HE washers and Cloth Diapers

katrinalorien · Apr 10th, 2012, 19:32 PM

Hello again!

Have been reading through the FAQ's, and went to the store today to look at cloth diapers. The woman at the store mentioned that if you use an HE washer (which I do), you have to make sure that you use more water than normal. However there is no manual way to increase the water on my washers. Any advice?

Florance · Apr 10th, 2012, 20:14 PM

You can put a damp towel into the washer with the diapers when washing them with a HE washer. Also, you will only need very little detergent to clean your diapers. Rachel_c has some really good tips on washing cloth diapers. I learned quite a few tricks on taking care of cloth diapers from her! You may want to look up her posts and read through them.

deafgal · Apr 10th, 2012, 20:17 PM

i think certain setting like delicate uses more water but not sure.

katrinalorien · Apr 10th, 2012, 20:40 PM

Thanks!! She was answering some of my questions earlier, I will have to look up her other posts.

JessPape · Apr 10th, 2012, 21:16 PM

Soak a towel and throw the towel in the washer

. Or wash smaller loads, I can wash 10 diapers without any issues

. There is a way of changing it, but sometimes you have to call the company.

sun · Apr 10th, 2012, 21:51 PM

I have a HE washer too and there is no way I can increase the water level - I wish! I called the company and talked to several people - I even said I understood my warranty would be void, but they said there's no way.
I did see a few websites where people tinkered with the settings themselves, but I'm not confident in my skills at taking apart the washer controls lol.

Anyway, I did find out that the delicate cycle uses more water than the other cycles - so I do a final rinse with delicate rather than a quick wash. Depending on the washer you have, you can add more water through the soap dispenser - but not until the washer has already filled or else it won't make a difference. Washers that have sensors can be fooled with a wet towel (if the sensor is by weight) added to the wash but not all. What kind of washer do you have?

Rachel_C · Apr 11th, 2012, 03:09 AM

You can do a rinse before the main wash - that will mean the nappies are all soaking wet to start with so the machine will add enough more. Then wash on a good long wash cycle (many over here have a heavy soil/superwash setting which uses more water but avoid anything too hot). Then do a couple of extra rinses at the end. Having more water in the actual wash cycle helps but the main issue with not enough water is that the detergent might not wash out properly, so extra rinses fix that. Also make sure you use the minimum amount of detergent you can get away with to get the nappies clean. I've often seen people with non-HE top loaders saying that you have to use a full dose of detergent to get nappies properly clean but that is not the case with HE front loaders. Too much will stop the nappies getting clean in the first place.

katrinalorien · Apr 11th, 2012, 06:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sun

Anyway, I did find out that the delicate cycle uses more water than the other cycles - so I do a final rinse with delicate rather than a quick wash. Depending on the washer you have, you can add more water through the soap dispenser - but not until the washer has already filled or else it won't make a difference. Washers that have sensors can be fooled with a wet towel (if the sensor is by weight) added to the wash but not all. What kind of washer do you have?

Hmm I have a Samsung Frontloader HE washer.

Thanks to all of you, seriously. This was the last thing I had to consider before I started stocking up on cloth diapers.

Rachel thanks for answering all my questions, you've been a great help!

JShaw · Apr 11th, 2012, 06:55 AM

We have the LG brand and there's a setting for just rinse and spin, and when selecting the spin speed, I can choose 'no spin'. I do this befor my main wash and again for the extra rinses at the end. This way the load is completely soaking wet before the cycle starts and more water is added.

Before I realized the above would work, I would add more water through the detergent tray as it washed.

Maybe you have the rinse and spin choice (with the selection of no spin) on yours?

sun · Apr 11th, 2012, 07:15 AM

^^ OOH I'm going to try this today.

When I talked to Whirlpool (ours is a Whirlpool) they said that the heavy duty setting actually uses less water than delicate. Delicate uses more water to prevent the friction between the clothes from damaging them or wearing them out. Heavy duty (or ours also has "whitest whites") doesn't do this so it will wear clothes (and diapers!) out faster, but are more efficient so get the Green Star rating.

The guy I talked to also said he gets calls all the time about raising the water level.

Apr 10th, 2012, 19:32 PM	#1
katrinalorien Mum (Mom) BnB Addict Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Oklahoma! Posts: 4,213	HE washers and Cloth Diapers Hello again! Have been reading through the FAQ's, and went to the store today to look at cloth diapers. The woman at the store mentioned that if you use an HE washer (which I do), you have to make sure that you use more water than normal. However there is no manual way to increase the water on my washers. Any advice?

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Apr 10th, 2012, 20:14 PM	#2
Florance Mum (Mom) Active BnB Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Vancouver, Canada Posts: 173	You can put a damp towel into the washer with the diapers when washing them with a HE washer. Also, you will only need very little detergent to clean your diapers. Rachel_c has some really good tips on washing cloth diapers. I learned quite a few tricks on taking care of cloth diapers from her! You may want to look up her posts and read through them.

Status: Offline

Apr 10th, 2012, 20:17 PM	#3
deafgal Mum (Mom) Chat Happy BnB Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: U.S. Posts: 1,984	i think certain setting like delicate uses more water but not sure.

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Apr 10th, 2012, 20:40 PM	#4
katrinalorien Mum (Mom) BnB Addict Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Oklahoma! Posts: 4,213	Thanks!! She was answering some of my questions earlier, I will have to look up her other posts.

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Apr 10th, 2012, 21:16 PM	#5
JessPape Pregnant (Expecting) BnB Addict Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 2,817	Soak a towel and throw the towel in the washer . Or wash smaller loads, I can wash 10 diapers without any issues . There is a way of changing it, but sometimes you have to call the company.

Status: Offline

Apr 10th, 2012, 21:51 PM	#6
sun Mum (Mom) BnB Elite Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Canada Posts: 11,726	I have a HE washer too and there is no way I can increase the water level - I wish! I called the company and talked to several people - I even said I understood my warranty would be void, but they said there's no way. I did see a few websites where people tinkered with the settings themselves, but I'm not confident in my skills at taking apart the washer controls lol. Anyway, I did find out that the delicate cycle uses more water than the other cycles - so I do a final rinse with delicate rather than a quick wash. Depending on the washer you have, you can add more water through the soap dispenser - but not until the washer has already filled or else it won't make a difference. Washers that have sensors can be fooled with a wet towel (if the sensor is by weight) added to the wash but not all. What kind of washer do you have?

Status: Offline

Apr 11th, 2012, 03:09 AM	#7
Rachel_C Mum (Mom) BnB Elite Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 11,616	You can do a rinse before the main wash - that will mean the nappies are all soaking wet to start with so the machine will add enough more. Then wash on a good long wash cycle (many over here have a heavy soil/superwash setting which uses more water but avoid anything too hot). Then do a couple of extra rinses at the end. Having more water in the actual wash cycle helps but the main issue with not enough water is that the detergent might not wash out properly, so extra rinses fix that. Also make sure you use the minimum amount of detergent you can get away with to get the nappies clean. I've often seen people with non-HE top loaders saying that you have to use a full dose of detergent to get nappies properly clean but that is not the case with HE front loaders. Too much will stop the nappies getting clean in the first place.

Status: Offline

Apr 11th, 2012, 06:55 AM	#9
JShaw Mum (Mom) Active BnB Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 806	We have the LG brand and there's a setting for just rinse and spin, and when selecting the spin speed, I can choose 'no spin'. I do this befor my main wash and again for the extra rinses at the end. This way the load is completely soaking wet before the cycle starts and more water is added. Before I realized the above would work, I would add more water through the detergent tray as it washed. Maybe you have the rinse and spin choice (with the selection of no spin) on yours?

Status: Offline

Apr 11th, 2012, 07:15 AM	#10
sun Mum (Mom) BnB Elite Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Canada Posts: 11,726	^^ OOH I'm going to try this today. When I talked to Whirlpool (ours is a Whirlpool) they said that the heavy duty setting actually uses less water than delicate. Delicate uses more water to prevent the friction between the clothes from damaging them or wearing them out. Heavy duty (or ours also has "whitest whites") doesn't do this so it will wear clothes (and diapers!) out faster, but are more efficient so get the Green Star rating. The guy I talked to also said he gets calls all the time about raising the water level.

Status: Offline

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