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Is fabric softener ok? Or is there something else? Leaving them on the line overnight works well but I'd like to know if theres another way LOL
ETA: I don't use them as nappies either, its just a spew catcher and a wee catcher when she has nappy-off time, so it doesn't have to be super-dooper extra absorbant...
chuck em in the dryer?
LOL don't have one Mel!
try hanging 2 together when they are on the line , i do it and i use TT as nappies .. worth a shot hey :)
oh I was going to suggest the dryer too. bummer you dont have oe i guess in QLD its not like your'd need one that often..what about withteh hairdryer, when they are mostly dry?
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... :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:)
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.
I think fabric softener is a no-no with cloth nappies. It coats the fibres or something and makes them less absorbent. I found flats worked fine for us (other than the jabbings from the *&%# pins) during the winter with a slower drying time but now its hot and so bright outside they dry to sandpaper. Poor little Piglet had troubles on her bottom from them. She'd have what looked like rugburn, I'd do a few days in sposies and she'd be fine. Then feel guilty about using them, put her back into flats and the rugburn bottom again. So I gave in and cast about for MCN. Let me tell you, I wish I had done it sooner. I tried out Greenkids and bummis and Baby Beehinds. You can get trial packs for minimal outlay and work out what you like. Nurture Nappies were good.
I ended up settling on Baby Beehinds bamboo and hemp fitted nappies with covers. I was using covers anyway, and these snap closed. You can snap in boosters to make them more absorbent. They are fantastic. I can't say enough good about them. I'm not too keen on AIO's, they take a looooooong time to dry and aren't as leakproof IMO. The fitteds still take a little extra time to dry (except on the reeeeally bright days) but that's ok with me. They're wonderful on Lila's bottom. We have 4 covers and 18 nappies and that works fine for us. I do a medium load every morning, just another morning chore. The hemp ones dry heaps faster, if I were doing it over again I think I might have gone all hemp. Anyway hope that helps....
ETA- Pffft silly silly me. I was so keen to help you out I didn't read the whole post... my cheeks are a little red...
Leash.. ummm :think:
Jump in the car and come round and use my dryer??
:P
Scrunch them up - I stretch opposite corners and then scrunch them - it doesn't make them as soft as the dryer, but better than the crunchyness when they come off the line. The other thing you can do apparently is take them off the line when they're not quite dry - but I'm not that brave - I'm scared they'll go mouldy.
When they are over dry they will go crunchy so check them periodically and while you're out there feeling them give them a scrunching up. I also give them a few flicks when I take them off the line.
I put white vinegar (or cleaning vinegar which I always run out of.) in where you normally put fabric softener. You really notice the difference.
i used to use a cup of cheap white vinegar in the wash instead of fabric softener with my nappies :D
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.
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 :)
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.
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
:)
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
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)
mum used to swear by washing soda to soften terry flats & towels
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?