Help for a 1st timer real nappy user

fizz

It was a while ago, but milton,a decent soak and then a 'proper' boil. My DD's only 9 but it keeps nappies white and prolongs their life. My nan's way was the best!

love fizz.xx

blueberrypie

Am currently on fifth baby in cloth nappies. It's unnecessary to soak them in a pail or anything else - in fact wet-pailing makes the nappy pail smell worse, and doesn't do anything to help clean or sterilise the nappies unless you use chemicals. If you really must soak, put them in the washer, let it fill, then turn it off and leave it for a few hours.

Do not go straight to a warm/hot wash - hot water sets stains. Start with a cold pre-wash, then wash in warm/hot water.

Some nappies do need to be treated differently from others - with good-quality terry squares, you can wash them as hot as you want and they'll be fine, but some of the shaped or all-in-one nappies or non-100%-cotton ones have instructions not to wash above 60.

Re smells - I have never found this to be a problem, but then I always hang nappies to dry, and I suspect that tumble-drying them might make them slightly more odiferous (though probably only until they've been aired a little bit afterwards). Sunlight also helps get rid of stains, so if you can get them hanging outside to dry, do that! :-)

My method is this:
- shake any solid waste off into loo
- drop nappy in dry pail
- when pail is full, toss the whole lot into the washer
- run a cold pre-wash (or a short cold cycle if you don't have a prewash)
- run a hot wash
- hang to dry

The hot wash might not be necessary, strictly-speaking, but as someone else said, it's not money-saving if you end up washing stuff twice either.

I will admit that after five babies, some of the nappies are a bit worse for wear, but I suspect that has more to do with the amount of use they've had than anything I've done to them while washing them! And they're all still clean :-)

Caroline73_2

When I took off DS2 nappies I used to flush them in the toilet (holding on to one end obviously), dry pail and then wash at 40 with half dose non bio.