best way to wash 2nd hand baby clothes?

happytails

I have been given loads of baby clothes and want to wash and iron them ready for my little girls arrival. Only thing is, is there something better than biological washing powder? its 'bold' but im sure you should use non bio for babies clothes?

Confused!!!

Also would you recommend washing the new clothes?

We also have some 2nd hand hand knitted jumpers, what would you recommend for these?

Thanks in advance
Sarah xxx

mumker

Hi Sarah

I would recommend using either Fairy which smells lovely and is kind on babies skin or soapnuts which are also good and work out very cheap.

Ker

MoaningMyrtle

I'd use Fairy too, lovely for baby clothes.

happytails

Thanks guys, next question, where is fairy on offer at the moment? lol

x

OrkneyStar

happytails wrote: »

I have been given loads of baby clothes and want to wash and iron them ready for my little girls arrival. Only thing is, is there something better than biological washing powder? its 'bold' but im sure you should use non bio for babies clothes?

Confused!!!

Also would you recommend washing the new clothes?

We also have some 2nd hand hand knitted jumpers, what would you recommend for these?

Thanks in advance
Sarah xxx

Hi,
I washed all the new baby clothes in non-bio prior to use. Persil or supermarkets own would do. Fairy is good too, as it smells lovely and makes them so soft, although avoid using this for real nappies as it seems to make them less absorbant (think it might have some conditioner hidden in there!). For a lot of the borrowed ones I did not bother with first wash as the lendee told me they had been washed in non-bio already. Other second hand stuff (that I was not sure what it had been washed in or had been sitting around for a while) was non-bio washed too. A lot of people swear by Ecover, although I have not really used it myself. Bio is apparently best avoided on younger babies for a while.
hth
x
Also keep an eye out for free fairy samples or vouchers in bounty bags or even at ante natal clinics.

Olliebeak

You could also try Dreft (that is if it's still made) - I used to use it for my eldest who had baby ezcema.

Another good one was Lux Soap Flakes. These have been withdrawn from sale, but apparently Dri-Pak (who used to do them for Uni-lever) now produce their own on sale at Morrisons and Waitrose etc.

I would wash them gently by hand and make sure that they are very well rinsed. I used to roll knitted matinee jackets/cardigans etc in a towel to absorb all the moisture before trying to dry them as flat as possible to avoid them going out of shape. Other things can be spun dry and then hung on baby clothes hangers.

Hope you enjoy going through them all - I well remember that time of preparation with my three .

bellsbells

I have just done this! I was given a lot of clothes ready for the arrival of my second in a few weeks time. A lot of them were stained round the neck as the baby they came from was quite sicky so I decided to go all out. I washed them once in a cheap bio powder (sainsburys basic) and a stain remover, before washing them again with ecover liquid, white vinegar and an extra rinse to get out any of the bio residue. That worked - the stains came out and they have come up really nice, bright white and new looking. For some of the worst ones I soaked overnight in stain remover before going through the process. It was a bit of a faf washing things so many times but it was worth it as I have not had to buy any clothes for the new baby! (except scratch mittens - but I am sure they get eaten by the washing machine - they are sooo tiny!) As I won't need to do this extreme cleaning again I don't feel that bad about using the cheap bio and not using ecover.

It was also a bit psycological as well - I wanted to feel like the clothes were 100% clean and therefore 'neutral' ready for my baby arriving....does that make sense?

Have fun with baby preperations

bells