To think surely other people must also think it’s gross to…

Washed all our reusable nappies in the washing machine, all very happy and healthy!

It works the same as every other washing machine, and I do not like the idea. It goes against all the processes that absolutely must be followed in a care or medical environment, where chucking it all in a regular washing machine would not be considered sound.

The machine doesn't remain dirty after a wash. Is that what worries you? Put your hand in, put your face in and smell - it's perfectly clean.
You can always run an empty wash with soda crystals every so often.

So what dis you do when potty training or a baby poo explosion???? Did you throw away every single piece of clothing.......

Does your washing machine not work very well?

I know. What an extraordinary approach, with everything we know now.

I said family washing machine and that is what I meant. It is the same machine and I just don't like the idea of shitty cloths in one wash, pillows and facecloths in the next.

The dc are 25 and 21. Washable nappies, washable wipes from birth. Dh did more than his fair share of the washing.
As adults we use flannels to wash and dry bums. Stored and washed same way as the nappies once were.
It’s not a new concept.
Disposable nappies and wipes are an invention the environment could have done without!

What do you think everyone did before disposable nappies became popular? Have you never heard of terry nappies?!

This will blow your mind. When I was a baby the terry nappies were put in a pale and soaked until The Nappy Man came. He would take the dirty ones away and drop off clean ones. He would then launder the dirty ones. So, the nappies were communal, essentially.
There are nappy services I think in big cities that still do this now.

Nappies and wipes go on a wash most machines weigh loads and use the right amount of water. You don't need a hot wash they just go into a nappy bucket straight into a wash bag. You wash every day to 2 days 7-8 nappies a day and wipes. Wipes usually get a pre-soak in wet bucket.

Did you automatically throw away any baby clothes which had a nappy explosion on them..........

I use them for wees. No bog roll crisis at ours during the pandemic

Dear me, I swear people get more dense by the day. Cloth nappies and wipes have been around for eons, as have bodily fluids. No, just use disposable plastic nappies though because what's a few extra tonnes into landfill? The nappies are more toxic than their contents. What sort of planet are you wanting your child to live on @UmmJsTL3? Will they thank you for adding to the stress it is already under just because you couldn't cope with a few dirty cloths?

It wouldn't appeal to me, either - that's why I didn't do it. Family wash was completely separate from nappy and wiping cloths. Any poo on the nappy liner was dropped straight in the loo and then nappies and wiping cloths went into a bucket of Napisan. They were all then washed separately on a very hot wash. No tummy bugs or nasty infections in our friendship group while ours were in nappies.

This. We also used washable nappies and I use period pants or similar instead of Tena Lady pads.

I agree tbh. Surely they need to be washed alone too and on a hot (long) wash? Feels like there’ll be a lot of wasted space when a long wash is taking place..?

Also surely they need washing really quickly after being soiled? So again, no time for them to accumulate to put a wash on with many of them in there.

Also, I don’t think they are the same as period pants.

You put all sorts of things in your washing machine. By the final rinse, everything is clean. Including the machine. A bit of baby poo is not a problem. It all seems a bit over the top squeamish.

No, it's not gross.
We used reusable nappies and reusable wipes. We washed them between uses.

How do you think resuable nappies are washed ? 😵‍💫

lol, when I was aupairing my aupair mum would give me kitchen towels to dry bits in the bathroom once I rubbed clean that with water and bleach. We never caught any stomach disease

@UmmJsTL3 what are you talking about? When you wash stuff, dirt bacteria etc is removed, so what's the big deal?!

My kids used reusable nappies. It wasn't smelly etc, solids are easily plopped down the loo cos they slide on the fleecey fabric, liquids were just mopped up. Nappies were soaked in Milton before a load were washed together. Simples.

I personally prefer toilets with a shower attachment and soap so you can actually clean yourself when you've been to the loo. You tend to use a cloth afterwards. This by far the cleanest way to toilet. The cloth just goes in the wash with washing powder and if you're like me some disinfectant in the rinse.

The env is in critical danger of collapse and so too is human wellbeing and life hang. Everyone needs to get with the programme...!

Wondering if you have germophobic tenancies...pooing and peeing are natural bodily functions after all...

What would you have done if you’d lived 50 years ago, before disposable wipes and nappies were invented?

Not the point of the thread but I just switched to washable makeup pads. DELIGHTED how easy they are the clean and dry 😁

It's not all or nothing though.
Reusable wipes are great for hands and faces as well as toileting and saves on disposable makeup wipes.
Reusable sanitary pro is great for use at home even if you don't want to use it out and about.
Reusable nappies are great but perhaps people would rather use them at home if they find it too much of a faff.

All of the above can be soaked, rinsed and thrown in the washing machine and is no different to other soiled clothing. If you find it gross just do them on a separate wash.

What I think is gross is bags of nappies, wipes and disposable sanitary products going to landfill for at least 500+ years. Being eaten by other creatures when they eventually make their way into the food chain and eventually back into us. They are all new products and we managed without for millennia even without washing machines.