Prepping NB clothes

[OvenSeeksBun]

The time is coming for me to wash all of my baby's newborn clothes in preperation for her birth (yay!!) 

Any tips? I'd like to use the same detergent as I use for her diapers, and I was thinking I'd go with Country Save since I can actually buy that locally and it isn't very expensive. Any experience with this detergent? Any tips to help the clothes come out soft (don't want to use fabric softener)? Also, how much detergent will I have to use for a load of new baby clothes, since they won't actually be *dirty*? I use a top-loader.

Thanks in advance :)

Wendy

[finnegansmom]

As long as you dry them in the dryer, the clothes should be fluffy.  I wouldn't use any fabric softener on baby clothes.  You can get dryer balls which are supposed to help fluff them up but I never have and my clothes are soft.

This is a great chart for detergents.  http://www.pinstripesandpolkadots.com/detergentchoices.htm

We use All F&C, it's the best for our super hard, minerally well water.  I've tried  the more organic powders and stuff and they left my diaper smelling like a sewer.  Yikes.

Also, you might want to do an extra rinse on your newborn clothes (and of course diapers).  My second son's skin was SO SENSITIVE that we always rinsed twice.  I wouldn't personally skimp on detergent, you'd be surprised how "dirty" newborn clothes can get (think urine, leaky EBF poo, spit up, breastmilk, etc).  And definitely wash all new stuff before wearing or using, like car seat covers, towels, etc.

Have fun!

[treeoflife3]

I like country save, I don't currently use it (trying rockin' green hard rock) but I definitely like country save.

I'd just use the full detergent amount.  Clothes can be surprisingly gross from the factory/shipping/random customers and employees handling them.. falling on the floor and all sorts of junk.  I also like the extra rinse idea.  Never did that but newborns CAN be sensitive.  Can't hurt to do it at least til you know how sensitive your baby is and how well country save will rinse in your water with just one rinse.

As for soft clothes, you can do a vinegar rinse (so add vinegar instead of fabric softener) but otherwise I just dry the clothes and do nothing else.  no dryer sheets or anything.  Wool dryer balls will help too.

[Celina2]

If you wash the car seat cover,  be sure to follow the instructions in the manual.  As far as I know, most car seat covers should not be machine washed (I think it has a detrimental effect on the fire-retardant properties).  It may even void the warranty on your carseat.

Celina

[nia82]

You can use fabric softener from Ecover on both natural fiber cloth diapers and baby clothes. We do and have no issues with it, it softens up the Dream-Eze AOIs which had gotten really hard despite drying in the dryer. I wash new stuff a couple of times, cause they usually put formaldehyde on it (China, other country stuff) which washes out after no more than 3 washes. Plus people touched the clothes before at the store and the mere thought is gross ;)

[somegirl99]

We wash clothes and diapers with Country Save with a vinegar rinse (use a Downy ball) and dry with dryer balls and they come out fine.

[Knitting Mama]

If you find that you don't like the Country Save for whatever reason, I have been making my own detergent since my girl was born, and it's both ridiculously cheap and quite effective. All the ingredients are available at my local grocery store. I use equal parts of grated Fels-Naptha soap, washing soda and Borax. One bar of Fels-Naptha made 3 cups of shavings for me, so 9 cups of detergent total. Been using the same batch since I made it, and my daughter is almost 8 months old! And we do laundry every other day (diapers and clothes).

edit: I forgot to add that it lasts so long because you use so little of it-- 1-2 tbsp max (I use 1 in my front loader).
Edited by Knitting Mama - 11/30/10 at 5:56pm

[Blessed1]

I love country save.  We use it for all our laundry needs(clothes, linens and diapers).  I don't do anything special when washing her clothes (no extra rinse) and I keep the dosage as recommended.  However, I would probably give an extra rinse on all the stuff since it's new.  :)

Our laundry (especially towels) comes out super soft.  Just make sure to use enough detergent.  You would think that less is better but I've noticed that my clothes come out softer when I use the recommended dose.

[sssheri]

We are using Charlie's Soap. It's $20 for 128 loads. I like it. My biggest tip for you though, would be to not wash/remove tags from all your clothes. Start with a few weather appropriate newborn or 0-3 month size. I got so much newborn clothes and a lot of one pieces with feet that she never wore because she had too many and/or we found a bodysuit and leggings was most conveinent. Sadly, I washed everything and couldn't return the stuff she didn't need. Now that she is in a bigger size, I have to buy a whole lot.