Choose a product you can identify and measure
Start with a laundry detergent suitable for your machine and the fabrics being washed, then read its current label. Record the full product name and the measure for the routine you use. An old photograph of a brand chart is not enough to establish the instructions for a bottle bought today.
This is a selection and record-keeping guide. It does not rank detergents, reproduce the former Cloth Nappy Help chart or claim that Simply Maid tested products.
Read these parts of the label together
Look for the machine type, load-size assumptions, water-hardness information, soil-level guidance and any stated temperature requirements. Check what a “cap” or “scoop” means for that product. If an instruction is missing or unclear, use the manufacturer's current product page or ask its customer-care team.
Record your washing machine's model and programme, not only its advertised drum capacity. Also record the nappy materials and the care instructions you are following. These details make it possible to ask a specific question when a general detergent label does not answer it.
Do not turn a specialist instruction into a blanket rule such as “always halve the detergent” or “always add another scoop”. An amount without its product and load context is not a complete instruction.
Using a detergent index without losing context
Clean Cloth Nappies maintains a detergent index with regional entries and product-specific information. The public page is an excerpt; the complete index is for members. Use the exact Australian or New Zealand product entry when relevant, and read the assumptions around any dose rather than copying just the number.
A specialist index and a manufacturer label can have different assumptions. If they appear inconsistent for your product or machine, ask for clarification with both instructions in front of you. Do not combine them into a third method that neither source recommends.
Avoid buying several new products simply to troubleshoot one unclear routine. First establish what you already have, how you measure it, and which part of the routine needs clarification.
Make a detergent record sheet
- Full product name and variant: ____
- Photograph/date of the current label: ____
- Measuring cap or scoop size: ____
- Machine model and programme: ____
- Nappy products and care links: ____
- Source of the first-wash and main-wash measures: ____
- Date introduced and result observed: ____
Keep this with the wash-routine card. If a different carer takes over, they should be able to identify the product and repeat the documented instruction without searching through messages.
When to revisit the choice
Recheck when you change product variant, machine or wash programme, or when the label changes. Keep the old and new details so a specialist can understand what is different. If a child has a suspected reaction or ongoing skin symptoms, obtain health advice instead of using detergent trial-and-error as a diagnosis.
For a persistent nappy problem, read the current sanitising advice guide. For the rest of the setup, return to cloth-nappy care.
Source checked on 15 October 2026: Clean Cloth Nappies' public detergent index, used as a route to current specialist information. Product brands are not endorsed and no comparative testing is claimed.
About this guide
Prepared with AI assistance using the sources linked in this guide, checked on 15 October 2026. Published by Simply Maid. No independent practitioner review or product testing is claimed. This is original guidance, not a reproduction of the former website.
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