the % of bleach to be used so I have selected the smaller measurement. 

The average front loader in the US is 5kg according to tide.com “how do I know my load size for my washing machine”. When I use the ppm calculator for 78ml of 5.25% bleach I get 75ppm at 52 litres which suggests that flufflove university assumes approximately 10.4L of water per KG. The average amount of water used is c. 10L per KG, so I have used 10L to be on the safe side (the average water consumption can actually range from 6 - 13L)!

 

DOSAGE:

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INSTRUCTIONS FOR HOW TO USE THE BLEACH CALCULATOR:

Enter the % bleach used e.g 1.5%

Desired concentration: 75ppm (make sure you choose PPM not mg/L)

Desired chlorine volume (amount of water you are using): 10L per KG washing machine size e.g for 7KG machine it would be 70 (make sure you choose liters)

The amount of bleach you require should be shown in "Required bleach volume". This is the amount of bleach you will use to sanitise your cloth nappies (make sure this is in ml).

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NOTE: YOU SHOULD DILUTE THE BLEACH AMOUNT IN TWICE AS MUCH WATER BEFORE FOLLOWING THIS METHOD 

 

INSTRUCTIONS:

STEP 1: Load CLEAN nappies into your washing machine, choose a cold (40 degrees or higher breaks down the bleach quicker which may render it ineffective) LONG washing cycle (ideally over 2 hours long).

STEP 2: Start the machine with NO DETERGENT

STEP 3: Wait for the washing machine to fill with water, this will usually take 10-15 minutes from the start of the cycle pour the DILUTED bleach SLOWLY down the detergent drawer (the slower the better). Then close the drawer and wait for the cycle to finish. 

STEP 4: Follow with a 1 hour hot wash (60 degrees) with no detergent

STEP 5: Now a 1 hour wash (40 or 60 degrees) with detergent for lightly soiled washing.

 

NOTE: sacnu state a single warm wash cycle without detergent would be enough so if you don’t want to do two further cycles this may be an option.

 

 

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