Help! Hand washing nappies!!

[mummy_mi]

Our washing machine has just decided it doesnt want to work anymore! Eek!

Luckily I did a nappy wash yesterday but as we're renting its not as easy as just calling out a repair man or going out and buying a new one, so unless OH can give it a prod tonight when he gets in and it magically works again, I'm not expecting it to be fixed until at least next week.

So has anyone washed their nappies in the bath/sink? How did it go? Any tips?

I'll give it a try once we've used every single one of our cloth nappies and then if it still looks like it could be another week till we get it fixed I might use posies.

Am secretly hoping we'll need a new one and we can have an super energy effiecent A rating washer/dryer (I know washer/dryers are naff but just for the occasional fluffy dry!).

 

[Rachel_C]

I would think the wet nappies wouldn't be too bad to hand wash, just hand wash as normal really but make sure to get all the detergent out, maybe soak them in the bath after washing to make extra sure?

I'd probably not wait until you've used up all your nappies cos you won't be able to spin them in the machine so they'll take longer to dry than usual.

Do you use liners at all? If not, now might be the time to start! I've found that poo washes off synthetic fabrics better than natural ones - it comes off fleece really easily so if you're expecting a dirty nappy, I'd go for something fleece lined and maybe use another liner on top just in case!

You're right, washer/dryers aren't as good as separates but we bought one recently and I love it. It's more efficient and better than older separates, just not quite as good as new ones. Hope you get a shiny new one quickly!

 

[anothersquish]

Id be using liners to minimise poop on the nappies, rinsing with the showerhead straight away to try and get as much poop off as possible and then wet pail til the evening and then hand wash and rinse with shower as well as you can manage then hang them. Id go for washing every evening so you only have a handful to do and to give them loads of time to dry.

 

[mummy_mi]

Yes use LL liners, Chloes poos are once a day and usually not that messy (saying that I bet she starts doing messy ones every other change now!)

Good point on the drying issue, I think I'll see if OH can fix it tonight and if not then get started tomorrow morning. I was thinking of using a smidge of detergent and leaving the nappies to soak in the sink for 30 mins or so, giving them a bit of a scrubbing, bashing around then emptying and leaving in clean water for another 30 mins or so then repeat till theres no bubbles. Does that sound about right or am I barking up the wrong tree!!

Off to go do some googling!!

Ty for help xx

 

[Rachel_C]

Sounds like a good plan to me! I was just wondering how you could get them to dry a bit quicker but the only plan I came up with was to hold one in each hand and spin around really fast... or tie them to a string, attach that to the car and then go for a drive. Don't think that would do much for their cleanliness though!

 

[anothersquish]

@ Rachel

 

[Maffie]

Ive been known to hand spin things before putting them on the line

 

[mummy_mi]

Sounds like a good plan to me! I was just wondering how you could get them to dry a bit quicker but the only plan I came up with was to hold one in each hand and spin around really fast... or tie them to a string, attach that to the car and then go for a drive. Don't think that would do much for their cleanliness though!

LOL if you see on the news, reports of a crazy lady driving around Sheffield with nappies attached to car then that'd be me!!! :ROFL:

A repair man is coming out on tuesday (sometime between 8am and 6pm, so anytime of the day really then!) to take a look as its still under warranty.

So I'll have a bash at it tomorrow then - not the car part tho, sorry!! xx