# How do you make your washing machine use more water?



## lindblum

My washing machine is just over a year old and a-class energy and water efficient. I can see when it is rinsing it only uses enough water to wet the nappies, I don't see any extra at the bottom of the drum. I've read using a towel in the wash is supposed to help but I don't see how as it would absorb the extra water anyway?? I use less than a teaspoon of detergent and am washing pockets, prefolds, bamboo boosters, microfibre boosters, muslin squares, fleece liners and pul wraps.


I have been handwashing and rinsing and then using the machine to spin out the water to dry. I switched to handwashing because they smell fresher and get rinsed out better. I'm expecting a baby in October so I don't think I'll be up for handwashing for a few weeks following the birth.

thanks x


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## Rachel_C

The advice is to use a wet towel in the wash. Modern machines often weigh the load to determine how much water to use, so the wet towel adds a fair bit of weight but it's already wet so it won't absorb any of the extra the machine uses. You can also pour in extra water yourself during the wash through the drawer, or do a rinse first but don't let the machine spin so everything is already soaked through. If I'm in a rush I just pour a couple of litres of water in after I put the washing in the machine, on top of the nappies. 

Also check out your instructions for the machine. Mine has a 'super wash' which uses more water, but some people's machines have similarly named cycles that use less to increase the friction, so you do need to find out which way your machine goes!


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## lindblum

oops silly me didn't realise the towel had to be wet first! I didn't think to add water first either, brilliant idea. thanks very much, will try these on the next wash x


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## Rachel_C

Hope it works, would be much easier than handwashing! The other option is just to do extra rinses at the end.


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## RoseKitten

Does yours maybe have an "extra rinse" button? I've never had to use it, but you can also do a normal wash followed by a quick wash to ensure that enough water is getting onto your clothes.


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## JShaw

My front loader has several spin speeds, but also 'no spin' as an option. I normally do a rinse&spin with 'no spin'. This makes the load sopping wet, so when I do my cycle, there's more water added in. I generally do this when washing my cloth diapers as it only adds 6 minutes to my routine.


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## katrinalorien

^ this works well for me as well, and I'll add that someone gave me the advice once to use the delicates cycle and that also helped. Supposedly uses less water so they won't rub against each other.


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## Jtiki

If your washer has a bulky or heavy duty cycle, those usually add more water than the regular. If not, the wet towel works well.


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