Hi all. We’ve made some changes to the detergent index you know and love. The index has been in place since 2015, back when using OMO marked you as a rebel in the cloth nappy community. Eight years later, the cloth community has embraced mainstream detergent and is no longer afraid of buying it.
These days members know that they can use basically any detergent in the supermarket and get clean laundry. That idea seems normal now but was revolutionary in the CCN of 8 years ago.
~ Clean Cloth Nappies admin team
Matching detergent to soiling level is a crucial part of achieving clean laundry. This update provides clearer prompts on when to increase detergent above the suggested dose.
I hope this update makes your detergent dosing less ambiguous.
What’s changing
We’re removing prewash dosage amounts from the AU/NZ index. Don’t worry, we still recommend using detergent for prewash: one-third (1/3) of the suggested main wash dose if prewashing daily or half (1/2) the dose if prewashing every second day.
We previously highlighted advice to increase detergent amounts when using larger machines. This advice still stands; however, we now provide prompts for a wider range of cases.
Anytime soiling increases, more effort is required to remove it. For example, having multiple children in nappies, older children in nappies and/or having hard water all require more detergent.
The cleaning factors
This update aligns our detergent index closer to the universal cleaning factors of time, temperature, chemicals and mechanical action.
Ever notice you need more detergent on the day bub does a triple poo versus the day they skip their morning motions? That’s the cleaning factors in action! When there’s increased soiling, the cleaning factors need to increase to compensate. With laundry, one of the easiest ways to improve results is to add more detergent.
Adjusting your wash routine
If smells or soiling remain after main wash, the best advice is to review your suds level. If there are no suds one-third (⅓) of the way through the main wash cycle, increase the chemical factor. This usually means more detergent, but can include adding laundry booster, chlorine bleach or water softener.
If you’re seeing sufficient suds then it is time to optimise the remaining factors of time, temperature and mechanical action (loading).
Shout out to
A very big thank you to everyone who worked on this and got this big project over the line!