Washing bamboo and synthetic..

[Munchkin30]

Hey all,

I've got a stash mainly of bumgenius, little lamb one size and itty Bittis. They're all cotton or synthetic but I just bought some bamboo boosters which I'm currently pre washing with some new bumgenius. Is it true you're not meant to wash them together?!? What will happen?!? Also I've just read that you're meant to tumble dry boosters/inserts? I've avoided tumble drying any of my nappy stuff. Does it help with absorbency? X

 

[Rachel_C]

It's a US thing to say you shouldn't wash natural fabrics and synthetics together; I've never seen anywhere say it in the UK. The idea is that the natural oils from the natural fabrics might get into your synthetics and reduce their absorbency but I think it's a theoretical risk that just wouldn't happen in real life - if your wash cycle is good enough to release the oils from the fabrics into the water, why wouldn't it be good enough to also wash them out of the synthetics? The oils will just be washed down the drain, if indeed there are any there after the fabric has been through the manufacturing process (I'm not sure there would be).

It's not true that you're meant to tumble inserts/boosters. It's true that you usually *can* tumble them but they will last longer if you don't. Bamboo in particular doesn't do well being tumbled - it loses a lot of fluff which makes it crispier in the long run (although it'll feel softer in the short term). The only reason I can think that you might want to tumble is if you're not sure they're completely dry - you could tumble them for a few minutes, but I think that would only be necessary if you were drying them in very humid conditions.

 

[Munchkin30]

Thanks hon, that's a great help. I totally get the bit about them being fluffier short term but not long term. I'm glad I haven't ruined all my beautiful bumgenius!!