So... The story starts about 4 or 5 years ago. Soon after I began my daycare I decided that I wanted to use cloth nappies for the small children. I bought some hemp nappy making fabric along with elastic and velcro. I'm not quite sure what happened, I think I got overwhelmed by all the types of modern cloth nappies and the supplies got forgotten about.
Fast forward a few years and I excitedly offered to buy cloth nappies for my godson. With good intentions I started researching them while my friend Kylie was pregnant. Fast forward a few more month and I suddenly realised that I had better make a decision soon or else my godson would be toilet trained before I did!
I had a discount voucher for an online shop so I finally bought Jayden his nappies (right pile) plus some extras to start my day care stash (middle pile is mine, part opp shopped plus 3 new ones) Tomorrow Kylie is coming over with Jayden and im starting Xavier in cloth nappies. I tried one on him today to get an idea of size and he looked so cute in it:)
I'm thinking I might be better off making plain hemp nappies and separate pul covers as I think ill be washing them at 60 degrees Celsius as its recommended for killing bacteria. Some web sites say this is OK for pocket nappies and others say it will damage the pul and elastic. It seems a lot of people wash them on cold with little detergent but being that they are to be used on other peoples children I think id better err on the overkill side just to be sure. Does anyone have experience with washing nappies in hot water? If so do they last?
So, lots of questions at this stage but i'm looking forward to making this positive change!
I will keep you all updates as to how we go
I use a combination of cloth and disposable. And I wash in cold water. Jode at Mummy Musings and Mahem just posted about using cloth nappies ~ might be useful :-) http://mummymusingsandmayhem.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/cloth-nappying-twins6-easy-washing-tips.html
ReplyDeleteI'm def not a cloth diaper expert but I will say that the rinse in cold wash in hot rinse again (I swear I think that's what it says) is not needed. I do wash in warm though then hang to dry. I have some homemade laundry detergent (made with lye, etc) but it doens't seem to get out the smell. So I use 7th generation with the diapers.
ReplyDeleteOh wow, go you! We've been using cloth since the Imp was born and we love it.
ReplyDeleteHere's how I wash: First, I make my own detergent (let me know if you'd like the recipe - it's easy). Throw all the diapers into the washer and prewash on cold. Wash a full cycle on cold (this means rinse on cold, too) with some detergent. Wait a while (because I've forgotten about it by now but also to let the diapers come to room temp - shocking the fabric with extreme temp changes is bad), wash on hot with detergent and rinse on warm (because I don't have a hot rinse). After that you can hang them on the line or throw them in the dryer (low heat).
Why do I do so many cycles? We've had issues with the diapers not getting clean enough. If I did smaller loads (hello, two toddlers in diapers - could we learn to use the toilet, please?!) I probably could skip a cycle. However. If you immediately wash on hot, you'll set the stains. So this is just the routine I'm used to. And it works for us. (:
I'm no expert either but we do about the same routine as "eidolns" we always do a pre rinse, then a wash (we use charlies soap) then I usually do two additional rinses just to make sure all is clean...we've had stink issues before so an extra rinse keeps the sink at bay.
ReplyDeleteI think that washing differs for every family because it also depends on your washing machine..if you have a front loader you may need to do extra rinses because they use less water so the detergent doesn't rinse out as well. We were given a front loader a while back and I just couldn't get used to a diaper routine...the diapers were leaving my son with rashes because they weren't fully rinsed I was so frustrated that I ended up switching back to our regular top loading washer and our diapers and our baby's bum is much happier:)
Good luck on your diaper adventure...Cloth diapers can be very addicting, they are just so cute on their little tushies!!!
ive been thru two kiddos with full cloth experiences, and i never washed in anything BUT hot. i never had any smells at all, never ever bleached, and never ever ever used a dryer. i can assure you, if you do use a dryer you will shorten your diapers lifespan indefinitely. its a rough un natural heat - particularly on hemp. ( hemp can be stiff , so after they are dry just crinkle them up with your hands to soften ) hemp absorbs more, and takes longer to dry. my favourite nappies ever were * crickets * hemp diapers. i bought them second hand on a diaper trading site in america. best of luck, cloth is soooooo much fun !!!! :) ive got a monster stash, they are so addictive. mother ease are also extreme value for the money. they will last thru many many children.
ReplyDeleteoh ! and fuzzi bunz ! they ROCK ! pocket nappies.
ReplyDeletei could talk about cloth nappies all night i just realized ....
We love cloth too! we do mostly cloth. (soon to be potty trained...) definitely pre rinse. I use Thirsties detergent. if they start to stink after a while its cus there's soap build up and you have to strip them (washing in hot with 2tbsp dish soap then about 3 rinse cycles!)
ReplyDeleteI like your inserts! 3 layers should be good I think!
That's so awesome that you are doing cloth at a daycare!!
oh, and we use insides and covers. Mostly thirsties covers and whatever insides I found at 2nd hand shops! Drying in the sun disinfects and takes out the poop stains.
ReplyDeleteHi, I used cloth nappies and whilst they were waiting to be washed (at 40°) I let them soak in cold water with a little laundry soap and tea-tree oil. Mine were second hand when I got them and I have now given them to one of my daycare mums (I don't know how she washes them but they always come back clean!) so they are on 3rd baby and look just fine (obviously not as good as new). Oh, and when possible I always hung them out to dry in the sun.
ReplyDeleteYarn for cloth ! I Am old school and use cotton terry flats ( I didn't even know about mcn when my boy was born 6 years ago). I soak them in cold water and a splash of vinegar before I wash them then I wash in cold and use soap nuts. If there are ant marks I just put them back into the soaking bucket and repeat the cycle. Kline dry in the sun and if it's really wet weather I place them inn racks
ReplyDeleteHi there...thanks for visiting my blog...i think you are wonderful to provide child care and use cloth...it is so rare now. When my now teen was younger and i worked in child care centres we all used cloth!
ReplyDeleteAs you read my post on washing nappies you will know that i advocate washing them in just cold water. I use a combination of terry flats and pocket nappies and i don't have any problem with smelling or stains. I do like to soak before i wash though. I think you will be using an awful lot of your hot water if you do it for your daycare bubs. We used the same basic method when i worked in centres years ago...just soaked in buckets with a little sanitiser or soaker or tea tree oil and then washed in a normal machine cycle with detergent. I just use my homemade liquid detergent which works well.
It might be an idea to have some flats folded ready in your stash with some PUL covers for those times you have lots of wet weather as the hemp and bamboo nappies/inserts are very absorbant but gosh they take a long time to dry! I'm suprised you had to make your own liners, i have always received the liners with my pocket nappies. I would say you probably need at least 2 but maybe 3 of your liners to make up the right absorbancy (not sure exactly how thin yours are..just squinting at the photo lol)if you can get hold of some terry flats second hand you can also cut these into strips and sew a few together to make pockets. I do love pocket nappies for their ease but you have to have a pretty large stash i have realised when you have a few kids in them at one time as they do take longer than i thought to dry and i don't like to use the dryer much. I have pretty much reverted to the terry flats while we are at home with the twins as they are just so much easier to dry ...as long as you have them folded ready to go each day it's all good!
You will find your own method and what suits you best after a few weeks i am sure....so impressed that you are offering this service to your parents...how lucky they are! I will be doing the post on different types of nappies soon....good luck x
Sorry about the novel above...didn't realise it was so long...i would have replied by email but you have a no reply set.
ReplyDeleteAll of These cloth nappies are looks very Beautiful.
ReplyDelete