cloth nappies - crunchy

[jamsy]

Dear Mumsnetters
Crunchy nappies...
I'm not a regular but I drop in when I can, and having seen so much wonderful advice (and some stories that made me cry!) I'm hoping someone will have a suggestion for me.

I've been using totbots (with great pleasure) since ds was born 17 months ago, but have noticed they are becoming increasingly crunchy after washing. I use persil at 60 degrees and air dry, and have tried an extra rinse after the wash, but still have to spend 5 minutes softening them before putting them on long-suffering bottom. I recently swapped to dry-pailing (after wet-pailing with white vinegar - too heavy to get into the machine) but I don't think this has made any difference.

Any suggestions? I know fabric softeners is a no-no as they reduce absorbancy.

Have a good weekend all.

crunchy nappies, LOL
is there a chance the rinse in your washing machine is not working at it's best - I find it's when residues are not fully rinsed out that my towels etc get hard. You seem to be doing everything else correctly - air-drying etc.

If you have a tumble dryer, dry them for 10 mins before air-drying. Or they say put white vinegar in the rinse, but I have never tried that.

Are you in a hard water area? If so this can make clothes, nappies etc go harder. You don't really notice until you go on holiday to a soft water area and wash (!). Not sure what to suggest but maybe one of the washing balls would help with some of the lime thus making the wash come out softer.

The tumble drying idea works- just tumble for 10 mins either before air drying, or when they're nearly dry. White vinegar (a tablespoon in the final rinse) is also said to work, but I haven't tried it! I do, however use water softener tablets, as we are in a hard water area, so suspect vinegar wouldn't have any additional effect.

HTH

Welcome to Mumsnet and come back soon!

Meant to add that some people do use fabric conditioner for their nappies, and claim not to have any absorbency problems- I've heard that a half-dose every now and then is fine!

I agree that tumble drying helps keep them soft. You can air dry them until they are just damp then tumble them. Also, if you put a dry towel in with them it is supposed to cut down on the drying time in the tumble dryer. I dry pail and put them on a rinse and spin with white vinegar before I wash them. I don't think this makes any difference to the softness though, it's just to get rid of any ammonia.