Tumble Drying Nappies - Yay or Nay?

Wise ones - we are thinking of getting a tumble dryer as the nappies (and just general laundry) are taking forever to dry in this weather. Is it ok to tumble dry nappies? I have mostly Big Softies by Nature Babies and a couple of Diddy Diapers. We live in a flat with no outside space and have the laundry hanging every where at the moment. I know a tumble dryer isn't very eco friendly but thought it might just help out during the in between seasons when it's damp (as we had no drying problems in the summer, and I imagine it will be fine again when the heating comes on). I only have 1 LO now but hope to use these nappies if I have another LO later... Thanks!!

Hi there! Yes, it is possible to tumble dry some nappies. Nappies dried on a line can sometimes get a bit 'crunchy' so a tumble can help to keep them soft.

You'll need to check what the nappies are made of but most brands will give you washing instructions including information on tumble drying.

As a compromise, could you hang the nappies to dry for 24 - 36 hours before finishing them off on the tumble dryer?

I don't have a tumble drier either so I understand how frustrating it is having cold damp nappies / clothes hanging around for days. We bought a good dehumidifier last winter and found it worked wonders! Took all the dampness out of the air from laundry and everything dried so much quicker. Word of warning though, my mum bought a small cheapie one and it doesn't make and difference at all so I think they can vary a lot!

[clothmama]

I do in the winter as I hate having laundry hanging around, I'll try to hang them outside if it isn't actually raining so at least they are kind of half dry so generally as Kate said just a finish off. I think laundry is such a huge thing each day / week that for me having a dryer enables me to keep my sanity! I could honestly count on my fingers the number of loads I've put in from totally wet though.

The other things I have done in the past (and will do again) to help with getting stuff dry as eco friendly as we can without using the dryer is have a 'flying angel' attached to the ceiling, we fitted ours in our last house in France upstairs in our bedroom (it was huge so wasn't in the way) directly above the wood burner so stuff dried within about 8 hours! Heated drying racks are also good, Lakeland do one for 92 pounds (we have just been researching with my brother and SIL as they dont' have room for a dryer and are sick of the racks all over the house taking days to dry) which are really cheap to run - 6p / day, it looks great as it is a tower rack. The one I had was just a single layer so didn't dry that many things at once.

I tend to line dry or put nappies on an airer next to a radiator but we have hard water and i do end up popping them in the tumble drier for tens mins at the end anyway just to soften them up.

I personally wouldnt tumble pul/pocket nappies though, i only do bamboo fitteds and inserts in mine... Too worried about wrecking them

I used to have tumble drier balls (spikey plastic things) which are supposed to help dry things quicker, we stopped using them as they made a lot of noise

I said I was only going to use my tumble dryer for my bamboo fitteds but honestly, I use it every nappy wash I don't do the wraps but the moo solos go in and so far I've never noticed any delamination. I keep saying I'll get another clothes horse just for nappies and I never Actually do! And I'll potentially have 2 in nappies last year so I can't see me changing my ways when it's not nice outside (which is most of the time as I live in Scotland right by the river Tay so even if it's not raining the air is still kinda damp so nothing dries outside anyway)

We only have electric heating and for a while never had a tumble drier so I invested in a dehumidifier to help dry nappies. I've found that things dry differently depending on which room in the house I place the airer. I do have a tumble drier now but try not to use it too often. New baby is due in December so I think I'm going to have a house full of washing this winter!

Prob not applicable to living in a flat but I bought a balcony airer that fits over the rail on the landing for clothes to hang over the stairs. Stuff dries a lot faster as warm air from the radiators downstairs rises. I confess I've not tried it for nappies yet as my house set up was different last time I used cloth but it dries adult clothes within the day so hoping it can speed up the nappies a bit!