Second hand Tots Bots Bamboozle

Hi, I am absolutely new to cloth nappies.
Well, nappies in general, as I still have 4 weeks before due date.
But I am trying to prepare myself for the big event, and I wanted to use cloth nappies since the beginning.
Then what did i do? I bought a second hand birth to potty set of Bamboozle. And I think I made a mistake...
Today I have received the parcel, and the nappies are very hard, like cardboard. I cannot think off putting them on my little soft new born baby. And some of them are stained....
What do you think?
It is normal that second hands are so hard and stained?
Please, any advice will be most appreciated, as I can still send them back, but I have to decide quite quickly.
Thank you soooo much,
Pachino

Hmm, none of my totbots bamboozles are stained. They don't seem to be hard and crunchy either. I have had mine preloved and been using them for 6months. They are not as soft as they used to be but definatly not hard.

Some stuff goes hard if it is radiator dried. I would personally check the lable and make sure it is bamboo not cotton as IME that is more likely to be hard than bamboo.

Whether you send them back or not is up to you but if you don't want to put them on your LO now you wont want to when they are born either. You can get good quality preloved bamboozles quite cheep elsewhere. I got a beautiful one as good as new for £3 yesterday.

If you're not happy with them you might think about asking if you can send them back, and explaining that you're new to all this and didn't really understand what condition they'd be in and that they're not quite what you're looking for. Particularly if they are cotton and not bamboo, you'd certainly have grounds for it, or if you bought them on eBay using Paypal?

If you can't/don't want to send them back, though, I would definitely recommend washing them (and probably stripping them, there are instructions on doing that here), and tumble drying them - it can really work wonders, all they need is 20 minutes or so. I air-dry for a couple of hours, then tumble them for a bit, then air-dry until they're completely dry.

As for the stains, it's tricky at this time of year because what sun there is is so weak, but the sun really does do wonders at getting stains out. You might be pleasantly surprised!!

I agree with the previous two ppl. I've had both pre-loved and my bamboozles haven't been crunchy so do just double check that they are in fact bamboozles, my standard tots do get crunchy if not tumble dried. That doesn't mean to say that bamboozle don't but mine haven't. If they are bamboozles and you decide to keep them, after being stripped back as previously suggested and tumbled, they are a very nice nappy and work really well imo.

Good luck, this is a great place for help if you are new to cloth.

Take care

Nicky

Thanks a lot for all of your suggestions. And thanks for the link to the stripping method.
If I'll keep them I will definitively do it.
I did check the label, they are very crunchy and stained bamboozle...
The agreement with the previous owner is that I have a couple of days to decide if I want to keep them or not.
But my point is that I do not know what I should expect from pre-loved. Of course they cannot be new, but in which conditions should they be to be considered acceptable.....?
Any suggestion?
Thanks so much
Pachino

And, doesn't tumble drying reduce their absorbency?

The rule i follow when i buy preloved is that if i'm not happy to sell it on to someone else in that condition i shouldn't be receiving in that condition (within reason,i'm aware i can be a little too fussy ). If you are not happy personally i would send them back.

I think what you get various greatly with what people think is acceptable. The first lot of pre-loved I bought was all in brilliant condition and I was so happy that I then looked on the same site I had bought from and bought a few other sets from local people - they were awful! Really badly stained and there is no way I would put them near my child but as I only paid a small amount I just left it.

Were you thinking of buying more nappies as well as these or did you buy a whole set? I think if you were going to be buying some more I would probably keep them and use them as extras but if they are meant to be the whole set and you're not happy then I would send them back if you don't think you're going to be comfortable putting them on your baby.

And, doesn't tumble drying reduce their absorbency?

Not that I've noticed where did you hear that?

As others have said preloved nappies vary HUGELY and stained nappies should be described as such before you buy...