Wash baby clothes in cold or warm water on a gentle cycle, with a fragrance-free, dye-free detergent and no more of it than the load needs. Wash new clothes before the first wear, rinse stains in cold water straight away, and skip fabric softener. With a gentle detergent, most baby clothes can go in with the family's laundry.
If you're a new parent, laundry might already feel like a full-time job. With spit-up, milk stains and outfit changes all day, your washing machine rarely gets a break. Then there's the worry about whether detergents, fabric treatments, or even water temperature might irritate your baby's delicate skin.
Wash new baby clothes before they're worn
New clothes, blankets, swaddles and even stuffed toys can carry finishing treatments from the factory, plus dust from the warehouse and the store. One wash gets them ready for cuddling. It's also a good moment to cut off scratchy tags and check for loose threads and snaps.
Leave the tags on outfits you might return, and wash a week or two's worth of newborn sizes to start.
Choosing a detergent for baby clothes
Baby clothes need more care than adult laundry. Newborn skin is thinner and more sensitive and reacts more strongly to laundry residue, and even trace amounts of detergent, dyes or perfumes can cause irritation.
You don't need a special baby detergent, though. Look for simple, fragrance-free and dye-free formulas that are dermatologist-tested, and check what's left out. Added fragrance is designed to stay on the fabric after the wash. Dyes add nothing to the cleaning. Optical brighteners, often added to make whites look whiter, don't wash out easily and may cause rashes. Fabric softener and scent boosters are made to coat fabric and stay on it, and chlorine bleach doesn't belong in an everyday baby wash.
On a 3am load there's nothing to pour with HeySunday laundry detergent sheets, and many parents love them in Fragrance Free. Each sheet dissolves completely in cold or hot water and leaves no sticky residue in the fabric. It's the same formula as our Ocean Breeze sheets, with no fragrance and no dyes added.
For more on what to look for, see our guides to fragrance-free laundry detergent and the best laundry detergent for sensitive skin.
Should you wash baby clothes in cold or warm water?
Both work for everyday baby clothes. Cold is gentler on small, stretchy fabrics and keeps colors from fading, and it's less likely to set protein stains like milk and spit-up. Warm water helps with greasy marks from diaper cream or baby oil. Save hot water for cloth diapers, and for bedding and clothes after a stomach bug, if the care labels allow it.
Cold is better for the planet too. According to ENERGY STAR, nearly 90% of the energy used in a typical cycle goes on heating water. A cold wash cleans your baby's clothes for a fraction of that energy. Our guide to hot or cold water for laundry goes through it fabric by fabric.
How to wash baby clothes, step by step
- Check the labels. Most baby clothes are cotton or cotton blends that machine wash easily. Hand-knits and wool need a hand wash.
- Separate whites from darks, and keep heavily soiled items like blowout outfits apart from lightly worn ones so dirt doesn't transfer.
- Do up snaps and zippers so they don't snag. Put socks, mittens and tiny hats in a mesh bag so they don't vanish into the washer seal.
- Add detergent. Tiny clothes make for small loads, and 1 sheet usually does it. A medium load takes 2.
- Pick gentle for onesies and knits, and normal for crib sheets and towels.
- Add an extra rinse if your washer has one, to get every bit of soap out of the fabric.
- Leave room in the drum. Clothes need space to move for the water to rinse them.
Spit-up, milk and poop stains
Most baby stains are proteins, and hot water cooks proteins into the fabric. Start with cold.
- Scrape off anything solid, then rinse the stain from the back of the fabric under cold running water.
- For a set-in stain, fill a sink or bowl with cool water, drop in 1 detergent sheet and let it dissolve. Soak the stained clothes for 30 minutes to an hour.
- Wash as normal. Check the stain before the clothes go in the dryer. Heat sets whatever is left. If it's still there, soak and wash again.
Baking soda or a mild soak handles most baby stains without harsh cleaners. Drying white clothes in the sun fades many of them too, especially the yellow ones from breast milk.
Drying baby clothes
Air drying is the gentlest option and keeps small clothes from shrinking. If you use the dryer, low or medium heat is enough for most baby clothes. Heavily scented dryer sheets and fabric softeners coat fabric in chemicals, so leave them out. HeySunday Dryer Sheets come in Fragrance Free too. Wool dryer balls are another option with nothing added.
Cloth diapers, wool and other special cases
Cloth diapers differ by maker, so follow the diaper maker's wash routine. Most call for a cold rinse first, then a hot wash. Leave out fabric softener, which stops diapers absorbing.
Wool and hand-knit gifts should be hand washed in cool water and dried flat. Our guide to hand washing clothes has the method.
Blankets, swaddles, bibs and burp cloths that spend a lot of time near your baby's mouth should be washed after each use, more often than outer layers.
Can you wash baby clothes without detergent?
You can, but they won't come out properly clean. Water alone rinses off loose dirt and leaves behind the milk fat, body oils and poop that baby clothes collect, and they'll start to smell and stain. A small dose of a fragrance-free, dye-free detergent is a better choice than none.
When to talk to your pediatrician
If your baby has a rash that doesn't clear up, or keeps coming back, talk to your pediatrician or a dermatologist. Laundry is one possible cause among many, and ongoing skin concerns need medical advice.
Frequently asked questions
How often should I wash newborn clothes?
After each use, for anything that touches skin or mouths daily, like onesies or swaddles. Outerwear can go longer, often several wears if it's only been worn over other clothes.
Can I wash baby clothes with the rest of the family's laundry?
Yes, as long as you use a gentle, fragrance-free detergent and skip fabric softeners. Lots of families switch the whole household to fragrance-free for the first year, which saves running a separate baby load every day.
Can I use dryer sheets?
Fragrance-free ones like HeySunday Dryer Sheets are fine. Leave them out of cloth diaper loads, and check the label on flame-resistant sleepwear, since many makers say to skip softeners and dryer sheets on it.
Are natural detergents always safe?
Natural detergents aren't always safe. "Natural" can still mean essential oils or plant fragrances, which irritate some babies as much as synthetic scent. Look for fragrance-free, dye-free and dermatologist-tested options.
