High Efficiency (HE) Machines

SOME CYCLES THAT WE DO NOT RECOMMEND:
For your prewash, we do not recommend rinse/spin or the prewash button. These cycles generally do not provide sufficient agitation to adequately clean the surface soil from your diapers. The prewash button seems like an attractive “one touch” solution, but since we recommend adding main wash detergent separately, and fluffing/bulking the load to the proper load size between the prewash and the main wash, the “prewash” button is just not a good option for your prewash.

For your main wash, we do not recommend the sanitary cycle, allergienne cycle, delicates cycle, baby wear cycle, bulky items or towels, or any cycle that adds extra rinses or super-heats the water. Extra rinses waste water at best, and at worst can deposit minerals from hard water into your clean diapers. Please see our file on washing in hard water for more information about the impact of hard water minerals on your cloth diapers. Using water hotter than 60C (such as a sanitary cycle or a 90C or 95C cycle) can shorten the useful life of your diapers. The high temperatures can lead to prematurely wearing out fabrics, elastics and snaps, or cause cotton fabrics to fade. With proper detergent and agitation, bacteria is removed every wash and there should not be a need for the sanitize cycle. However, using the sanitize cycle as an alternative to bleach for sanitizing purposes is acceptable as it is rarely, if ever, needed.