washing questions

[kelly342000]

hi,
i have started using nappies full time, along with washable wipes and fleece liners and have some washing questions am hoping you experienced nappy users can help with.

i am dry pailing the dirty nappies before washing and have just done a load at 60 with one cupful of supermarket brand liquid and some of the wipes and fleece liners are still have marks. they also smelt a bit "dirty" when i gave them a quick blast in the dryer.

should i soak the nappies if i am not washing them straight away?? when i only had a few nappies and wash washing more often they didn't come out stained, is it cos they are being left longer???

should i change to a brand name washing detergent ??? maybe the supermarket brand is not as good as named brands??
should i be adding something extra to the wash??? like Vanish Oxi Action???

sorry for all the questions! but want to make sure the nappies are properly cleaned before using them as seren is prone to really bad nappy rash and don't want to risk making it worse.
thanks!

 

[thelilbump]

what liquid are you using? I usually just use soap nuts or non bio powder at 40 degrees and they do just fine. I also dry pail but if a nappy was poopy i'll shower that off, i ususally put the shower head on the massage option, it's a wonder at getting rid of stains!!

 

[anothersquish]

TBH I have never had problems dry pailing nappies for 3 (or even 4) days and then washing on 60 with soapnuts or 1/4 cap of detergent. I do find that the Gels (the in the drum type ones) wash better, plus a rinse before the main wash helps too.
Sometimes you will still have the odd stain though, leaving them in the sun or putting some Vanish bar on them gets rid though!
Dont use powder oxy stuff, apparently it can harm some types of nappy so stick with the vanish bar and only use it when there is no sun at all.

the fleece liners and wipes can be soaked in something stronger if you wish just make sure they are VERY well rinsed before using.

 

[kelly342000]

thanks! the liquid was just asda or tesco own brand, i think i will change it tho as it does not seem much good at all! oh forgot to say, i did do a rinse before this last wash as
i am not rinsing the liners, wipes or nappies at all. i just chuck em all in the pail, should i be rinsing them before putting them in the pail??

 

[anothersquish]

I dont rinse before I put things in the drypail. I just do a rinse cycle/fast wash no liquid in the machine before putting soapnuts/detergent in. I def find when I use detergent the new gel ones to be the best.

 

[princessellie]

i always dry pail and wash at 60 with 100ml detergent, i find that when they come out of the washer they smell fine, then when i put them on the radiators or in the dryer, they come out smelling a bit rank, but once theyve cooled down again the smell goes

x

 

[Jetters]

Squish do you mean the gel tablets, like Persil that go inside the machine?

 

[anothersquish]

the Gel that goes into the caps and in the machine....Ariel I think are the ones I have out there (must have been on offer LOL)

 

[princessellie]

oh also i always used wilko's non bio, then switched to wilko's bio and am now using bold2in1 cos we dont usually have a dryer so the stuff goes a bit crispy, if youre tumble drying you shouldnt have that problem though and should get away with cheapy brand bio

x

 

[Jetters]

Does bold 2in1 help keep them soft then without a tumble dryer Ellie? And thanks Squish! x

 

[littlestar]

a cupful sounds like alot or detergent - be careful as a build up of detergent can cause rashes, smell and reduce absorbency.

you should use a 1/4 of the normal amount you would use for the equivalent sized wash load. ie if you have half a washer of nappies use 1/4 of the amount you would use for half a washer of clothes.

 

[littlestar]

the bold 2 in 1 is the only 2 in 1 which uses a clay based softener the others use an oil based on which obviously has an effect on the nappy absorbency.

 

[princessellie]

jetters, yeh they are pretty soft

i read you should use half the amount based on your water, ie soft medium hard, and heavy soil so we use 100ml powder measured in a free little jug thing i got from some washing powder company haha, never really had a build up problem, but i do do an extra rinse every wash

x

 

[Rachel_C]

Does anybody know about using water softener in nappy washes, like Calgon? I never have because I wasn't sure if it was ok, but now I think maybe I'm being silly and they would benefit from being washed in softened water.

 

[princessellie]

hmm ive never heard of that but then we have soft water in our area, how does it soften the water?

x

 

[thelilbump]

i don't know about water softener either tbh sorry!

 

[Rachel_C]

hmm ive never heard of that but then we have soft water in our area, how does it soften the water?

x

have you not seen the "washing machines live longer with calgon" adverts?! that's probably a good thing actually, i always get the stupid song stuck in my head! it's just powder or liquid that you add to the detergent drawer and it does something chemically, not sure what! it means in hard water areas you can use the amount of detergent you use in a soft water area, and it stops that nasty limescale build up in your machine. i'd never seen limescale build up (in the kettle) till i moved to london, it's manky!

Edit: You know you want to see... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRc1FgKGJFE

 

[thelilbump]

oh no that stoopid song, thanks Rach!!

 

[princessellie]

haha i recognised the song before i even watched the video

i wouldnt know if its safe for nappies though

x

 

[Rachel_C]

oh no that stoopid song, thanks Rach!!

You're very welcome