Washing Machines, Children, Resuable Nappies and Laundry Gloop

TitchTori

A bit of a mix of a thread - i've been reading about Laundry Gloop for weeks now and i'm really interested in it because i'm expecting my first and i've opted for Resuable Nappies.

The reason is because babies have such thin skin and there are loads of chemicals in disposable nappies rather than anything to do with landfill and eco reasons.

The thing is i'd rather that it didn't cost me a fortune in washing powder and electricity with the washing machine and tumble dryer. But i'm concerned that i keep reading that Laundry Gloop leaves things smelling sweaty and i'm also concerned about not getting the nappies clean enough

So can we chat old style babies and how i can do this and not give up.....

thanks everyone x

MaggieBaking

TitchTori wrote: »

A bit of a mix of a thread - i've been reading about Laundry Gloop for weeks now and i'm really interested in it because i'm expecting my first and i've opted for Resuable Nappies.

The reason is because babies have such thin skin and there are loads of chemicals in disposable nappies rather than anything to do with landfill and eco reasons.

The thing is i'd rather that it didn't cost me a fortune in washing powder and electricity with the washing machine and tumble dryer. But i'm concerned that i keep reading that Laundry Gloop leaves things smelling sweaty and i'm also concerned about not getting the nappies clean enough

So can we chat old style babies and how i can do this and not give up.....

thanks everyone x

Well the good news is that babies nappies might smell but not of sweat :rotfl: From what I have read it's the temperature of the wash that is good for nappies to get them clean enough, not just what they are washed in.

TitchTori

MaggieBaking wrote: »

Well the good news is that babies nappies might smell but not of sweat

Good point!!

Thanks, i believe there is no need to soak the nappies before washing but i think a pre wash with no powder - does anyone have experience of this and would you think this would be a hot wash?

And the back to the Laudry Gloop query (re sweat smell!!) how best to avoid this - i'd love to use hm powder/liquid/gloop but want my washing to smell fresh

esio_trot

Good on you for choosing cloth, I love my cloth nappies and hate having to use disposables now.

Washing nappies is easy but there is a knack to it in preventing stains and detergent build up. I just rinse the solids off with the toilet flush, dry pail, then do a cold rinse, a 60 degree wash, then an additional rinse and they come up great. i wash every 2-3 days now my baby is a year old and don't tend to have any issues. I think, out if 20 nappies I own, 3 or 4 are stained and that's only because of teething and my laziness in getting them rinsed out promptly this week. The sun will take care of that when it ever decides to reappear!

I don't use gloop and I'd be wary of doing so because soapy build up on nappies is a nightmare. It irritates baby's skin, lowers absorbancy and makes the nappies smell. Most people think nappies need more detergent, but in reality, all you need is a tablespoon of non bio so I guess if you only bought powder for nappies, a small carton would last you an age!

Hope that helped some. Will keep an eye on the thread in case you have any questions

BitterAndTwisted

I've been using HM laundry gloop for over a year now and there's no lingering smell, no staining and no soap residue. I expect a lot depends on what soap you use to make the gloop from. I used a bar of Fairy household soap. A tablespoon of Napisan every now and again brings things like tea-towels back to brightness and I only ever wash in cold water. I'd have absolutely no qualms about washing terry nappies in gloop

natlie

Hi
I used real nappies and if you use a nappy sanitiser when you soak there would be no smell as smell usually comes from bacteria, which nappies are you using? some of them can lose colour - depending on what you use to soak them in you could use tea tree I will use this http://www.ecohut.biz/bugs-at-bay-anti-viral-laundry-sanitiser-206-p.asp its a bit exp. but you only need a spoonful of it
Nat
x

laddujaddu

I am expecting my first baby as well:) and I have been looking into using reusables. Videojug gives a good advice, I think, they say start with reusables, coz you will have so much on your hands with the new baby at first, that you want to simplify things as much as possible. Later on, when you'll establish a sort of routine and get used a bit to things start with reusables. Re: amount of washing powder, I completely agree, you don't have to have a lot and it doesn't have to be the most expensive brand, as I found out with our laundry,I always put at least 3 times less the recommended dose and things get out nice and clean, it's the movement of water in the washing machine that cleans, and then the washing powder.

TitchTori

Thanks for all the advice everyone - very, very useful

natlie wrote: »

which nappies are you using?

I have bought Tots Bots Easyfit and some Birth to Potty Bamboo Stretch (does that sound right!!!) most are white but i have bought 4 in a print.

I had read somewhere that using tea tree somewhere in the process was a good idea. I think the key is a set routine - I really don't want to give up on this one!!

esio_trot

Stretchies are great, they're my favourites :-)

You definitely don't want to be soaking either type of nappy you have though, it'll ruin the waterproofing of the easyfits for a start. I'm fairly sure its not recommended for bamboo either.

Personally I don't use tea tree, as I dry pail, but the idea behind it is that it's anti bacterial.

anguk

I used cloth nappies for my 2 but this was back in the day when there was only terry squares and waterproof pants,we didn't have the luxury of shaped nappies!

I used to sluice the nappy down the loo then soak them in a bucket with a spoonful of napisan then every couple of days give them a 60 degree wash. I also used to hang them on the line when I could because the sun is a natural bleach.

The only time the nappies came out of the washer stained was when I dry-pailed once, it's as if the stains had dried in and set so I always soaked them after that. But I understand that with some of these new modern nappies you can't soak them or it'll ruin the waterproofing.

I love terry squares, I bought some decent ones from Boots when I was pregnant with my eldest, used them for him, then used them for my youngest and I've still got some that are used for cleaning/mopping up and they're almost like new. My eldest is 25 this year!!!

natlie

TitchTori wrote: »

I have bought Tots Bots Easyfit and some Birth to Potty Bamboo Stretch (does that sound right!!!) most are white but i have bought 4 in a print.!!

I only ask as lundry bleach can damage velour nappies like Rainbow bots and pocket nappies like tot bots if you use it regularly, I am using fuzzibunz and charlie bananas and a few blueberry minkies

I also had a free bumgenius v4 with a voucher from my Bounty Book - only paid £3 for postage

Are you using reusable wetwipes? have a look at www.cheekywipes.com
Nat
x