Reusable sanitary towels losing absorbency

[pawpawpawpaw]

Any views on keeping or restoring softness and absorbency in washable sanitary towels? Some of mine are approaching the crackerlike consistency of a B&B bath towel.
I'm sure I've read somewhere that detergents affect them and there's a way to address it but I can't find it anywhere.
I soak and wash them in cold water with a small amount of non-bio liquid, no conditioner, no dryer etc.

Have you tried tumble drying them to try and restore softness?

Look up washing techniques for reuseable nappies, you need to strip wash them. The Nappy Lady website gives step by step instructions and a few different options.

You shouldn't need to soak them. Just rinse out and wash at 40 on the longest cotton cycle

And yes, loon up Strip and sanitise routine, you TS very straightforward

Put them through the wash with no detergent ( and no softener ) get rid of any build up.

The give them a wash with a caption of white vinegar In the softener drawer

Ok, thanks for the ideas.

When I say soak, I mean I put them in a bit of cold water before I wash them. The most crackerlike ones are meant to be rinsed in cold but there are no instructions on washing temp. I was concerned that a strip wash might mess with the leakproofing - ? But I'll give it a go, I love them but they need to work.

Which ones are they?

Some can be washed up to 60 degrees.

I have some Bloom and Nora which have gone very firm, and some ImseVimse which feel fine but are flooding. Also some Lunapads, which are lovely and soft and floppy, like when I bought them, but also flooding.

Ok, thanks for mentioning that. I see the ImseVimse can be washed at 60, I might try that.

Imse vimse seem to survive the dryer too. I usually put mine in for half an hour on a low heat to maintain softeness.

Mine say don't use softener in the wash just detergent.

Softness- tumble dryer. Also, if they've acquired a hard crispy towelling texture, try rubbing them against each other, very briskly.

Sometimes they get a buildup of detergent in them it makes them crunchy.
I used to do a hot wash and then a second wash with no detergent, you'll see loads of suds, then double rinse, never conditioner and into the dryer to restore them.

Great, will try a strip wash. Re conditioner I hate it and never use it, just a little non bio. I hear liquid detergent doesn't rinse well, maybe that's what it is.

Powder is best for CSP or nappies

The problem with the tumble dryer is it might ruin the PUL layer. Do you have a cool/refresh setting?

I’ve tried rubbing them to soften but it’s not the actual surface that’s the problem, it’s inside the layers, so it doesn’t help.
I’ll get some non-bio powder, I agree that’s likely to be better than liquid. I have a stick of something they recommend at Lunapads for stains, I’ll give that a go, maybe it rinses better.
I always thought they weren’t meant to go in the dryer at all but I see that some people do tumble them on low. I’ll have a look at the settings and see if mine can do that. Saw someone on YouTube uses oxy powder, will throw some of that in too.
Thanks again, I’ve got more helpful info here than from the sites where I bought the pads.