[Kimmi]

Im going to using Motherease cloth nappies with my baby. There is so much info on the websites about different ways of soaking and washing them. Please can anyone share their ideas and experiences on their best method of soaking and washing them, also the products you use. Many thanks

[fee]

Hi Kimmi

I soaked my Kushies in a bucket of water with about a quater of a cup of white vinegar. Vinegar has anti-bacterial properties and seemed to keep the smell at bay! I used biodegradable liners that can be flushed with the solids. When my son was younger I sometimes needed to give soiled nappeis a quick rinse before putting in the nappy bucket as the mess didn't stay nicely contained in the liner.....

Washed in hot water (65 plus) with a mild detergent. I used Persil Sensitive but I don't know if you can get that here. Your nappies probably came with washing instructions. Let them dry in the sun (if possible) as the sun is also great at getting rid of bacteria.

Good luck!

[doubibou]

Hello Kimmi,

There are indeed 2 different practices with soiled nappies which is the soaking method or the dry pail.

Like many moms I think I have started with the first one (soaking), tried then the dry pail which I am still doing.
Many have argued that the soaking method was more 'hygienic' but some other argue that the proliferation of bacteria is higher with a bucket full of water so..
From a mom point of view however, the dry pail is more convenient. You have to think of the weight of a bucket full of soiled nappies + some 20 L of water...I was always struggling with my bucket when it was time to put that in the washing machine...as I obvisouly couldn't carry the bucket up to the washing machine, I had to empty the bucket from the water which was already not so easy.. well. maybe I was not doing it properly but I always had a lot of water everywhere...
now, it is very easy: I stock my soiled nappies as such in a bucket.. I put some baking soda in it to control odor and I add a cloth wipe I which I have put some lavender essential oils that's ok..
Maybe can you try both ways and see which one suits you better..

for the washing:
2 golden rules: don't use bleach (too harsh for both the fabric and baby's skin) nor softener (will decrease the absorbency of the nappies).
Apart from that, nothing special.
Start with your regular washing powder and see how it goes. If that looks fine, no need to change! Remember also that the detergent you will use may also react on baby's skin...
Otherwise, you can wash the cotton Motherease (the sandy's and one-size) at 60c, the covers at 30/40 and the AIO at both (avoid to wash them always at 60 as it is not so good for the waterproof outer layer).. Everything can go in the dryer but of course if you can hand them to dry, even better..

Kimmi, you might find further answers on that similar thread
cloth diapers/nappies

Fee..
one comment vinegar: it will 'kill' the elastics on the long run..so better not to be used every time..

Happy Nappying!
doubibou

[rani]

We had 2 diaper pails , dry and wetl. The wet pail contained Napisan w/ hot water. I also bought a bottle of Dettol and would add a capful to the rinse cycle of the washing machine.

[lidly]

I just replied in another thread about this but I recomend the drypail method. Soaking them is also a health risk for small babies as small babies can drown in small amounts of water :( so if you do this method I would make sure the bucket has a locked lid and way out of reach. If you are using motherease you probably don't want to soak in chemicals as this can affect the elastic (as can vinegar). We just wash on warm wash and hang to dry in the sun which bleaches out the stains.

[pinemarten]

Where do you find a bucket with an airtight lid in HK? I had a look today at the giant homewares store on Queens Rd E in Wanchai and they didn't have any... and they have everything! :)

[hkaussie]

I drypail our cloth nappies. I have never tried soaking them - I don't have stains on the nappies, it all comes out in the wash.

I use a wide variety of nappies, PUL pockets, all-in-ones, bamboo fitteds, cotton fitteds etc, and good old terry flat nappies. If a nappy has a fleece inner, I find the solids just roll right off into the toilet with no hassle, but sometimes with the others, I like to use a flushable liner so that less of the solids get on the nappy itself, and it's neater to deal with.

In fact, for a newborn I would personally use those flushable liners with every nappy change since it's so messy and runny (yuck!). The liners I use are Bambino Mio flushable liners, and they save my sanity quite a lot. I think you can buy them through shopinhk.com or else at Eugene Baby Club. Personally I found having to scrape and rinse nappies the most annoying and time-consuming part, so anything that avoids that is a bonus for me.

Buckets with airtight lids - I bought my nappy bucket from Mothercare about 2 years ago, don't know if they still stock them. It's quite a small bucket which suits me since we have a front-loader washing machine that doesn't take a very big load. Also small buckets mean you're more likely to wash more often, meaning fewer stinky nappies sitting around.

I don't know about a bucket with a lockable lid, have never seen one of those in HK.

Bottom line (haha) is that I personally MUCH prefer drypailing and doing a hot wash now and then, or adding tea tree oil to the wash as a disinfectant.

[Kimmi]

I use Motherese Nappies and I dry pail too. Believe me its much less stinky as I did the wet pail method with my first child. I too have the Mothercare bucket which I bought about 6 months ago. I like the bucket cause it small but big enough and doesnt take up to much space. I pop a mesh laundry bag in the bucket which I think makes it easier to just put straight into the washing machine. I wash with ordinary washing powder with some nappy sanitiser like either nappysan or the stuff they sell in Mothercare. I dont use softner as that leaves a residue on the nappies. I wash the nappies on 50 degrees. I too use the fleece liners which usually contains most of the poo. I flush the poo off first and give a little rince before I pop into the nappy bucket.