Washing Nappies

[beijingaling]

DH & I are thinking about reusable nappies. DH doesn't really care one way or the other but his concern is that they won't get really clean in the wash. He has this image of the washing machine being "pooie" after washing the nappies.

The nappies we are getting are suggested to wash at a low temp and not to use bleach. You "dry bucket" them (ie scrape off poo then just go from bum to bucket to washing machine).

I don't have reliable access to napisan in Beijing (and it's bloody expensive when I can get it - 12 quid a tub!). We're thinking about reusable as the quality of nappies here is poor because he locals dont use nappies and huggies are damn expensive as they are also imported.

Sorry this got long... in short: will the washing machine be "contaminated" and will it be ok just low temp washing the nappies or will that just give the germs a good clean?

If you use some kind of disposable liner than that takes care of most of the poo.

My washing machine has never been contaminated, but I do use disp. liners (old rags I cut up to size, I wash and reuse if they don't have feces on them) and I don't know how good your washing machine out there would be?

I would prefer to sterilise my nappies which means either napisan or a 60 degree wash (for the pooey ones, you can throw the wee-only nappies in with ordinary laundry).

Can you not do a 60 degree wash? That's good enough to kill germs.

no, the washing machine won't be contaminated any more than it is washing any other items of clothing in it!

i've always dry-bucketed and wash at 30 or 40 depending on if it's a particularly poo-ey batch!! the very, very occasional 60 degree one just to make sure it's all extra clean once in a while as otherwise you can get a slight wee smell to them

I do however rinse any particularly manky nappies under the tap to get the worst off before i put them in the machine. by that i mean anything that can't just be shaken off into the toilet.

never had a problem and my 3rd child is 18 months now!

Well 60 degrees is supposed to be the temperature at which all germs are killed so I always washed nappies at 60.

Thank you! That's what I thought. It never occurred to me that it might contaminate the washing machine but once DH put the idea in my head I thought "Well I don't know how it works!"

I've got disposable liners and I'll follow all of your advice regarding washing at 30 - 60.

My washing machine is actually really good (LG maybe? Some proper brand anyway) so no worries there.

i don't think all germs are killed at 60 are they?

i know it's different types of bacteria and stuff, but food has to be cooked much higher than that to kill it off

and hospitals wash things everything on a boil wash to decontaminate

so i figure that if 60 won't kill stuff off then i may as well save electricity and do it at 30 or 40!!!

I used reusable nappies for a while and I'm afraid I did get poo / watery brown goo stuck in the washing machine seal and had to clean it out manually after each wash. I suspect DH didn't get rid of enough of the poo before putting the nappies in the bucket. What do the locals use if they don't use napisan?

I use washables with fleece liners and it's only in the last few weeks now that DD is on solids that she produces sold enough poo to shake down the loo - prior to that her poos were liquid and used to soak right through the nappy. I just chucked the whole lot in the machine and never had any problems but I do use a 60 degree cycle and biological powder (not very environmentally friendly but...) I have never had any residue in the machine.

You throw away the fabric liners?

My mum used to hold on tight and flush the toilet on them - although I don't remember if chinese toilets are like UK ones with a jet-style flush, or like american ones which are more of a round the bowl trickle..

3 years of reusable nappies. Never found poo in the washing machine. However, I once found a couple of bits of sweetcorn in there after a nappy wash that had clearly been through one of my children!

Re cooking vs. nappy washing temps:
Yeah but you don't eat nappies and as long as they get completely dry any bugs on them should die, anyway. The 60 is sort of a backup system to getting them germ free.

Is tea tree oil that good at killing germs?
Whatever you do, get a nappy bucket with a well-fitting lid, possibly one that "locks" down into position (keeps toddlers out). Banana peel in the bucket also reduces odour, but that will muck up your machine so would have to separate it out first.

Wow thank you all so much.

The toilets are more like American ones but that means we can get a little squirt which is a small shower head thing that attaches to your toilet. This will help with removing yuk pre wash.

zzzzz my bottle of tea tree is ready and waiting so no problem there. I don't think I've lived in a house without the stuff for years. ragged Tea Tree oil is antiseptic, antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral. It's pretty much the best natural cleaner out there IMO.

Also zzzzz we're in a house now. After 5 years saving our rent by living in Beijing flats OH & I decided it was move to a house in the Beijing equivalent of Discovery Bay or leave China. It's also blllarrrrdy cold here right now. -8 at 11:30 in the morning. Summer may be more of a problem of course.

jaffa I don't know what the locals use. Bleach I guess? It's hard to know because I don't read Chinese. They really don't use nappies here full stop. Very young babies don't leave the house and older babies are put into split pants (like crotchless knickers) and just squatted over the toilet or a handy drain when they need the loo.

Looks like we're going to go with the Little Lambs bamboo which I know take forever to dry but between the tumble drier (I know you're not supposed to tumble dry them but bugger it) and how dry the air is here anyway I think we'll be fine.

Every time we go back to Aus (where DH is from) or the UK (where I'm from) we are buying a box of disposables so we don't have to worry about reusables on planes etc. TBH the whole real nappy thing for me is, as you said, about always having them to hand.

It wouldn't be so cold here if it wasn't for the windchill. At least the sky is blue and it's not that horrible damp cold you can get in the UK.

beijingaling - i would consider whether you need a little squirt or not - i know this seems a bit gross, and tmi, but bear with me - i rinse dd's nappies in the toilet - flick off as much as i can, then wet the nappy in the toilet and rub together the dirty bits, till they're not as pooey.

i thought flushing over a nappy would be adequate (dp still does...) but it isn't, it took me a while to conclude that actually flushing was necessary after but not during the de-pooing process.

and you were going to wash your hands anyway, so what does it matter what you were doing with them before you washed them?!?!?

and i've never, ever found poo in the washing machine. you are washing them to clean them. if things aren't coming out clean it's cos your washing machine doesn't work, not cos you shouldn't be using washable nappies...

Nappy washing advice from

Kittykins

the Nappy Lady

Twinkle on the Web

and a How To .. guide from Twinkle

HTH

Wow! Thanks for the links juuule and the tip janek. Good point regarding the washing machine too!