Can I use soda crystals to wash nappies?

[spekulatius]

I mean to get rid of stains? I usually use Fairy non-bio.

I used to soak in Milton solution and then wash in Surcare (for a baby with eczema) and this kept them stain free. Don't know about soda crystals - think it would help with greasy stains, but not dirty nappies.

Try putting them out on the line on a sunny day.

I know this is from ages ago but in case it's still useful OP I use soda crystals to wash nappies. A full nappy wash gets 1/4 cap persil non-bio and a scant 1/2 scoop of soda crystals. I did make sure it was ok for PUL first and it's fine.

This seems to prevent 90% of stains, the rest are usually eliminated by a couple of hours on the line on a sunny day once a year. What I think the soda crystals also do is prevent ammonia build up so I've never had to do a strip-wash.

Found this on another blog: Soda crystals when dissolved in water produce a highly alkaline solution and when heated in (60 degrees or higher) this solution becomes caustic. This means it can dissolve cellulose fibres (cotton, bamboo, viscose etc). Terry fabrics in particular are badly affected by this, woven fabrics are more durable so are less likely to be affected.Nappies go through a LOT of laundering and spend a lot of time wet. Over time the fibres will weaken naturally (unless they contain a bit of polyester for strength) and the soda just wipes them out. We have been advising people for years not to use soda but still it is out there as THE thing to do to get rid of stains and smells.

I haven't seen any harm done to our terry motherease one-size, terry boosters, bumgenius v4.0 or bamboo wipes in the 18 months we've been cloth nappying, let alone all our other clothes and towels made of 100% cotton, bamboo and/or viscose that we've been washing with soda crystals for literally years in some cases. So that quote doesn't really make sense to me as if soda crystals really destroy terry and other natural materials then I'm not sure why they're fine for all other clothing and not for nappies.

I wonder if they have mixed up washing soda (sodium carbonate) and caustic soda (sodium hydroxide)? The latter is nasty stuff when dissolved in water but great for cleaning drains and I can well imagine it dissolving terry nappies.