Washing clothes

[dmbucky7]

I'm finally cutting off tags and washing baby clothes. I have all of the hand-me-downs washed and put away but I hadn't cut the tags off of the new stuff and washed those, until yesterday...although, I did forget to wash the going home outfit since it was already packed I did keep the tags on the "newborn" outfits because I'm afraid she'll be too big for them. I went through them with Dh and showed him where they are hanging so that if we need them, he can run them through a quick wash while I'm in the hospital
Anyone else washing yet? Anyone picky/particular about what you're washing the baby stuff in? I use BabyAll but only because it's what we use anyway...

*Oh, and just a tip: If/when you start washing baby socks or small items, you might want to put them in a lingerie bag. It's hard to dig all of those socks out of the washer and drier!

*And, another tip: My mom suggested this and I'm kinda surprised I never thought of this before...although with my boys, our laundry was right there, now it's downstairs... Anyway, keep a stainstick or spray in the nursery so you can treat clothes right away instead of letting them sit in the laundry until you get to them.

[babyjewels]

I'm going to start washing clothes this week, too. I bought some Dreft, which I heard was good. Good point about the stain remover in the nursery!

[kmsnj]

Great suggestions! I washed up some clothes last weekend for our little guy. I took all the tags off and washed all my newborn stuff since he is expected to be on the small side. I washed all the 0-3 month hand-me-downs from DD and a few of the new outfits. I did keep tags on a lot of the 0-3 month things for now, but I am sure over the next weeks I will start washing them.
I usually wash DD's laundry in Cheer Free. It is much cheaper than Dreft! Plus, that is what I have been using on DH's and my clothes for years. The only difference is that I don't use fabric softener on DD's things. I will do the same for the baby.
I totally agree with having a separate bag for socks! I still do that for DD's things.
I really like Dreft's spray stain remover so much that DH and I use it on our clothes as well! It gets out baby stains and food stains very well. I keep it up in the nursery right next to the hamper so I don't forget to spray the clothes when needed.

[3 ladybugs]

I have washed about 80% of Max's things. I still have a few things to wash this week and I am making 3 things that I need to finish this week for him.

I am washing everything in Country Save soap. This is the soap I need to use for his cloth diapers (there are only a few soaps on the markets that are good for cloth diapers... this one I got by the case from Amazon). I have Dreft and a free and clear soap (can't remember which one) but I am only using those on our clothes right now. I am also grouping my washing together. I have to clean out the washer after I use on of the "adult" soaps so that I don't have problems with repelling with the diapers. This means I run an empty cycle after our clothes go through. This is only temporary though as I plan on using Country Save soap on everyone once we run out of the other soap.

As far as stains are concerned I plan on using Bac-Out (an enzyme cleaner), lemon juice and the cheapest stain remover of all... the sun. I will likely keep some Bac-out in the nursery for stains as they occur (lemon juice will be in the kitchen and the sun I am not likely to lose ).

Now if I could just say that I am well on my way to packing for the hospital I would be doing great!

Jennifer

[medgirl2001]

My mom helped me wash DD's baby things for the new little one, and I have been washing new clothes as well. I use Dreft. I love the smell of it - the first time I washed stuff for DD1 before she was born, it brought back almost-memories. I'm not sure of what, but it was such a great baby smell.

[pw2007]

I finished washing everything this weekend in Dreft. Great suggestion on the stain remover though, I never thought of that. One thing I don't know, do you still use Downey (or something fabric softener) when you wash in Dreft or other baby soap?

[pinderfrog]

pw - iw as told no fabric softener or dryer sheets. so it was suggested to get those dryer balls toget rid of static and avoid all the chemicals.

[3 ladybugs]

I made my own dryer balls since I can't use any fabric softener on anything (because of cloth diapers). Here is the link they were really easy to make.

I made 6 for my LG dryer. I think I could use another 2-4 more though. They work great and I love how I don't have to remember an extra step!

Jennifer

[dmbucky7]

Originally Posted by pw2007

One thing I don't know, do you still use Downey (or something fabric softener) when you wash in Dreft or other baby soap?

I guess I can't say for sure but I think I've seen on the items that are supposed to be fire/flame resistant that you shouldn't use fabric softener so I would say to avoid it. I honestly hadn't thought about it yet, but I guess I'll be avoiding it on most items, atleast sleepers,etc.