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Cold water for washing baby clothes?

Dreamsicle23Dreamsicle23 member
in 3rd Trimester
I like to use the Tide cold water detergent and wash my stuff on cold since the clothes stay nicer.  I noticed they started making Tide Free cold water and I'd like to use that for baby stuff to prevent shrinking and keep it in nicer condition, but I'm wondering if cold water won't clean spit up, poop etc. well enough.  Any thoughts/experience on this from seasoned moms?
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Re: Cold water for washing baby clothes?

  • Shandie_725Shandie_725 member
    I've been washing LO's clothes in cold water in prep for her. I heard that washing clothes in cold water helps them last longer.

    If you're worried about stains, there is an OxyClean baby version...the stuff is AMAZING!!!
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  • ejh090305ejh090305 member
    Cold water is what I always use to help prevent fading/shrinking. We didn't have much of a problem with spit up and/or poop stains, but I would think if something is severely soiled you may want to soak them right away. Just don't let things get too dried on and cold water will be fine.
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  • JulySpark05JulySpark05 member
    Thanks for asking this question! I've been wondering the same thing since I prefer to wash clothes in cold water. I'm also wondering if I should be putting all the clothes to dry on "high heat" as I do normally or if I should just use "low heat" to avoid shrinking..? Any thoughts anyone?
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  • kaiteediditkaiteedidit member
    We wash pretty much everything in cold water. If your baby is formula fed, those spit up stains are nearly impossible to get out. You might wanna try spraying them before you wash them (I was too sleep deprived at the time to think about that) We never had problems with poop stains though.
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  • Laura0575Laura0575 member

    Here's what I know about laundry and stains.

    Heat makes stains set.  So, if you're ever concerned about a stain, air dry the garment after washing.  At the very least, make sure you check the garment before throwing it in the dryer to see if the stain came out.

    My sister in law SWEARS by Dreft stain spray.  She says it's the only thing that ever got spit up out of clothes.

    As far as water temp.  I was always told that for really bad stains,  to again, use cold water to avoid the stain setting.  Once it comes out, go ahead and wash again in warm/hot water if it makes you feel better about the garment's clean-ness.

    And also, Pre-treat stains when possible.

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  • Alexandra*sMomAlexandra*sMom member
    I do all my wash in cold with the exception of white which I was in hot with bleach.  I only use All free and clear detergent and stains come out fine (with two kids, I should know!).
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  • Bride2bMOBride2bMO member

    Actually, as learned from my cloth diapering journey, for poop soaked clothes, I would definitely start with a cold wash. Take it out and look at it and don't dry it if the stain didn't come out. If it didn't come out, I would wash that item again in warm water.

    Oxyclean powder as well as Oxyclean spray are pretty good. But sometimes it's helpful to dissolve the powder in warm/hot water and add it to the wash b/c it doesn't dissolve as easily in cold water. 

    For cloth diapering, you always start with a cold wash or rinse to get all the poo out without setting the stain, and THEN do a hot wash to really clean and sanitize.

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  • KellyD01KellyD01 member
    For 22 months I've washed baby clothes in cold water only. I had a MAJOR puker and have very few clothes that are stained! I  would recommend Zout stain spray. This works even after you've washed and  dried! It's cheap and new the shout. It's in a red bottle. I wasn't a fanof the Dreft spray. BUT There's a nursery stain spray you can get at BRU that was AWESOME as well. I've also used 1/2 the amount of regular oxyclean,and just added an extra rinse w/ no problems.
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  • marykaybridemarykaybride member

    imageMarcnShaun:
    I've been washing LO's clothes in cold water in prep for her. I heard that washing clothes in cold water helps them last longer.

    If you're worried about stains, there is an OxyClean baby version...the stuff is AMAZING!!!

    Ditto on the OxyClean baby! It's awesome and we wash everything in cold water. It got two year old spit up stains out of my nephew's hand-me-downs.

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