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Washing advice

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clothsister
Cloth Nappy Addict
Cloth Nappy Addict

Washing advice

Postby clothsister » Fri Sep 19, 2014 6:53 am

So hubby is sort of on board the whole cloth nappy thing but he Is really cautious of how you wash the nappies. What dies everyone else do? Do you swill off the poo first?

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clothmama
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Cloth Nappy Chatterbox
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Re: Washing advice

Postby clothmama » Fri Sep 19, 2014 7:23 am

Yep, I would always give them a rinse in the laundry sink - BF poo comes off really easily then a quick wring out and in the bucket until wash day. I know some people don't even worry with BF poo as it really does just rinse out. When they are older / more solid I would roll it off into the toilet, wipe with a bit of toilet paper if needed. It tends to not stick very well to fleece / microfibre. I also used flushable wipes when he was tiny to get rid of a lot of the main bit of it. I think when he was NB I'd cut them in 3 and just have it where the poo would land so the rest of the nappy was still the stay dry lining touching him. When he left the NB stage and was only pooing every few days I'd only stick a paper one in if I thought he was going to poo! I had the Little Green Earthlets (? I'll have to check) ones that you can wash a few times if they dont' end up with poo on them!

I tried to have enough nappies to only wash every 3 days - I think it made no difference to my washing compared to when Josh was a baby as I used to get so many poo'nami poo'plosions up his back in dispos that I seemed to be forever washing clothes with him!

As for what I did:

  • Dry pail the nappies (ie no soaking like the old days!) in bucket or wet bags
  • Cold rinse or pre wash to get any poop off and also to rinse out the urine before you start
  • 40 degree wash (I did 60 when Louis was tiny or if there was any unwellness or as a random hotter wash but tried to do 40 mainly for environmental reasons).
  • I only used 1/4 of a dose of powder - I was using OMO tablets at the time so it was easy - just 1/2 a tablet - you need to play with this - in harder water areas you may need up to 1/2 a normal dose but never a full one!
  • In the fabric softener area I'd put a dash of white vinegar - this softens and neutralizes any remaining urine smell (which there shouldn't be!). You can also add a few drops of tea tree / lavender essential oil - they act as freshners and antibacterial agents as well.
  • Finish the load with at least a couple of rinses - I think I usually did 2 but I'm guessing my fancy low water usage new machine will need more than that! You want to rinse until there are no bubbles (as this is what can cause build up which can cause smells!).
  • A bit of a case of trail and error finding what system / routine works for your washer and water hardness :)


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