How to clean your Medela pumping kit

I just had a lovely customer who has hired a Medela Symphony to express breastmilk at home call and ask how to clean her kit. So I explained it all on the phone and though to myself – I should probably do a factsheet so that other customers can print it out and have a read of it when they want to clean their kits too. So here’s how.

Cleaning your kit properly is very important to maintain the health and hygiene of your milk and to keep baby safe.
When you first get your kit you must clean the kit before you use it. It is sterile but its always safer to give it a good clean first.

If you are the only person to use your breast pump and your baby is well and healthy you can clean your kit by:
  1. Rinsing all parts well in cold water after each expressing session to remove surface milk.
  2. Store your kit in a clean closed container or you can store it unrinsed in a closed container in your fridge.
  3. Once a day give your kit what I call the BIG clean!

BIG clean instructions

  1. Wash your hands well with soap and water and dry them on a clean unused tea towel or on a new paper towel.
  2. Separate all your pump kit parts and rinse all the pieces in cold water.
  3. Clean all traces of milk and dirt with a small amount of household dishwashing liquid and warm water. Make sure its all nice and clean again with no sticky or greasy marks or residue.
  4. Rinse all the pieces in hot water really well, then rinse them again (2x).
  5. Sit all the bottles and parts upside down on a new clean paper towel and cover with another new clean piece of paper town while they air dry.
  6. Store your kit when its not in use in a clean dry container, and I used to line my container with clean paper too, just in case!
  7. Please note – word to the wise here – your kit isn’t dishwasher safe and the dishwasher isn’t clean enough so handwashing is a necessity.