If you've just switched to reusable period care, the washing question is usually the first thing that stops you. Will it actually come clean? Will it smell? Do I need some special routine I'll never keep up? I asked all of this myself before I built nookees, so here's the honest, practical answer - no mystique, no 12-step ritual.
Rinse first, in cold water
The single most useful habit: rinse in cold water before anything else. Cold lifts blood; hot sets it. I rinse my pads in the shower with me in the morning during my period - it takes thirty seconds and it's the difference between "good as new" and "faintly stained forever." Warm or hot water at this stage is the classic mistake that makes people think reusables don't work.
Then wash at 60°C
Here's where the nookees PADS and PANTIES earn their keep: they're made to be washed at 60°C. That temperature matters because it's hot enough to properly clean and sanitise - so you're not relying on harsh chemical additives to feel confident they're hygienic. You don't need bleach. You don't need fabric softener (it actually coats the cotton and reduces absorbency, so skip it).
Can you wash period underwear with other clothes?
Once they've been rinsed, yes - you can put them in with a normal 60°C load. I'd keep them out of a wash with anything delicate that can't take the heat, but they don't need to be quarantined like something shameful. They're underwear. They go in the wash.
Why the material is the whole point
This is where I get particular, because it's why nookees exists. Our PADS and PANTIES are organic cotton, with no biocides, no PFAs, and no added chemicals. A lot of conventional period underwear leans on plastic layers and antimicrobial treatments to manage odour - which means you're putting biocides against the most absorbent skin on your body, every single cycle. Cotton washed properly at 60°C simply doesn't need that. Clean it well and the odour goes with the blood. Nothing synthetic left behind to "manage."
A few things that genuinely help
- for stubborn marks at the end of your cycle, soak everything in a non-toxic oxygen-based stain solution, then run your normal 60°C wash. Spots lift, no bleach required
- air dry where you can. Cotton lasts longer out of a hot tumble dryer, and the sun is a free, gentle brightener
- don't overthink frequency. Rinse after wearing, collect through your period, wash the batch. That's the rhythm
The reason I'm so blunt about this: the washing step is where most people give up on reusables, and it's almost always because they were using a product that wasn't built for a proper hot wash, or because nobody told them to rinse cold first. Get those two things right and reusable period care stops being a project and just becomes the thing you do.
That's the standard I held nookees to - organic cotton, 60°C washable, no chemicals you have to look up. Because period care you have to baby isn't care. It's just one more thing on your list.
