Soaking nappies

[MidnightSun]

I have just been reading the Nappy Lady's website, and have decided I think that soaking will be better than dry pailing (I really do not want stains on my nappies) ...

The problem is when she refers to 'nappies' she's referring to AIos etc, not just plain terry squares and prefolds, which is what I intend to use. She says not to use Bicarb of soda, vinegar, Napisan etc... She does recommend just some tea tree or lavender oil in the water, but I am unsure as to whether this will be okay on a newborn's skin.

I am unsure as to what to soak in. I'd like something as environmentally friendly as possible

 

[fluffpuffin]

If you're really worried about stains just rinse the nappies straighht away after a poo. I've not had a single stain and I'm dry pailing my nappies.

 

[LittlePants]

If you're suing cotton terry squares or prefolds, there is really no need to soak in anything, as you can wash at very high temperatures if you get any bad stains, and that removes anything! If you've bamboo squares, you can only wash at a maximum 60ºC, so if you want to soak then, go ahead - it's a nasty smelly job, but it certainly does help to a certain extent to prevent stains. The best soak we've found is BioD nappy sanitising powder. I know Nappisan has some pretty bad reviews, when the ingredients are gone into in depth. I can't remember exactly what, but I think it's pretty fierce! The BioD is environmentally friendly, and manufactured in UK, so no import impact either!

 

[MidnightSun]

Thanks LP

I am a little undecided to be honest, but have found that all through pregnancy I have found it very hard to make solid decisions about things

I don't have bamboo, just cotton terries and prefolds. It says on the terries 60 only - if there are stains would I be able to wash higher then? I have heard some people say heat sets in stains I don't really want to soak as I know it'll be a mucky job!

Another thing also. In another thread you recommended Eco Balls. I have done a bit of research though and a lot of people are syaing they are next to useless and simply a placebo .... I just don't know what to wash in, and at the moment I am leaning towards Bold 2in1 with maybe adding some Ecover laundry bleach and soda crystals to soften a bit more...

Am I going along the right lines here?

 

[sugarpuff]

i use fleece liners which get the bulk of the poop - anything else i give a quick rinse and then bung in the bucket. if you do a cool pre wash (or rinse) with the machine prior to the washing cycle it will help to remove any excess gunge (and prevent the heat setting stains)

i don't have any stains whatsoever on my nappies and i never leave them soaking - i don't think you'll have any problems !

ps. i use ariel powder

 

[Aunty E]

I bung mine on a boil wash if it's been a particularly poopy few days or she's been ill, never did the terries any harm. I use oxyclean or something like it on every wash, I don't have any stains on my terries. Mostly I wash at 60 degrees.

 

[lucy_x]

I soak my night nappies if they have been pooed in..
I dont use anything
They dont smell so i needant bother

If your worried about stains give em a rinse before dry pailing, i do this with normal pockets and they always come out looking like new

 

[LittlePants]

Thanks LP

I am a little undecided to be honest, but have found that all through pregnancy I have found it very hard to make solid decisions about things

I don't have bamboo, just cotton terries and prefolds. It says on the terries 60 only - if there are stains would I be able to wash higher then? I have heard some people say heat sets in stains I don't really want to soak as I know it'll be a mucky job!

I've washed all sorts of cotton things at 95ºC and never had any problems. I think some manufacturers just put these things to cover themselves! I always washed cotton terry nappies at very hot temperatures occasionally, and do my towels that way still sometimes, as it softens them up. That temperature will certainly not set stains, but will remove practically anything!

Another thing also. In another thread you recommended Eco Balls. I have done a bit of research though and a lot of people are syaing they are next to useless and simply a placebo .... I just don't know what to wash in, and at the moment I am leaning towards Bold 2in1 with maybe adding some Ecover laundry bleach and soda crystals to soften a bit more...Am I going along the right lines here?

I use ecoballs for pretty well everything, but we do have very soft water, and I think that makes a difference. We did some tests with ecoballs and a magnoball in a hard water area, and the magnoball had a good effect there. As for a placebo effect, I don't think so. When I first tried them out, a couple of years ago I was very doubtful. I put in a VERY dirty pedestaal mat, from the downstairs loo, when we had the builders in. It was really FILTHY, and I thought it would test the balls really well. I expected it to come out of the machine with most of the marks still on it, but it actually came out cleaner then it had been for ages! That really converted me instantly, ad I've used them ever since.

If you want to try some out, with a returns option, even after use, PM me

 

[AFC84]

i use fleece liners which get the bulk of the poop - anything else i give a quick rinse and then bung in the bucket. if you do a cool pre wash (or rinse) with the machine prior to the washing cycle it will help to remove any excess gunge (and prevent the heat setting stains)

i don't have any stains whatsoever on my nappies and i never leave them soaking - i don't think you'll have any problems !

ps. i use ariel powder

Same here, except I just use supermarket brand eco friendly powder

Also I didn't want a bucket of water around for safety reasons, my LO often makes a beeline for it and I just use a lidded bucket.

 

[Rachel_C]

I really think that it's whether you rinse them straight away that decides whether you get stains, not whether you soak them or not.

I used to dry pail wet nappies and wet pail/soak dirty nappies (but not anything with PUL) but I gave up after a while cos it didn't seem to make that much difference as long as I rinsed them before putting them in the bucket. If you don't plan to rinse them, then yes I would say that soaking might help but have you thought through the practicalities of it? Don't read on if you're eating or have a weak stomach... When you come to do a wash, you're going to have a very heavy nappy pail full of dirty stinking slimy nappies with poo dispersed throughout the whole thing rather than limited to just the bits that were directly pooed on, and you're going to have a layer of decomposing poo floating on the top of the water. You'll have to somehow pour that water away down the loo without splashing it everywhere and somehow make sure the poo gets poured off rather than staying in the bottom of the bucket with the nappies. And then you're going to have to transfer the nappies to the washing machine, which will probably mean lots of spilled poo water and a bottle of bleach for your floor, not to mention your hands and the drips down the front of the washing machine!

If you can avoid it at all, I would do! You can always just soak anything really bad for a one off, and I would definitely avoid soaking things that don't desperately need it! Or once washed, you can be pretty harsh with any terries that do have stains, you can bleach them or use stain removers, or just hang them in daylight and that will sort most stains out.

Sorry for being so down on the idea of soaking but oh the memories!

 

[Kaites]

I think soaking may have been more popular when most people used top loader machines- much easier to dump a bucket of nasty, soaked, poopey diapers into a top loader!

Like Rachel said, I'd dry pail and then deal with stains later

 

[JessieMG84]

Hi everyone, I used terries at first and soaked them, using napisan at first then just tea tree, which kills the bacteria I think, and is fine from birth I believe. but I luckily had a very good baby that pooed every 3/4 days! So I just did the load when he pooed so it meant I didn't have to soak and they also didn't dry on. When I emptied the bucket I used rubber gloves and squeezed the excess water out of each one straight from the bucket into the machine then tipped water down the kitchen sink. On the odd occasion I had to soak a pooey nappy cos he pooed more but as it wasn't that often it i didn't mind.

What I do now, (I have motherease bamboo and ittis) is I put the pooey nappy on a double rinse in the machine when it's pooed in and then a very light or no spin (u get drips when transferring if no spin) then put it back in the bucket (which means the pooey stains don't dry by the time u do the next nappy wash)

Also if ur breastfeeding, u shouldn't get too many stains, it's when food isintroduced it's gets harder to shift.

Oh and another thing, if u do have stIns and a hot was doesn't do it, hang them in ur window or outside, as the uv in the sun bleaches it! A drop of lemon juice on it will help even more (think wash it again after the lemon tho)

Oh and I use my babies non bio, a tablespoon for about 10 nappies.

If too much powder is used it builds up, which then holds the we'd in somehow and that can make themsmellmS soon as one we'd hits it, and in turn can also cause nappy rash. But I guess that's a wholenew thread for u to ask about in a few months time.

Sorry if I'm babbling and its too much info! Take care, and good luck x

 

[JessieMG84]

Just read back and my corrections get less and less as I go on! Ha! Also to add when i used napisan I just rinsed and did an occasional 60 wash, then did 40 washes wig the tea tree, and still do now, with an occasional 60. U'll be fine with Terry and prefolds but continuo 60 washing with bAmboo and all in ones is bad for the nappy apparently.

 

[AFC84]

I really think that it's whether you rinse them straight away that decides whether you get stains, not whether you soak them or not.

I used to dry pail wet nappies and wet pail/soak dirty nappies (but not anything with PUL) but I gave up after a while cos it didn't seem to make that much difference as long as I rinsed them before putting them in the bucket. If you don't plan to rinse them, then yes I would say that soaking might help but have you thought through the practicalities of it? Don't read on if you're eating or have a weak stomach... When you come to do a wash, you're going to have a very heavy nappy pail full of dirty stinking slimy nappies with poo dispersed throughout the whole thing rather than limited to just the bits that were directly pooed on, and you're going to have a layer of decomposing poo floating on the top of the water. You'll have to somehow pour that water away down the loo without splashing it everywhere and somehow make sure the poo gets poured off rather than staying in the bottom of the bucket with the nappies. And then you're going to have to transfer the nappies to the washing machine, which will probably mean lots of spilled poo water and a bottle of bleach for your floor, not to mention your hands and the drips down the front of the washing machine!

If you can avoid it at all, I would do! You can always just soak anything really bad for a one off, and I would definitely avoid soaking things that don't desperately need it! Or once washed, you can be pretty harsh with any terries that do have stains, you can bleach them or use stain removers, or just hang them in daylight and that will sort most stains out.

Sorry for being so down on the idea of soaking but oh the memories!

Good point, I hadn't thought of it like that! Yuk...

 

[MidnightSun]

I really think that it's whether you rinse them straight away that decides whether you get stains, not whether you soak them or not.

I used to dry pail wet nappies and wet pail/soak dirty nappies (but not anything with PUL) but I gave up after a while cos it didn't seem to make that much difference as long as I rinsed them before putting them in the bucket. If you don't plan to rinse them, then yes I would say that soaking might help but have you thought through the practicalities of it? Don't read on if you're eating or have a weak stomach... When you come to do a wash, you're going to have a very heavy nappy pail full of dirty stinking slimy nappies with poo dispersed throughout the whole thing rather than limited to just the bits that were directly pooed on, and you're going to have a layer of decomposing poo floating on the top of the water. You'll have to somehow pour that water away down the loo without splashing it everywhere and somehow make sure the poo gets poured off rather than staying in the bottom of the bucket with the nappies. And then you're going to have to transfer the nappies to the washing machine, which will probably mean lots of spilled poo water and a bottle of bleach for your floor, not to mention your hands and the drips down the front of the washing machine!

If you can avoid it at all, I would do! You can always just soak anything really bad for a one off, and I would definitely avoid soaking things that don't desperately need it! Or once washed, you can be pretty harsh with any terries that do have stains, you can bleach them or use stain removers, or just hang them in daylight and that will sort most stains out.

Sorry for being so down on the idea of soaking but oh the memories!

Good point, I hadn't thought of it like that! Yuk...

Rachel my love, you have sold dry pailing to me most definitely

 

[Rachel_C]

 

[MidnightSun]

Haha ..... !

 

[lynnikins]

eeek i hate soaking anything lol evden soaking the whites in napisan to clear off stains before onselling/gifting onwards the small babygrows was enough for me lol

with fleece liners i barely get any poo on nappies anymore anyway

 

[kitty_kitty]

I soak my nappies usually in tea tree and lemon oil. i used to rinse off any poo if there was any on the nappy.

I have never had any problems with stains etc

 

[Aunty E]

I'm this close to doing a before and after shot of my nappies to prove that you don't need to soak I bought some second hand sandies for newbaby and the lovely gal who sold them to me spent ages explaining her two bucket system and essential oil tips, and even giving me the mesh bags she used with them. I didn't have the heart to explain to her that her lovely fluffy sandies were going to spend the next six months being dry pailed and then washed with bio Although I do have two mesh bags if anyone wants them, happy to post out for free if you PM me.