How to Wash Newborn Clothes

Safeguard your baby's delicate skin.

A newborn baby brings joy as well as everyday chores like cleaning and laundering dirty clothes. With so many opportunities for accidents and sickness, it's essential that you launder your baby's clothes as frequently as possible, if not after each wear. The process is simple, but you must be aware of which product is best for your infant's soft, delicate skin.

Things You'll Need

• Gentle detergent

Instructions

1. Purchase a laundry detergent specially-formulated for babies. Baby-safe detergents are free of soaps, chemicals, dyes, fragrances, starches and irritants.

2. Sort your baby clothes by color. Wash whites with whites and colors with colors to prevent colors from bleeding during the wash.

3. Set the water temperature setting to hot.

4. Add the manufacturer's recommended amount of laundry detergent for the amount of baby clothing you wish to launder.

5. Run the clothes through one wash cycle and then air dry or toss in the dryer. Pre-wash or soak especially soiled clothes, if necessary.

Tips & Warnings

• If you must purchase a regular detergent, test the detergent on one article of clothing. Check your infant for signs of irritation, redness and general discomfort when the article of clothing is worn.

• Kids Health acknowledges that normal detergents can be safely used for baby clothes.

• If your newborn suffers from allergies, eczema/topic dermatitis, or another condition causing sensitive skin, Kids Healths suggests sticking with detergents specially formulated for babies. Using a regular detergent could exacerbate your infant's skin problem.

References

• Pin Stripes and Polkadots: Detergent Chart
• Planet Green: Laundry Detergent
• Kids Health: Laundering Your Baby's Clothes