Helpful Tips on Washing Kid's Clothes

Would like to share with you helpful tips on washing kids’ clothes based on my experience and a few tips I got from others (my mom, my friends, our househelp)

Read on the following should you wish:

1. Hand-wash your baby’s clothes if possible. I still ask yaya to hand-wash my son’s clothes even if he is already turning 3 years old. I might ask yaya to machine wash my son’s clothes when he goes to big school.
2. Avoid fabric softeners if necessary.. Some fabric softeners will cause allergic reactions to your baby’s skin.
3. In our country, PERLA is the best laundry bar for baby clothes. I’ve tried Cycles but I find them quite expensive since I now have 2 kids. If your NET monthly income is in the A Socio Eco income bracket, it is highly recommended to use Cycles for your baby if you wish. Apparently for me, I need to mix practicality with functionality these days thus I am currently staying with PERLA.
4. Always iron your kids' clothes for hygienic purposes (it can kill some ants and dry up moisture left especially if you don’t hang clothes in direct sunlight).
5. Follow care label instructions and your kid's even baby's clothes could last long enough for your next baby to use. My second child still uses my first-born’s clothes. Thanks to yaya’s care in hand washing and my non-compliance to family planning (my second child was conceived few months before my firstborn turned a year old) =)
6. To avoid wrinkling, wash crib sheets in warm water. If you are using a washing machine with dryer, remove from dryer as soon as they are dry in order to keep the nice, soft feeling.
7. To keep towels fluffy, shake it out before hanging it up. If you are using a washing machine with dryer, shake out before and after putting in dryer. This would open up the loops that get stuck down during washing and make them more absorbent.
8. If you are using fabric softeners on baby towels, it would make them softer (as their product descriptor applies) but it will also make them less absorbent. Thus if you are using AQUAZORB towel, it is always highly discouraged by the sales ladies to use fabric softeners on them as it loses its towel's absorbent capacity
9. As much as possible, avoid bleaching your baby’s clothes. The baby’s skin is most sensitive and can react to the bleach. It would be best to wait until your baby turns a year old when allergic reactions tend to minimize in your baby's skin. If it is really dirty/yellowy, try to bleach a few and when dried and ironed, test it on him upon wearing and check if he doesn’t have allergic reactions to it. If none, then go ahead and bleach the whites if needed.
10. Quickly sponge stains with cool water, soak in detergent for 30 minutes and then wash as usual
11. If you are using cotton diapers, washing it is sometimes easy - just rinse each soiled diaper promptly in cold/running water, soak in a solution of warm water and detergent until wash time. If you don’t want to go to the hassle of washing cotton diapers, I suggest you go with disposable diapers. I’ve tried using cotton diapers with my firstborn and surrendered for a month then shifted to using disposable diapers. It turned out to be much better and economical for me.
12. Shrinkage doesn’t happen in the wash but rather when left in the dryer for too long
13. Don’t over dry - 15 to 20 minutes should be enough. Take out the clothes just before they are completely dry as it is always best to air dry them.

I hope I was able to do my part in sharing these wonderful tips. Feel free to add up to these list if you've got your own great tips to share!