Caring for your Carriers

Caring for Your Carriers

Along with safety and techniques for using your carrier, knowing how to properly wash and care for all your baby carriers is important. Whether you received a carrier brand new from the manufacturer or second hand from a buy/sell/trade site, washing your carrier when you get it is always good practice.

In this blog we will be going over:

  • Laundry symbols
  • General guidelines for different fiber care
  • Safe detergents and stain removers
  • How to wash other types of carriers
  • Breaking in carriers
  • Folding and storing
  • Fixing flaws

 

Laundry Symbols

 

All carriers will come with care tags that explain how they should be washed, dried and ironed. If you are not used to reading laundry care symbols they might seem confusing. Here is a chart that shows many of the symbols that you might come across:

Print

These symbols will be able to tell you exactly how your specific baby carrier should be washed. When in doubt always refer back to these instructions.

 

General Guidelines for Different Fiber Care

 

In case your carrier didn’t come with a tag or you just need a general guideline for how to care for different fibers, here is a chart showing many different popular fibers:

Fiber CareWash IntructionsDry InstructionsIroningSpecial Notes
CottonCold or warm on normal or gentle cycle, low spin

Line dry or tumble dry low
Steam iron on cotton setting
Can be prone to some shrinking
LinenCold or warm on normal or gentle cycle, low spin (especially important as linen can be prone to shifting)
Line dry or tumble dry low
Steam iron when not completely dry.
Prone to perma-creasing, which ironing can help prevent. Not usually prone to much shrinking.
HempWarm or hot temperature on normal or gentle cycle.
Tumble dry low or medium
(hemp softens with heat but high heat could cause shrinkage)
Steam iron


Prone to shrinking
TencelInitial wash with warm water, subsequent washes in cold water on gentle cycle, no spin
Air dry or tumble dry low.
Iron on wool setting, warm. Some tencel has been known to get pilly but that is just a habit of the fiber.
WoolLukewarm water and hand wash only
Air dry flat
Iron on wool setting with steamUse only wool wash.
Sudden temperature changes can cause felting
Wool is very delicate while wet, never wring out or spin in washer.
SilkLukewarm water (hot water shrinks the silk and cold water reduces the luster of the fibers) Hand wash or use hand wash cycle, no spin
Hang dry out of direct sunlight (which can cause discoloration)Low heat, no steam. Do not spray with water while ironing.
Use only detergents for delicates/silk/wool
BambooCold temperature.
Bamboo viscose is handwash only while natural bamboo can be washed on gentle cycle.
Air dry flat, bamboo can shrink more than other fibers
Iron on low or medium temperatures.
Never be washed for longer than 40 minutes.
Use only detergents for delicates/silk/wool

Note: Whenever you are washing a carrier that has a blend of fibers you always want to wash according to the most delicate fiber.

 

Safe Detergents and Stain Removers

 

Look for liquid detergents free of optical brighteners and softeners. Wool and silk wraps are protein fibers and will require a special enzyme free detergent meant for delicates.

 

Liquid detergents are recommended for washing carriers because most powder detergents contain fillers that do not dissolve completely. These particles can get trapped in hollow fibers (such as linen and hemp) as they swell in the wash. Once dry, the fibers shrink again but the solid filler particles do not and can damage the wrap from inside out.

 

The reason we try to avoid optical brighteners is because they include a variety of chemicals, some of which have been shown to irritate skin allergies for some people.  In woven wraps they cause spotty discoloration, usually bleach-like or marbling, and/or a bluish-green hue.

 

We also try to avoid fabric softeners. Fabric softeners work by coating the fibers. This leaves behind a residue that can build up over time and damage the fibers. It can also cause the wrap to be slippery. Dryer sheets work in a similar fashion and leave behind a residue. Dryer balls are a great wrap safe alternative. As a bonus, dryer balls tumbling around with a wrap can help with the breaking in process!

 

Here is a list of detergents that are recommended for washing baby carriers:

 

  • All Free & Clear from Military Commissary ONLY (will have dog tags and say optical brightener free). All Free & Clear purchased elsewhere will contain optical brighteners and not be suitable for woven wraps.
  • Allens Naturally Laundry Detergent Liquid
  • Attitude
  • BabyGanics Loads of Love 3X*
  • Bio-Kleen Laundry Liquid
  • Bio-Vert
  • Charlie’s Soap Liquid
  • Citra Suds Liquid 2x
  • Country Save Liquid
  • Dapple Baby Liquid Detergent*
  • Eco-Max Liquid
  • Ecos Free & Clear
  • Ecover Liquid
  • Green Works*
  • Honest Company liquid detergent
  • Mountain Green
  • Mrs. Meyer’s detergents*
  • Planet
  • Seventh Generation*
  • Soap Nuts
  • Sport-Wash
  • Thirsties Super Wash*
  • Vaska
  • Wonderwash
  • Ecover Delicate
  • Eucalan
  • Kookaburra
  • Unicorn Fibre Wash

*contains enzymes– not recommended for washing silk or wool.

 

When it comes to stains the best advice is to not let the stain dry before you can treat it. If necessary add water to keep it wet. Most of the time a normal wash will do the trick but realistically there will be times when a stain slips by our watchful eye and won’t be spotted until after it’s been washed and dried. Some products you can use to spot treat stains are:

 

  • Dish soap (Some contain enzymes and can be harsh on fibers if using long term)
  • Buncha Farmers Stain Stick
  • Rubbing alcohol for ink stains
  • Hydrogen peroxide for organic stains
  • Sunlight

 

Taking good care of a wrap and preserving its lifespan will help with future resale of the wrap. It is well worth the investment to use products to help keep your carriers in the best condition.

 

How to Wash Other Types of Carriers

 

Washing carriers with straps, rings and buckles can seem intimidating at first but a few tricks will help make washing easy and stress free.

 

Soft Structured Carriers: Loosen all the webbing and make sure all the buckles are connected. Place the entire carrier inside a pillowcase or net laundry bag and then wash according to manufacturer recommendation. Placing the carrier in a pillowcase helps prevent the straps from getting tangled up and keeps the buckles from banging against the inside of the washer.

Mei Tai: Wash the same as you would a soft structured carrier by placing the carrier inside a pillowcase or net laundry bag to help the prevent the straps from getting tangled up. Wash according to fiber content and manufacturer recommendation.

 

Ring Sling: Unthread the rings and use a pair of socks to slip over the rings to help keep them from banging around inside the washer.

 

How to Break in Your Baby Carrier

 

The biggest thing that will help break in any type of carrier is constant use. The more you use/wear a carrier the softer it will become. Some added tips on how to break in carriers are:

 

  • Sitting on them
  • Sleeping on them
  • Letting kids play with them

Braiding wraps and slings

Using sling rings for wraps and ring slings

Running wrap through a knot

Pretty much any activity that engages and helps break down the fibers so that they soften up.

Here is a link to our periscope broadcast with all the above information we talked about:

http://katch.me/bwi_kitsap/v/71dea657-68a4-3cda-972d-7b677871bab7
Folding and Storing

We all love having a beautiful stash shot to share and keeping your carriers organized and stored nicely will help extend the lifespan of the carriers, as well as prevent perma-creasing in some fibers.

Wraps can be folded or rolled up
Ring slings work great on coat racks

Soft structured carriers and mei tais can be rolled up and clipped/tied closed for easy storage.

 

This video shows our periscope broadcast of how we folded various types of carriers:

http://katch.me/bwi_kitsap/v/656b6512-3b33-397e-8df6-0d748e4c04ac

 

Here are some additional videos to help show you ways to fold each of your carriers:

 

Double sided fold for woven wraps:


Ring Sling:

Soft Structured Carrier:

Mei Tai:

 

Fixing Flaws

 

Sometimes just from normal wearing you’ll come across a flaw that will need to be fixed.

With woven wraps you can come across “pulls”. A pull is when thread(s) have snagged on something and can get pulled out from the rest of the weave. They look like small loops sticking out from the rest of the fabric. Most tend to be small but sometimes they can be long and take quite a bit of time to work back into the wrap.

How to fix a pull:

 

Sometimes the pulls turn into broken threads if they aren’t fixed right away. A few broken threads alone do not make a wrap unsafe but they are something that will need to be fixed to make sure the broken threads don’t turn into holes in the wrap.

How to fix a broken thread:

 

With any buckle type carrier sometimes the buckles can become flipped backwards on the webbing. Some carriers are designed so that the buckles have the ability to easily be flipped around for different ways to wear the carrier. But for brands that aren’t made with that function, flipping the buckle can be a struggle.

Here is a video that helps show how to easily flip the buckle without having to unthread the webbing (shown with a car seat belt buckle but the same method applies):

 

Here is our Periscope Broadcast going over all of these issues:

http://katch.me/bwi_kitsap/v/fd51777e-8a6a-3038-9242-0289e65f0968

 

We hope this information will help you the next time you need to wash and care for your carriers. Happy babywearing!

Baby Got Back

Baby Got Back – Tips and techniques to help get baby onto your back for babywearing

VBE LoriVBE Lori and VBE Tamara showing off some back carries in Daiesu tester wraps.

VBE Lori and VBE Tamara showing off some back carries in Daiesu tester wraps.

It’s an exciting milestone to reach in your babywearing time. Your babe is finally ready for some back carries! So let’s get that baby on back. 🙂

Our stance on back carries as Babywearing International is to wait until the wearer has sufficient practice in front carries and the babies are able to sit up completely unassisted. We recommend this because at this stage it insures that the child has enough core strength to prevent unwanted sagging down into the carrier. We want to always monitor when we are back carrying to make sure that the child isn’t slumped down into the carrier and their airway is always open. Just like with front carries we want to make sure the carrier is fully supporting their body in a nice seated squat position.

Back carries with younger babies can be done safely in woven wraps and some mei tais, but it is considered a highly skilled carry and caregivers need to use their best judgement. Back carries with newborns can be tricky to even well experienced wearers. Also given feeding frequency and the need to constantly monitor positioning, front carries are usually the best option for a newborn.

When first practicing back carries, make sure you are working in a comfortable environment. Practicing near a couch or the edge of a bed and making sure baby’s needs are cared for before attempting the carry are good rules of thumb. A happy, well fed baby with a clean diaper always makes trying a new carrier a little bit easier. 🙂 If you still feel unsure, ask someone to spot you. Coming to one of our monthly meetings is always a great resource for getting help.

 

VBE Nicole helping CSV Kaleena work on getting her baby on her back in a woven wrap.

VBE Nicole helping CSV Kaleena work on getting her baby on her back in a woven wrap.

There are several ways to get a baby onto your back. The three most well known ways are the Santa Toss, Superman and Hip Scoot.

Santa Toss:

Superman:

*you want to make sure you are grabbing as close to their body as possible and not down on their arms to prevent strain on their shoulders/elbows*

Hip Scoot:

There are also different variations and personal preferences when it comes to getting baby on back, but each way you want to make sure that you are supporting baby.

With soft structured carriers (SSC) you can also try the “Walk like an Egyptian” method:

VBE Tamara demonstrating how to get baby down deep into the carrier. Her two and a half year old daughter is still securely supported in a standard Tula.

VBE Tamara demonstrating how to get baby down deep into the carrier. Her two and a half year old daughter is still securely supported in a standard Tula.

Once baby is on your back you will want to make sure you get a good secure seat and carry.

For mei tais and soft structured carriers getting a good seat involves making sure that the child is deep in the carrier. You also want to make sure the top of the panel comes up to provide ideal body support. This video helps give some tips to make sure you get a deep seat:

Sometimes people feel unsure if the carrier they are using is big enough for back carries but it could just be an issue with making sure they are all the way down into the carrier.

 

With woven wraps you will want to make sure you are creating a good supportive seat as well as a secure carry. This video helps give tips on how to make a deep seat and tighten the wrap to make the carry secure as well as supportive:

VBE Nicole showing a Shepherd's Back Carry while VBE Desiree helps member Stephanie with her SSC in the background.

VBE Nicole showing a Shepherd’s Back Carry while VBE Desiree helps member Stephanie with her SSC in the background.

Now that you’ve gotten baby up and rocked the back carry for a bit (maybe even did some multitasking other than taking a bunch of selfies #totallyguilty), now it’s time to get baby down. Always making sure to support baby still with the carrier, you can hip scoot them back around to front. You can also carefully ease them back onto a chair or bed.

Backwards Hip Scoot:

Member Sydney showing off a ruck carry

Member Sydney showing off a ruck carry

CSV Kalenna has her toddler all comfy on her back

CSV Kalenna has her toddler all comfy on her back

As with all new carries, practice makes perfect. Before you know it you’ll be able to get baby up onto your back with ease!

 

Recap – International Babywearing Week 2015

What a fun week for Babywearing International of Kitsap Peninsula! We had so many exciting events to show off our love of babywearing, spread the joy of keeping our babies close and meet some new babywearing caregivers from our community. If you missed out on our events this year, don’t worry…we plan to have an even better International Babywearing Week next year!

First a BIG THANK YOU to our local businesses that donated some amazing prizes for the week:
The Baby Bum (www.thebabybum.com , https://www.facebook.com/thebabybum)

Blossom Baby (https://www.facebook.com/BlossomBabyNW)

Under the Sun (https://www.facebook.com/underthesun.guru)

Nola Baby Co (https://www.facebook.com/nolababyco)

The Golden Heart Boutique (https://www.facebook.com/Theleleboutique)

Charlie Barnes (https://www.facebook.com/charliebarneskids)

A Good Yarn Shop (https://www.facebook.com/Debbie-Macombers-A-Good-Yarn-Shop)

Make My Maxi (https://www.facebook.com/MakeMyMaxi)

 

Please visit their pages and give them a like for being so awesome. And if you won a prize from them be sure to show them a big thanks as well!

 

Here is how we Embraced Our World:

#EmbraceYourWild – We started the week with some exotic animals at the Point Defiance Zoo. All the children got great views of the animals from all types of different carriers. We had an excellent time checking out the aquarium and feeding the birds.

Kicking off IBW at the zoo

Kicking off IBW at the zoo

VBE Tamara and CSV Jessica checking out the tigers

VBE Tamara and CSV Jessica checking out the tigers

Member Sandi feeding the birds

Member Sandi feeding the birds

 

#EmbraceYourLove – We showed a crowd of people our love of babywearing by performing a flash mob dance at the Bremerton Ferry Terminal. We timed it perfectly just as a crowd was stepping off the ferry. A big thanks to everyone who came out to dance as well as everyone who came out to support and cheer us on!

Check out our moves here:

 

#EmbraceYourSelf – We struck a pose and had some amazing Babywearing Photos taken by Ashley Renee Photography (Beautiful Beginnings). We showed off our favorite carriers and got to capture these sweet moments forever.

Member Shanna has her baby close enough to kiss

Member Shanna has her baby close enough to kiss

Adorable photo of member Adrienne's daughter.

Adorable photo of member Adrienne’s daughter.

Member Jeanie's beautiful photo showing offer her Tekhni and going on adventures

Member Jeanie’s beautiful photo showing offer her Tekhni and going on adventures

 

#EmbraceYourFamily – Several of us got together and spent some fun family time bowling! It was so nice to meet your families as well as share the bummers over gutter balls and high fives for every strike.

Showing off the Traveling Tulas while we bowled

Showing off the Traveling Tulas while we bowled

Member Sydney is hands free to enjoy some bowling

Member Sydney is hands free to enjoy some bowling

VBE Tamara's daughter is overly excited about bowling

VBE Tamara’s daughter is overly excited about bowling

 

#EmbraceYourCommunity – It felt great to get out to our local parks and help clean them up. We chatted away while the garbage bags filled up. Thanks so much to everyone who came out and helped do their part to keep our parks garbage free.

Members Heather and Danielle cleaning up at the park.

Members Heather and Danielle cleaning up at the park.

Doing our small part to help keep our parks clean

Doing our small part to help keep our parks clean

South Kitsap Regional Park Crew

South Kitsap Regional Park Crew

Clear Creek Trails Crew

Clear Creek Trails Crew

 

 

 

#EmbraceYourOptions – We talked about and shared all the different amazing options we have for babywearing. And it was great seeing some caregivers try out new options they hadn’t worn before.

IMG_9357

Lots of babywearing carrier options for members to try

 

 

#EmbraceYourStyle – Saturday was such a busy day but it was packed full with a lot of great times! At our babywearing meeting we didn’t get around to the fashion show we planned, but a lot of babywearers came out and they were able to try on new carriers we added to our library and got some help learning new ways to wear their babes.

The fun didn’t stop there with the meeting, afterwards the rest of the day was spent inside The Clinic Tattoo where Babywearing Flash Tattoos were being offered. Erin and TJ were busting out some great designs while we all hung out and spent time together. It was great just talking to everyone and sharing in the excitement of new ink. Plus I got to wear all the babies!

12141742_10208073726221730_7832303662113576526_n

Member Nika showing off her new tattoo

Member Sydney's First Tattoo!

Member Sydney’s First Tattoo!

Member Chelsea's sweet addition to her tattoos

Member Chelsea’s sweet addition to her tattoos

Member Stephanie's new ink

Member Stephanie’s new ink

CSV Jessica's amazing tattoo

CSV Jessica’s amazing tattoo

Member Jeanie got an adorable new tattoo

Member Jeanie got an adorable new tattoo

Keeping this little guy happy while his mom get ready for her tattoo

Keeping this little guy happy while his mom get ready for her tattoo

12112395_10100742828907103_857094423895975823_n

Showing off some sleepy dust #wearallthebabies

 

 

#EmbraceYourAdventure – Our last event was an adventure filled day at Hunter Farms. There were hay rides, corn mazes and pumpkins to spare! It was the perfect way to end our International Babywearing Week.

12096118_10206890507492983_8922032394922311762_n

VBE Nicole an her family exploring the pumpkin patch

12088312_10153362431733743_1764917760155419063_n

Member Danielle is hands free to carry some pumpkins

12072710_10206890507252977_1990163443380260711_n

Our Pumpkin Patch Group

12108989_10153723326584679_7257036470234801634_n

Member Heather trying to find the perfect pumpkin

12141713_10153723326979679_4232262561858780384_n

Wagon ride with the group

 

And we can’t forget the week long picture Scavenger Hunt! Check out some of the participating pictures:

 

Member Danielle's successful sleep transfer

Member Danielle’s successful sleep transfer

Member Adrienne showing off the best way to get shopping done

Member Adrienne showing off the best way to get shopping done

Member Heather's husband showing off his Dad Babywearing skills

Member Heather’s husband showing off his Dad Babywearing skills

Member Alicia getting some dinner made easily thanks to babywearing

Member Alicia getting some dinner made easily thanks to babywearing

Member Grecia and her little baby wearing their doll

Member Grecia and her little baby wearing their doll

Member Jeanie entry for babywearing while eating

Member Jeanie entry for babywearing while eating

Members Sydney and Jeanie with CSV Kaleena taking a picture to show off their babywearing friends

Members Sydney and Jeanie with CSV Kaleena taking a picture to show off their babywearing friends

Member Sydney taking a picture with VBE Tamara

Member Sydney taking a picture with VBE Tamara

 

I am so thankful for everyone who came out and participated in our events. The week was made so much more special because of our amazing members.  We all look forward to an even bigger and better International Babywearing Week next year!