My stash is almost complete, now what?

[PumpkinZulu]

So I've slowly slowly been building up enough nappies to cloth DD full time, some second hand, some new. My question is, what now? Mainly, what do I wash them with, and do I wash them once before using or a few times? Total cloth newbie so I need help!

[LuluHB]

If they're brand new they will need several washes before use so they get better absorbency - you need to dry them between each wash. With second hand ones I would be a doing a strip wash of them.

Wash them using a mild wash mix - liquid if possible - using about a third of what you would normally use. When you start using them you will need to do a rinse cycle first and then a full wash. I used to do an additional rinse at the end as well, but I think that's more to do with my useless machine.

[PumpkinZulu]

Thanks Lu What about the temp? The majority have PUL, so I'd imagine the wash couldn't be too hot? I normally wash cold so I have no idea. What about normal washes? Rinse, wash, rinse?

[Beach Mama]

I used to add a cup of water with a tiny dash of eucalyptus oil in mine, I know you don't use powder, I used a tinsy bit every few washes with no problems (GK's mainly) and I would do the occasional hot wash! Clearly I had no idea of the rules and just played around til it worked. I also ended up using soap nuts for a while which don't leave residue and clean nicely!
I would put my machine on a longer than normal wash but the cycle was wash, rinse, spin - no extra rinse here. Lots of sun to dry and sanitise!

[PumpkinZulu]

Cool, that sounds reasonable. I've heard two rinses and was like that's a lot of water! Do you think bicarb would do the job well? I'll also look into soap nuts. It's all so big and new in the beginning, huh? And exciting

[OceanPrincess]

PZ, you don't need to add anything to them when washing except a tiny bit of powder. Use like a half or a third of what you would usually use.

I didn't dry my new ones in between washes at the start. I just put them in with whatever else I was washing, washed them, took everything else out, left them in the bottom and did it all again.

[leckert]

Temp of water probably not more than 60c. My hot water is limited to 50c so I never have to panic about being too hot


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk so sorry if I'm confusing you

[OceanPrincess]

Oh yeah definitely always cold water. Hot will destroy your PUL.

[skybie]

We use only a thrid of the normal washing powder and wash in cold, sun or dryer to dry depending on the brand of nappy.
once a month i do a strip wash and once a week a do a rinse with canesten liquid.

[onthefly]

now you start buying wraps

[Kazbah]

complete stash there is no such thing!

Like any new clothes (brand new or just new to you) you wash them before use. They will get more absorbent as they get more washes but in the meantime, just change them more often.

I wash mine with one level scoop of bostikos euky wash and it's a hot wash as well. I do them with my towels. If needed, I'll put my nappies in the wash, but not pockets as it seems they have thinner PUL.

Oh, and wraps, slings & carriers are the new obsession here

[Gigi]

Brand new MCN:

if you wash the aplix closing ones (aplix is the industrial type of velcro) with OTHER clothing (for the pre-washes), be aware that aplix can catch on other fabrics. Most MCN have laundry tabs, but i didn't find that 100%. I got ZIPPERED washbags for "insurance". Then i worked out that my bub liked to undo aplix when she got a bit older, so i switched to snaps closing MCN anyhoo. I tried so many washbags, many only lasted two weeks (being washed constantly, the zips gave out) but buying the dust mite proof pillow protectors worked much better (and cheaper). Must have better zips, and are roomier too.

Understanding the MCN fabric components, helps you understand how to wash them.

outer fabrics - e.g Malden Mills fleece (often the night nappies), PUL, minky
(these are all synthetic, dry fast, putting them on the drying rack inside worked for us)

swimwear elastic in the legs and tummy section (hidden) - try not to put the parts (outers) with the elastic in the drier if you can help it, or only for a few mins, cos the heat from the drier will lessen the lifespan of the elastic.

inner fabrics -
e.g for staydry inners, that might be suedecloth, or microfleece
(fast drying)
e.g for non=staydry inners, that might be cotton velour, bamboo velour, hemp velour, bamboo terry
(slower drying, great for babies whose skin reacts to synthetic inners, or when your child gets nappy rash)

absorbency fabrics =
external to the nappy, such as snap in boosters, or the inserts you put inside pocket nappies
internal to the nappy, such as sew, in absorbency in a fitted nappy
These fabrics can include:
hemp, bamboo, microfibre, cotton
(the ones that take the longest to dry, also soak up the most liquid)
The brand new bamboo and hemp fabrics need 6 pre-washes, to work up their absorbency.
However with a nb, because they do tiny wees, i wouldn't stress if you don't get all the pre-washes done, the normal washes will do.

PRE-LOVED NAPPIES
unless you bought "bought new then changed my mind" type sales, the pre-loved nappies will most likely already have had the number of washes needed.

WASHING ROUTINES FOR MCH really vary, it is a bit of trial and error with what suits YOUR household, YOUR washing machine, YOUR water, YOUR child's skin.

This is what i worked out eventually, for my child (with sensitive skin, so i had to switch to natural fibre inners).
(one person's experience)

Little Squirt attachment in the toilet (to remove odour, remove stains immed before they set, remove poo easily)

Nappy pail next to that, detach all pieces, e.g take inserts out of pocket nappies, unsnap boosters from all in twos, do up laundry tabs on any aplix covers or nappies

when nappy pail was full (e.g usually took one day) do a nappy load

Using a front loader (load adjusts to use only water needed for that particular load)

one tablespoon of either Ecostore or Aware Sensitive powder in the WASH drawer
one tablespoon of same in the PRE-WASH drawer

selected the Nappy Cycle on the LG
(which is pre-wash, longest cotton wash cycle on 60 degrees, then longest rinse cycle)

Do load in morning, so night nappy gets done pronto, not left to marinate in the nappy pail (this is the ideal, not what always happens!)




i adjusted my child's stash once she arrived and i worked out which nappies suited her body shape. No matter how much she grew, she always suited
narrow crotch
high rise
side snapper
sized
nappies.
None of this did i understand, before she arrived. I thought all nappies suited every baby. I bought OSFA, wide crotch, some low rise, aplix closing nappies LOL. And front closing snap nappies.
Her developing a reaction to synthetic inners at 14 months old, was another thing i had to adjust the stash to.

Buying woollies came later, that developed into a stash too. (once i worked out how to do the handwash + lanolise thang (which sounded so much harder, than it actually was, but i still don't regret not having had woollies for her nb stage, i know i wouldn't have coped with the maintenance, at that stage). Plus the flongies - they are so easy care, replaced her pj bottoms, idiot proof washing, great for winter, easy for nb stage too (if your nb arrives in the colder months).

And buying the toilet training stash was fun too (i bought them all with natural inners, due to her fabric reaction).
Used the woollies at the tt-ing stage too. By this stage i could handwash and lanolise in my sleep, ha ha.

Didn't get to buy the larger nappies stash i was planning on, as she tt-d at 13kg, i had it all planned out, the nappies i would get for the 17kg+ stage, LOL.

sigh, i miss the mcn stage! i get so soppy when i look thru her early photos, in the mcn.

oh, i nearly forgot, the MCN accessories.

- nappy bag for going out, buy one big enough for mcn, many are designed for disposable nappies and are too small

- wetbag for storing the nappies used when going out with bub (i had one for in use, one for in the wash, so always one ready to go)
i didn't buy one straight up, ended up going to physio when bilby was tiny WITHOUT a wetbag, i didn't predict i would need it so early on

- nappy pail (lockable ones from target)

- bamboo boosters (bamboo prefolds, tiny like 30x 30, that you can fold in three, so useful to boost nappies)

- buy half a metre of microfleece, cut it up into strips like 10 x 30, lay in any nappy as a liner

- when they get past the runny poop stage, disposable liners, esp for going out nappies. try a few diff brands, some are like sandpaper, some are brilliant

- if you go away sometimes, a very large wetbag, sometimes called a pail liner, is a useful thing to hang on the back of a motel door, it's your defacto nappy bucket

- wipes. i bought maybe 30 cotton flannels/facewashers just for this purpose. You wipe baby at change time, then little squirt off the poop, throw them in the nappy pail, wash with the nappies. So baby is just getting WATER on their skin, not the chemicals in baby wipes. The safest commercial baby wipes i came across (for the going out bag) were Nature Babycare and Gaia bamboo wipes.

- hand sanitiser. Most of these are 60% alcohol, very drying for the skin (yours and theirs) and dangerous to baby if they ingest it. Hands First brand has no alcohol in it. When you change a poopy nappy at the beach for e.g and there is no tap nearby, you might be glad of this in your nappy going out bag

You'll read and hear so much variation and it's true.

The state of your OWN health, the health of your baby, the real life support around you, the state of your washing machine, if your water is hard or soft, how your child's skin reacts to the fabrics, your child's body shape, SO many things come into play, you can only be an observer, try stuff out, keep going with what works, stop doing what doesn't work.

People who have used disposables with previous babies, also go thru the comparisions. MCN and disposables work in SUCH different ways. It's like you have to throw out ALL that prior experience and NOT compare them (which is hard to do). e.g frequency of changes.

You find out so much just in the first week of having MCN on your child, and the experience of washing them MCN. I was so lucky to have my online community, to ask all my "sleep deprived, newbie to MCN" questions to, they were FANTASTIC and so generous with their experiences/advice on things to try. I made silly mistakes, like doing up mcn very loose, in case i broke my baby! LOL. So of course, we got leaks initially, as i was not doing up the mcn firmly enough.

[peanutter]

next you decide what you want to do about liners and wipes (bought, flushable biodegradable, flannelette, microfleece, cotton ...)

and then you have a celebratory party, and let isla start pooing all over them.

[Jennifer13]

So I've slowly slowly been building up enough nappies to cloth DD full time, some second hand, some new. My question is, what now? Mainly, what do I wash them with, and do I wash them once before using or a few times? Total cloth newbie so I need help!

Why you keep trawling the MCN pages for clearance sales (for the pretty ones you don't have yet) and join the MCN FB pages, of course!

And I second MadB's suggestion to start buying wraps.

[peanutter]

what???

your real name isn't Gigi, and your daughter's real name isn't Bilby???

[PumpkinZulu]

I love you guys!

[Cranky Kitten]

Just bought my stash after trialling a half dozen for a couple of weeks!! Can't wait till they get here

[AngelPants]

i tend to rinse, wash on warm (i think 40c?) then rinse again (cos my machine is dodgy!) and add a teaspoon of ecostore every second wash.
Oh and your stash is never complete, and yes next step is wraps!! they are just as good i promise!