Strip Washing Cloth Nappies

I thought I'd take advantage of all the rain we've been having to give our cloth nappy stash a strip wash. Strip washing removes any built-up washing powder residue, increases absorbency and leaves nappies smelling wonderfully fresh (which ours mostly do anyway because I only line dry them). The built up residue can also lead to skin irritation in some bubs. It was never a problem for Elliot, but Archie has been suffering from a bit of nappy rash lately so hopefully this strip wash will sort it out.

To strip wash the nappies you just need to put them through a hot water wash cycle with no powder or detergent. The water will probably be sudsy from all the residual powder being washed out. After the initial wash cycle you just need to keep rinsing until the water runs clean. On our machine it took one more rinse and spin cycle. Then hang them on the line in the sun to dry. Easy peasy!

Some people say to put a bit of vinegar in the final rinse stage to make sure there's no residue left but I don't use vinegar on our nappies. It can destroy the PUL (waterproof) lining and the elastic. A cloth nappy stash is such an investment I'm not taking any chances with it!