How to soften terry flats?

[Indadhanu]

PMSL don't have one of them either rayray!!! LOL!

I'd LOVE a dryer, Shel is stubborn (my parents keep saying we need one so she won't buy one because she doesn't want them to be right... )

[Pandora]

hmm. maybe one could just appear suddenly..lol
Lots of things DH says we dont need just turn up..people *ahem* give them to us.

[~Aveta~]

i used to use a cup of cheap white vinegar in the wash instead of fabric softener with my nappies

[Gigi]

Just to be CRYSTAL clear here, for any clothie newbies lurking, DO NOT USE VINEGAR with MCN. it's fine with cotton terry flats, (but not hemp or bamboo flats).

vinegar used on the MCN washing, VERY VERY RARELY, can help you if the fabric goes stinky.

but if you use it on a regular basis, you will invalidate your MCN warranties and wreck the MCN.

[Indadhanu]

I am going through my BH&G magazines and found a eucalyptus oil article and they said its great to soften nappies, so I did, and it did!! YAY! And now they're lovely and fresh smelling too

[echidna]

I'm glad I'm not the only one with crunchy flats! Ever since I moved and no longer have a drier, the flats go crunchy. I wash the microfleece liners, covers, pocket nappies and inserts/boosters all together in the wash. We have a front loader washer. Nothing is bamboo or hemp. Pocket nappies were second hand.

So can I use vinegar in the wash with all of these items? I do put a capful of Eucalyptus oil in every nappy wash, and half a cap in regular clothes washing, just for the nice smell.

They are softer going on the line, and I can't get to them when they are *just* dry. The weather here can be hotter than I realise and things dry fast. I have used a hairbrush to relift the nap in the fabric and they were softer, but not as soft as they were coming out of the drier. But very next wash, they are crunchy again. I don't want to have to sit for 3 hours brushing the nap.

[LimeSlice]

PUT DOWNT THE FABRIC SOFTENER AND STEP AND AWAY FROM THE NAPPIES!!! lol

Whatever you use for anything never put fab softener on your nappies - they will cease to be absorbent, and hence, I assume, nullify your reason for using a nappy lol

Epsom salt will soften them too. Add your eucalyptus to the tub of epsom salts and then add them where you add the fabric softener. The smell of the eucalyptus is retained better this way I think. Epsom salts also soften the water so you dont need anywhere near as much detergent

[echidna]

The nappies are as absorbant as they have ever been. I don't need to change her more frequently, and I've used fabric softener from the beginning.

I will replace FS with something else. Epsom salts, where do I get them? Can I use vinegar? I already have vinegar here. Can vinegar and Euc oil go together?

I've been using cloth full time since May and was using cloth while I was with my ex. It seems I am still a novice! LOL