ecoball and nappies questions

cluuuuur

Baby is due tomorrow (argh!) and we're all stocked up with reusable nappies and ecoballs. I've been using ecoballs on our clothing at 30 degrees for the last few months, and have been happy with the results, so I'll be giving them a go with the nappies too.

A lot of the stuff that I've read, however, suggests that they're not always the best with nappies, and that there can be stains and smells left behind - I've seen people recommending white wine vinegar and teatree essential oil mixed into the wash as helping. Can someone who has experience (or more knowledge than me) just check that this nappy plan of action might work? I'm using hemp nappies.

Dry pail nappies.

Wash one load every other day (depending on how many we go through, obviously)

Do a prewash (automatically set on our machine as 25 mins @ 30 degrees)

Do an "everyday" wash with ecoballs, and teaspoon full of ww vinegar/couple of drops teatree oil in the detergent drawer @ 60 degrees

Line dry if possible.

Does that sound about right? Is the prewash necessary? Am I okay to use the ecoballs at the same time as the vinegar/teatree oil? I realise I'm probably overthinking the whole thing, but what with the combination of pregnancy brains and hormones, I'm stressing!

wendy+5

Hi, I always ran my nappies through on a cold wash first as the cold water relaxes the fibres and makes it easier for the pooh to come out. I then put them through on a 40 wash with soap nuts.

I used totsbots fluffles and never had a problem with staining.

HTH.

Good Luck for tomorrow!

Craftynclothy

yeah, I'd say you only need to do the normal wash bit at 40. Would also recommend soapnuts as they help keep the nappies nice and soft.

tipplehead

I've never tried ecoballs, so not sure how well they work. When I first started washing nappies I used non-bio, but after about a momth or so they smelled awful. The girls on CNA suggested that it was probably a build up of detergent in the nappies. I swapped over to soapnuts and have not had a problem with smells since. My routine for bamboo and cotton nappies:

Dry pail
Pre rinse (not prewash)
40C wash with soapnuts and a few drops of teatree (occasionally a splash of vinegar if I have some)
Always line dry - freshens them up and doesn't destroy the fibres like tumble drying seems to.

Good luck, cloth nappies are just the best.