Interlabial pads can be washed with cloth pads. You may pre-rinse them by hand or use the soaking method to remove blood if desired. Placing them in mesh laundry bag to prevent loss while washing if desired.
Facial rounds and cloth kitchen towels may be washed as you would bath towels. Stain treatments may be used prior to wash to remove staining if desired. You may place facial rounds in mesh laundry bag to prevent loss during wash if desired.
Important Information:
Use caution when applying stain treatments as they may bleach, corrode, or deteriorate fabrics. For example: hydrogen peroxide is an excellent stain treatment for organic material (blood); however, when left on too long (multiple hours) it will degrade fabric integrity and potentially cause holes and further damage. Always test treatments on similar fabrics to prevent damage to pads.
An effective method to remove blood from pads and clothing is to soak items in cold water. It is perfectly safe to do so and is highly effective. However, if items are left soaking too long bacteria will begin to form and permanent odor damage may occur. A safe timeframe to soak is overnight, but no longer than 24 hours maximum. Soaking items should be left in cooler temperature rooms as warmer temperatures will encourage and increase formation of bacteria. Take entire bucket and dump into washing machine to make transfer to wash even easier.
Fabric softener of any kind, liquid or dryer sheets, microscopically coats fabrics in chemicals. These chemicals build up and create a layer on fabrics that significantly reduces and prevents absorption. To maintain and improve the absorbency of your reusable items, avoid using fabric softener on them at all costs. 100% wool balls, for use in your dryer, are a great natural alternative to commercial fabric softener.
Hot water will set a blood stain. Always use cold water on pads if you wish to remove a stain and not set it. Once you’re satisfied with the level of blood removed you may wash pads in hot water.
All fabrics used to make pads, interlabial pads, and the face fabric for facial rounds (velours and Sherpa) have been pre-washed in hot water and dried on the hottest setting to pre-shrink. Fabric used to make wet bags, pad wrappers, cloth kitchen towels, and the pocket fabric for facial rounds can not be guaranteed to have been pre-shrunk; wash these items in hot water at your own discretion.
