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Cleaning Cloth Nappies


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I'm wondering what the procedure is for cleaning cloth nappies? I have just started using them and I'm not of hte best way to clean them.

Any help is appreciated :)

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This is what we have in the US. It may do for a start. I take a sitzbath after using my diapers and then rinse them in the bath water with a tiny amount of Pine-sol orange in the bath water and let them dry. then when I wash them, I followe the instructions here then, after using Whites, Deep Wash or Heavy Duty for the main wash with Dreft, StainBoost setting and dual-rince setting, I use Drain & Spin for an extra spin cycle. My diapers are extra thick and heavy

http://www.fluffloveuniversity.com/how-to-wash-cloth-diapers/washing-with-an-he-machine/

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If i've just pissed in my cloth diapers, I simply put them in a bucket with a lid on it until i have enough for a washg load.

I by the rare chance i've pooped my cloth diapers, I rinse them off in the shower as i wash myself clean, then put them in the bucket, waiting a load.

Sometimes I add a little baking soda and water to the bucket if it's going to be awhile before i have a wash load.

Usually i add a cup of white vinegar to the second of three rinses.

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When I was using exclusively cloth nappies, they would be washed the same day as wearing (left in a bucket with nappycleanse or some such if they weren't going to be washed right away). I'd always use bio washing powder on as hot a cycle as the powder could handle (60). I'd stick a glug of white vinegar in for the rinse too. Finally, they'd go in the tumble dryer to make them soft and fluffy.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Soak them in a 5 gallon bucket of bleach for maybe 30 minutes especially for messes. And rinse the diaper out in the toilet if its messy before you stick it in the bucket. Toilet water is cleaner than what we drink or than what you think if your toilet bowl is always clean. When you wash them in the washer do not use warm water. And Depending on what kind of material it is definitely don't dry them in the dryer. Just AIR DRY THEM. Ive read some reviews online some people made that mistake and the cloth diaper never properly fit them again. So air dry them until you find out for absolutely sure you can use them in the dryer. And definitely don't do them at a laundry mat. I tried to stick some shoes in the dryer the maintenance man warned me they would turn to rubber so i headed his warning. And it turned out that they use gas fire to dry your clothes in the dryer. Not all laundry mats use gas to dry clothes so find out which ones do and don't. and which ever ones don't use gas to dry clothes you'll be ok.

It would just cost more than the cloth diapers to wash them at the laundry mat each year. $15.00 a week at the laundry mat and that's not even washing cloth diapers. I don't own cloth diapers. But If i did my estimated bill at the laundry mat would be $75 a week or more which equals out to $3600 a year to wash laundry with cloth diapers. 2 cases of disposable diapers a month would be about $240 a month or less depending on the manufacture times 12. which equals out to $2880 which is the reason I will always stick with disposables. Me Personally would never buy cloth diapers until I own my own place and own my own washer and dryer

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  • 3 weeks later...
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I use about 1/4 cup of chlorine bleach in the wash cycle. They say chlorine bleach is bad, disintegrates the cotton fibers. My diaps are deteriorating, but I can't say how much is due to the bleach and how much just due to washing & tumble drying on high heat (night prefolds, thick in the middle).

Might be better to add a very small amount of bleach to the rinse. In the wash, the bleach fights with the detergent.

I try to use just enough chlorine bleach to kill the funk. I tried the 'Rock'n Green anti-funk' or whatever it's called, and I tried 20 Mule Team (genuine) Borax. Maybe my water is not hot enough... anyway, it didn't kill the funk. So I turned to chlorine. I think chlorine might work even in cold water. Borax certainly doesn't.

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On ?8?/?13?/?2016 at 11:18 AM, WillDL said:

I use about 1/4 cup of chlorine bleach in the wash cycle. They say chlorine bleach is bad, disintegrates the cotton fibers. My diaps are deteriorating, but I can't say how much is due to the bleach and how much just due to washing & tumble drying on high heat (night prefolds, thick in the middle).

Might be better to add a very small amount of bleach to the rinse. In the wash, the bleach fights with the detergent.

I try to use just enough chlorine bleach to kill the funk. I tried the 'Rock'n Green anti-funk' or whatever it's called, and I tried 20 Mule Team (genuine) Borax. Maybe my water is not hot enough... anyway, it didn't kill the funk. So I turned to chlorine. I think chlorine might work even in cold water. Borax certainly doesn't.

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  • 5 weeks later...
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For us in the US, 60 C is equiv to 140 F.

(I think some of the original post was lost.  It went on to say something like...)

That's very hot.  Risk of scalding in the shower.  And hard on the heater.  And costly in fuel.  I want to avoid this.

Edited by WillDL
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An oxy will do fine

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2017/12/07 post:  Been using a H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide) bleach in the wash cycle with the detergent.  Diaper funk seemed tolerable for a while / a few washes each diaper, but now it seems like the H2O2 bleach is no longer working.  Pretty 'moderate' funk after an overnight wear.

I might go back to the standard sodium hypochlorite (chlorine) bleach.  That is reliable, but it does slowly 'melt' the fabric.  Maybe a little bit once in a while is ok, with the H2O2 bleach running 2-3-4-? washes in between chlorine treatments.

Maybe I'm not getting 'em dry enough.  I think I am, but maybe not.  Takes forever to dry overnight prefolds.  Will definitely try a different diap system when having to replace my current set.

2017/12/13 update:  Using less detergent now, have opened a new bottle of hydrogen peroxide ('oxy') bleach of a diffferent brand (7th Generation instead of the Clorox label).  Seems to be better.

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  • 2 months later...

I rinse my cloth pull-ups and flannel diapers while in the shower cleaning up, then place them in a bucket until I get a load (usually 3-4 days). I wash them in hot water with detergent and push the extra rinse cycle, pop them in the dryer and they are ready to be folded. No funky smell ( my wife of over 35 years lets me know if there is any smell) nothing but clean soft diapers. I think that multi layered doublers are too dense to come clean in a single wash cycle, so I have switched to flannel baby diapers for doublers, folding them in thirds and using multiples for added capacity (they are less expensive than pre-made doublers and add versatility).

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  • 1 month later...

I tried 20 Mule Team Borax before this, but it didn't seem to work.  This time, I have a new plan.  The goal is to get dissolved borax in the diapers and have less possible interference from detergent.  Note:  Some products that were formerly borax (e.g. Borateem) no longer have borax.  Check the ingredients.

I can't recommend chlorine after all.  It works reliably to kill the funk, but it also eats up the fabric and markedly shortens its life.  I think the cloth-eating property is hand-in-hand with the funk-killing property, no matter how little is used.

The diaps are the night-weight prefolds from AdultClothDiaper.com.  Very thick.  That's part of the problem.  I haven't found anything I like better, yet.

1.  The water is slightly hotter.  I didn't change the setting on the heater, but the colder temperatures where the heater is kept causes the control to compensate by heating the water more.  I suppose I should get a thermometer to help control & understand.

2.  I pre-washed with enough detergent (a little more than before) and hot water, then spun it out.  (Instead of just pouring the 20 Mule Team Borax in with the detergent.)

3.  Removed the spun-out diaps from the basket.  Refilled the basket with hot water and while it was filling, hand-dissolved 1/2 cup of borax in a pail with a few inches of hot water.  Made sure it was dissolved (stirred and sloshed and squished 'rocks' between my fingers) then poured it in the basket while it filled.  Ran the agitator for a while to mix the borax with the rest of the water.  Only then, put the spun diaps in to absorb the borax solution.  Then, let this go through another wash cycle (borax solution & only the detergent that was left in the spun diapers) and finished as normal.  Two cold rinses (as before.  my washer cycle does this automatically), dry well.

The jury is still out...

(P.S.  I wonder if one rinse would be better.  Might be better to leave a bit MORE of the borax in while drying?  My reading on the web makes me confident that borax is nearly not-toxic despite some current non-scientific panic/hysteria over it.)

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Well seeing as I have to pay to wash my cloth diapers I rinse out my diapers in the shower.I take my hose and put it on pulse and spray the heck out of it .Then I let it drip dry just enough befor I put it in the pail till I get enough for a load to wash them.

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I’ve been wearing cloth diapers for the most of my life. I rinse them and if I have a machine load I will wash them. I only use them for number one not really a big deal to get them clean and fresh again

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When I wear cloth, I always sluice them thoroughly under the shower as soon as I take one off, which I think probably rinses 90% of the pee away down the drain immediately. Then I put them straight in a tub of water to soak until it's time to wring them out and transfer to the washing machine, which seems to dilute whatever's left beyond detection. You can always change the water occasionally, too, or add sterilising tablets if you think that's appropriate. Plus, I always use something as a liner in the seat area of the diaper even if I don't think it's going to be needed, because you never really know when nature might unexpectedly happen to call in the 'other' way. Professional flushable liners are great, but you can use any kind of comfortable rag material you have to hand - old cut up t-shirts for example. It sometimes takes a little work to pin a liner in place so it doesn't bunch up, but then cloth diapers are more work in general, and I would say a liner more than pays for its time investment when it comes to cleaning up. Plus, unlike an expensive cloth diaper, you can just throw away any liner that seems difficult to clean.

Then I'd say biological washing powder is a match, and dry in sunlight if possible (difficult as I know that is when it comes to displaying one's adult diapers in one's backyard for the neighbours to see), as UV light has antibacterial effects. Definitely dry as soon as possible, so bacteria can't build up again after the wash. I sometimes find highly absorbent cloth diapers benefit from an extra spin cycle in the washer if they still seem heavy when the wash finishes. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

New plan with Borax.  So far, I am having good luck with it.  Not sure enough yet; won't say it's a complete success.  What certainly failed is chlorine.  Eats up the diapers really fast.

1.  Hot water wash with detergent.  Spin to remove as much detergent & pee as possible, but do not rinse. 

2.  Remove the spun-out diapers (best if still warm from the hot wash) from the washer.  Restart the normal hot wash cycle.  I am using the cycle that does one hot wash, one cold rinse, same as I might use for cotton bath towels.

3.  While the washer is filling with hot water, take a bucket and fill it with an inch or two of hot water.  Put 1/2 cup of borax in, and make sure it's dissolved.  (Press the chunks with your fingers to crush them.  Stir / agitate until all the solids are dissolved.  It will take a few minutes but it will eventually all dissolve.)

4.  When the washer is about 3/4 full, pour in the borax solution.  Turn the level selector switch down so that it will agitate.  Let the agitator mix in the solution with the water that's in the tub.

5.  Put the spun diapers in the tub, press down so that they are infused with the borax solution.  Turn the level selector switch back to 'Large' or 'Max' or whatever, so it completes filling as needed, and restart the wash cycle.

6. Only one rinse.  Some residual borax will remain in the diapers during the dry cycle, but maybe this is to the good.  It may help inhibit bacteria/enzymes when you're using the diaper.  I've read some web hysteria/panic over borax, but further & deeper reading makes me believe it's a false panic.  Some people report the stuff is actually healthful taken as a supplement.

7.  An additional factor is I give even longer in the dryer now.  Longer than the max time on the dryer's timer.  Now, I reset for longer time before they cool off, don't let them sit even 1 hour.  To make sure the night weight (super thick) diaps I use are really fully dry.  That might be a helping factor.

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