How to get poo stains out of cloth nappies

[Jessica1965]

My mummy has asked me to ask for advice.  She finds it hard to stop my cloth nappies getting stained with poo. Any advice how to get the stains o it. ?

[TinyBunny]

If biological soap isn't working you might need to try a dilute bleach solution.  Blot the stain if it's small or soak the nappy if it's bigger.

[tuffy]

8 hours ago, Jessica1965 said:

My mummy has asked me to ask for advice.  She finds it hard to stop my cloth nappies getting stained with poo. Any advice how to get the stains o it. ?

I've had success by following the cloth baby diaper people. 

Rinse all the poop off with cold water until you can only see a light brown stain. This is much easier for baby sized messes and takes me about 20 minutes using a shower massage sprayer on full blast. 

Saurate the the remaining stain with liquid clothes washer soap and soak in cold water for a few hours (or days). 

Set your washer for rinse & spin with cold water. After tye spin, add more soap to any remaining stain and wash with cold water. I use the heavy duty setting. When done, repeat if any stain remains or bleach in the sun for a few hours. 

I use an HE type washer and have been successful, but it is a real PITA!

 

PS: Cold water and not letting them dry out seem to be key. 

[Jessica1965]

Thank you you have been very helpful.  I think the big mistake mummy is trying is warm and hot water. 

[tuffy]

You're welcome.

Yeah, that was a surprise to me too. Though when you look at how to rmove blood stains, it makes since. My wife was able to rmove the blood stains from a heavily stained hand made quilt with a similar process. 

[zzyzx]

9 hours ago, Jessica1965 said:

Thank you you have been very helpful.  I think the big mistake mummy is trying is warm and hot water. 

@Jessica1965 Yes, warm or hot will help set the stain.

On the rare occasion I have this issue, I try to immediately run a cold water wash to keep it from staining.  Once that is handled, I run a normal hot wash of waiting diapers....  I'm using a front load HE type washer.

10 hours ago, tuffy said:

PS: Cold water and not letting them dry out seem to be key. 

@tuffy Exactly.

[Jessica1965]

3 hours ago, zzyzx said:

@Jessica1965 Yes, warm or hot will help set the stain.

On the rare occasion I have this issue, I try to immediately run a cold water wash to keep it from staining.  Once that is handled, I run a normal hot wash of waiting diapers....  I'm using a front load HE type washer.

@tuffy Exactly.

I wear disposable nappies most of the time but when I poo my nappy it sometimes leaks a stains my nappy cover. But mummy likes me to wear cloth to reduce the cost of being 24/7. Good advice how to deal with the stains. 

[Cruiser 03]

Bleach an any of those oxygen boosted laundy soap are toxic to the long term health of cloth diapers , if your getting poo stains there is an old saying that still applies “sunlight is natures bleach and disinfectant in one “ hang your diapers inside out on clothes line to dry the sun rays will start breaking those stains up . I have cloth diapers that have been filled with poop 100X’s yet don’t look any different from ones that have only 20 BMs . Sunshine makes huge difference in whiteness and erasing BM stains .

[WelshDad4Lad]

When I was a nipper, mothers had large, dedicated pans and the nappies would be boiled to get them clean. 

[vvp39]

The thread shows up as "How to get poo stains out of ...  
That evokes "...the sofa", "the driver's seat..." It definitely made me open it to satisfy my curiosity.

Plastic panties can get skidmarks too - those are from dyes that are in food, most often carotene from tomatoes.

[Babypants]

Step 1: purchase a diaper sprayer, and put in on the line feeding your toilet.  Use the sprayer to clean as much poop off the diaper as possible.

Step 2:  Using two diaper pails, one for pee stained and one for poop stained, place the poopy diaper in its own diaper pail and keep it immersed in cold water until you are ready to do laundry.  There is no need to add detergent.

Step 3: prewash in cold water on a double rinse cycle.  USE ONLY THE RINSE CYCLE, NOT THE WHOLE CYCLE.  Add a small amount of baking soda and lemon juice to this cycle.

Step 4: wash in hot water using an enzyme free detergent, with the rinse cycle on warm or cold.   Add lemon juice during the wash cycle, and white vinegar during the rinse cycle.  These can be reversed at will.

Step 5 hang on the line to dry in direct sunlight.  Try to avoid running once poopy diapers through a dryer as much as possible, as the direct heat will set whatever stain is left.

Additional thoughts: if you have diaper rash, switch immediately to disposables.  DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, APPLY DESITIN OR ANY COMPARABLE PRODUCT TO YOUR SKIN AND THEN WEAR A CLOTH DIAPER.  THE ONLY WAY TO REMOVE THE PASTE FROM THE FABRIC INVOLVES BLUE DAWN, A STIFF TOOTH BRUSH, AND A LOT OF ELBOW GREASE.

The only variable in all of this is your water quality.  I spent $4,500 on a water filtration system to give my diapers a fighting chance.  

From: a 78 year old lifetime incontinent, who has been doing his own diaper laundry from age 14.

[BabyJune]

Try soaking them in a bucket of OxiClean. It's a powdered oxygen-based bleach.