The sun is the perfect laundry assistant for anyone using cloth nappies. Why? It’s a natural stain remover, and it’s free to use! The ultraviolet light in sunshine breaks down the bonds in the stains and bleaches them without the need for harsh chemicals, which can damage your cloth nappies and irritate delicate skin.
Here are some tips when it comes to sunning your nappies:
- To get the best effect from the sun, lay out the stained side of the nappy up towards the sun.
- Even in the middle of winter and on overcast days, UV light is able to do its magic. If it’s raining and you can’t get your nappies outside, simply lay your nappies by a window.
- Line drying your nappies is much cheaper and gentler on your nappies than using a dryer.
- If you live in an area that has really harsh sun in summer, keep the amount of sun your nappies get to a minimum. Just as the sun can be really damaging to our skin, it can also cause damage to elastics and waterproofing which will reduce the lifespan of your nappies. Dry your nappies in the shade if you can, or hang out inserts and boosters in the sun but dry shells and covers out of the sunlight – these tend to dry quickly anyway.
- The bleaching effect seems to work best on wet nappies, so get them out in the sun soon after washing if possible.
- This applies to stains on clothes too, so if you have a messy toddler in the house that seems to get food everywhere no matter how much you cover them up, get their stained clothing out in the sunshine – it’ll do wonders!
Submitted by Haley Collier of Bubblebubs.
“My husband and I made the decision to use cloth nappies while I was pregnant with my son (now three) for environmental and economic reasons. After using them from the time he was about six weeks old, I also discovered how reliable and easy to use cloth nappies are (despite what other people out there would say when we mentioned we planned to use MCN!). Our daughter arrived in 2015, so all of our cloth nappies are getting another work out!”
