How to clean nappies before washing
Newborn stage
This is the easiest poop cleaning stage. Simply rinse the nappy off under the sink tap. You do not need to be doing anything else than this until baby starts eating actual food.
A liner does not really catch anything at this stage.
Solids stage (four/six months onwards)
When baby starts eating real food, poop needs to be discarded in the toilet. There are 2 main ways - use a bidet sprayer or disposable liners.
1. Bidet spraying method
We recommend installing a bidet sprayer for when baby starts eating solids. It`s affordable, easy and a total game changer when cleaning your cloth. You do not need to spend a lot of money. Get one from Takealot, CTM or any bathroom shop.
How to attach a sprayer
Get a T joint (see image labelled 1) and an extra pipe (see image labelled 2) from a hardware store. This then can be easily hooked up to a toilet at the wall. No need for a plumber.
2. Disposable liner method
Single use liners can be bought online or at places like Dischem. The liner catches the solids and is then disposed of in the bin. The solids needs to be knocked off first into the toilet.
3. Dunk and swish method
If you can`t install a sprayer, it`s ok. This method involves placing the soiled nappy half way into the toilet bowl and swishing it vigorously, while flushing, to remove the bulk of the poop. Fleece liners are needed to make this method work. Poop falls off a liner quite easily. Babies go through a stickier stage of poop from when they start solids, to then a more normal solid type of poop. The sticky stage does pass. Use disposable liners through this stage if need be.
Going out and about
Fold the nappy up like a envelope in the nappy cover and store in a wetbag until you get home. Clean at home as you normally would. Wetbags are sealed and odour free. Consider that we would throw away the disposable poo nappy into a public bin or toilet bin for someone else to deal with and throw into the landfill. Going out with your cloth nappies is very easy. Try it once and you will see how seamless it really is.
