How to soften terry flats?

[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

[LimeSlice]

You can buy epsom salts from the chemist, supermarket....they come in a blue box - by Fauldigs i think? you can also get them from dry ingredient supply shops like PantryMan if you have them where you are.

I only use vinegar about once a month to strip wash my nappies and take smells out if I have them.

The FS puts a coating on the fibres of clothes, it is what makes them soft, and that coating can build up and prevent the fibres from soaking up as much liquid as they used to. (And if you dont use it you can save yourself a lot of money! lol)

[AngelPunks]

mum used to swear by washing soda to soften terry flats & towels

[echidna]

Thanks everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The vinegar worked a treat! Not as soft as drier nappies, but a HUGE improvement!

Question: if I were using bicarb soda in my dry pail for odour control, would that affect the vinegar in the fabric softener compartment in my front loader? Should I wrap the bicarb into a hanky?