Soaking your used reusable (period) cloth pads as soon as you can is desirable but not essential. You can wait until you are ready to wash them but do make sure that they are exposed to air. Soak only in cold water and rinse until the water runs clean. Do not use warm water at this point as you’d be left with stains. Use natural laundry soap to get rid of any staining before the next step. You can completely skip these first steps if you plan to use sodium percarbonate in your laundry washing.
Wash your reusable period cloth pads with your laundry in the washing machine. You can use hot cycle (up to 60degrees) and you can use any detergent along with it. If you skipped the previous step then just add some sodium percarbonate to your washing cycle and wash on hot (60degrees).
Do not tumble dry your reusable period cloth pads as they would loose their absorbent super power. Try to line dry your Lilahpads in a sunny spot as much as you can. This will ensure your reusable cloth pads are sparkling clean. They will get more absorbent the more you wash them.