Laundry etiquette – using cloth nappies when staying with friends or family

Cloth nappies are easy once you have a routine that works for you, but what happens when you stay with friends or family who don’t follow your routine? Admin Jes decided to write about her recent experience. 

Over Christmas, we stayed with each of my brothers-in-law and their families for a few days. As a young family, we inevitably needed to do laundry. This got me thinking about laundry etiquette when you’re staying in someone else’s home.

The two homes we stayed in had the same washing machine, a Fisher & Paykel front loader. I used to own the same machine, so I knew how to get it to work. However, each home had different circumstances that provided their own challenges. 

The first home had moderately hard, mineral-rich mountain-fed water. The host was a one-hour cold wash fan. They were very cautious regarding the potential cost of hot washes. Being Christmas, there were eight people in the home and subsequently a lot of laundry being produced. This meant my usual  3-hour main washes were not an option.

The second home was a rural one with very soft rainwater in a reasonably small tank. There were five of us at this house. The biggest concern the host had was water usage, they often washed in 1-2 hour cycles with warm or hot water and a laundry booster to conserve water.

Basic laundry etiquette 

Ask the host how they use their machine

This will help you get a bit of information about the machine as well as what their values are with washing. You can also explain how you normally wash and ask if they mind you doing the same thing whilst you’re staying there. 

If they don’t know a lot about the machine or don’t really mind what you do, a quick Google search for the machine’s manual will help you figure out how to use it best. You can also use our Cloth Nappy Routine Builder 🙂

Our first host used a 30-minute cycle for each wash, with the temperature reduced to cold. Our second host switched between Everyday on 40ºC (60 minutes) and Heavy on 60ºC (2 hours).

Ask if it is okay to do a hot or long wash

Don’t just assume everyone is okay with a hot wash in their machine, or even a warm wash! Hot washes can be controversial for some people. Some people aren’t aware that their machine heats its own hot water or maybe they can’t justify an increase in power consumption. The last thing anyone needs when you’re staying with friends and family is a bit of animosity or perceived disrespect.

The first host we had was not keen on hot washes, so it was a good thing I didn’t do them without asking first. The same applied for longer washes. 

Our second host was perfectly fine with hot washes but was a bit sceptical of a 3-hour cycle. 

At Clean Cloth Nappies we love evidence-based information. The difference in water and energy consumption between a 1-hour and 3-hour cycle is often minimal. Longer cycles are usually more economical as they are designed to wash a larger volume of laundry in one go. You might see this as an educational moment, a chance to impart some laundry knowledge on your unsuspecting family members. In truth, sometimes it’s better to simply go with the flow and enjoy your holiday.

Offer to purchase your own detergent

Not everyone matches their detergent to their soiling in an optimal way. Your standard detergent dose might be 3-4 times the amount of detergent the host uses. This can be unexpected for the host.

Our first host had moderately hard water, which meant I ended up using 6 times the amount of detergent they normally do. I opted to purchase my own liquid detergent with enzymes. I did this as the cost of increased detergent would have been an unexpected burden, but also liquid mixes better in cold water even though it isn’t great in hard water.

Our second host had soft water so the liquid detergent I purchased worked much better. However, I still used twice the amount the hosts normally use in their laundry.

Don’t sweat the small stuff

Enjoy your time away, banter and bonding should be the focus of staying with friends and family, not laundry. If you can’t wash how you normally do, you can always reset when you get home.

A few days or a week of subpar laundry practices aren’t going to destroy your clothes and nappies nor will doing disposables whilst away if it means you get to enjoy yourself more.