washing reusable nappies

[buttons1]

please excuse me as i am sure this is a really stupid question but I am a newbie to all this.

My cloth nappies arrived this morning and i am super excited to start using them. I know I need to prewash them to build up absorbency do i need to make sure the nappies are properly dry before i do the second prewash? Also how many prewashes do people recommend doing on new nappies and should I use 1/4 detergent or 1/2 of normal amount?

Thanks in advance

 

[thelilbump]

No you don't have to dry them inbetween. 1/4 scoop of non bio and no softener. Tbh I only tend to prewash once maybe twice mainly because i hate washing clean nappies, so i just bare this in mind when i put a new nappy on my LO and only let her wear it for perhaps half the time I would normally until it's been washed 3/4 times. Soaking in a bucket for half an hour before you do a wash can help too.

 

[Rachel_C]

What nappies did you get? It makes a difference as some materials need more prewashing (bamboo and hemp take up to 10 washes to reach full absorbancy) whereas microfibre doesn't really need any, though one prewash will make sure there are no chemicals left from the production process.

You don't need to dry them before rewashing and you could probably just do one or two washes and then loads of rinses instead of full washes. Sometimes rather than washing, I put a bit of detergent in a bucket, leave them to soak for a few hours, then change the water for just water with no detergent and keep swishing/changing the water every few hours. Then I leave it over night and then dry them the next day. If you have a lot, you could use the bath to do it if you wanted to do it that way.

I've heard of people using 1/4 or 1/2 detergent but I generally think the less you can use and still get them clean the better, so I go with 1/4 and it works well.

Also, you don't necessarily need to get the nappies up to full absorbancy before you start using them. If you're ok to change them a bit more often for the first couple of uses, you can get away with just a few prewashes/rinses and let them build up absorbancy gradually. I wouldn't do that for a night nappy though!

 

[buttons1]

thanks ladies that is really useful. I have got pop in bamboo ones so I guess they will take longer to get to full absorbency. Think I will just do a couple of washes and then start using them but change her more frequently to start with.

Also does it matter what temperature i do the prewashes on. I will wash at a higher temp when they have been used but seems like its silly to do prewashes on anything other than 30

 

[Rachel_C]

I don't think the temperature matters for prewashes, and normally wash on 30 degrees with no problems. I just do an occasional hotter wash but 30 is fine normally

 

[Mrs Muffin]

I put my flip inserts in with the rest of my clothes washing when I was trying to get the absorbancy up, that way it didn't feel like I was "wasting" all that water.

 

[anothersquish]

Id wash them with 1/4 detergent once then turf them in a bucket of water overnight, change the water every 3 hours ish and swirly them round everytime you go in (NB dont bother putting the outers in just the snap in bamboo parts) then do one rinse tomorrow, dry and use