How to properly wash and care for cloth diapers - ensuring your LUMINA diapers stay beautiful for a long time

Cloth diapers are not only good for the environment and your wallet, but also for delicate baby skin. To ensure that your Lumina cloth diapers last a long time, get hygienically clean, and look beautiful, proper care is crucial. In this post, we'll show you step-by-step how to properly wash and care for your cloth diapers – completely chemical-free, but with great effectiveness.

1. Preparation: Proper storage of soiled diapers
2. Washing routine: Step by step
3. Which detergent for cloth diapers?
4. Drying - how to do it right
5. Freshening up and cleaning cloth diapers
6. Extra Tip: Washing in new diapers

1. Preparation: Proper storage of soiled diapers

After use, it's best to remove solid stool immediately – for example, with a diaper liner or by shaking the diaper over the toilet. Breast milk stool is water-soluble and can be washed directly; you don't need to do anything more than put the soiled diapers directly into the wet bag or pail liner. Please note the maximum storage duration of 4 days.

TIP:

Store used diapers in a well-ventilated and dry place if you want longer intervals, in a wet bag / pail liner or diaper pail with a pail liner. This prevents unpleasant odors and mold formation. Please do not soak diapers in water – this promotes bacterial growth and damages the materials.

2. Washing routine: Step by step

• Pre-wash - Start with a short pre-wash or rinse cycle at 30-40°C, without detergent. This removes urine and coarse impurities and ensures that the main wash cycle is effective. It is important that after the short wash cycle of approx. 20-30 minutes, the water is also pumped out.
• Main wash - Wash your diapers at a 60° full wash cycle with powder detergent. Powder contains no glycerin or unnecessary additives and cleans reliably. Use a program with plenty of water (like cotton and water+ or pre- or post-rinse...) and make sure the machine is well filled but not overloaded (approx. 3/4 full) - You can also wash your normal laundry with it to fill the machine!! (more on detergent later)

TIP: Every 4-6 weeks, you can do a hot wash at 90°C with the lactic acid descaler (e.g., from Ulrich) to remove deposits in your washing machine. - without contents

PUL covers: You can wash these at 40°C with your colored laundry using the appropriate detergent or liquid detergent, which also protects the materials.

3. Which detergent for cloth diapers?

For your Lumina cloth diapers, we recommend:

• Powder detergent (e.g., Ulrich natürlich, Everdrop sensitive, Sonett, Waschkampagne)
• Without fabric softener, optical brighteners, or chlorine-based bleach
• No liquid detergent - it has too high soap content and therefore leaves residues, also does not clean as reliably as powder
• Wash PUL covers separately at 40°C with liquid detergent or color detergent to protect the material and ensure it lasts longer

Dosage: Adjust the amounts to the degree of soiling and your water hardness (information from the water utility or with test strips). Always use the recommended amount from the manufacturer!

4. Drying - how to do it right

Inserts and fitted diapers

Best to line dry; if urgent, you can also tumble dry - gentle cycle.

PUL covers 

Never tumble dry!!! Always air dry. No direct sun or on the radiator, as heat damages the material and elastic.

5. Freshening up and cleaning cloth diapers

If your diapers start to smell unpleasant or no longer absorb properly:

• Clean the washing machine
• If the smell doesn't disappear, strip the diapers if necessary.
• Degrease bamboo/viscose or microfiber inserts if necessary (e.g., pre-wash by hand with dish soap and hot water).

6. Extra Tip: Washing in new diapers

Before you use your new LUMINA cloth diapers for the first time, wash them at least once (at 40°C) to wash out the absorbency and any manufacturing residues. Natural fibers like hemp or cotton need about 10 washes until they reach their full performance.

CONCLUSION: Clean diapers, happy bottoms

With the right care, your Lumina cloth diapers will accompany you for many years – perhaps even through multiple children! The washing routine is simpler than many think and quickly becomes a habit.

If you have any further questions or are unsure: feel free to write to us or call us. Together, we make diapering sustainably easy!