Vinigar- please help a dunce on soaking nappies?

[UniSarah]

Ok, so I now have a bottle of white vinigar, 2 nappy buckets ( with sealable lids, each holds about a days worth of nappies) and a fully breastfed 5 m/o Ds who poohs mightly & regulary. Up to now I've been dry pailing, but I'm getting incressing amounts of staining not shifted by washing .
How exactly do I use vinigar and water to wet pail nappies?
Do I put liquid in backet before any nappies, after all teh nappies or at some point in between. How much vinigar to water ( ratios please).

I thought the vinegar justhelped the nappies get soft, you use it in the wash instead of fabric conditioner. I don't think it helps get them clean.

Sarah, vinegar is usually used as a softener but you could try Borax as a pre soak or added to the wash as a stain remover. The sun should be bleaching them at this time of year though, even my yellow perils are looking whiter than white!!

Think you can use bicarb as a soak too but am a dry pailer myself (thank God after the stair accident this week!!).

Soda crystals are good to soak.

i use napisan to clean nappies or the oxy action - then out in the sun for the sun to bleach....

We just dry pail (less weight, less smell) and haven't had any problems or stains. I agree that I've only really heard of using vinegar in the wash/prewash, not in a wet pailing solution.

soda crystals can also be thrown in the powder drawer. beware if you use it to soak coloured nappies. it's strong stuff

No stains here either - the sun is doing it's job! If it's a dry clear night, the moon also bleaches the nappies apparently

Ok, I guess I got it wrong... oops- so if I use it to help soften them ( yes they getting a tad chrunchy) at what point does how much go into the machine? next nappy wash is due this evening.

Put a good splash in your fabric softener drawer for final rinse. They do smell a bit chip shoppy when they come out but it soon disappears.
I used Nappysan when I first used clothies but I found the smell of the bucket vile! Agree about soda crystals but watch out for any wet soaking if you stick wraps in there too as reckon it will rot them quicker.
Hope I beat you to your wash!
I've done 3 lots today as had a bit of a wet weather backlog!

I use white vinegar for a rinse and spin to get the wee out of the nappies before washing

dry pailing smells less

if you put the nappies out to dry the sun usually bleaches out the worst of the stains I find

and if it's just a light stain it doesn't matter, it's clean and it's going under a liner anyway

Hi,

We always recommend dry pailing unless they're really soiled as soaking will reduce the life of the nappy and wraps over time. I personally use a couple of drops of tea tree and lavender if I soak, though, which has anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and anti-smelling action! Avoid borax, nappisan and other harsh chemicals for several reasons:

1. They degrade wraps
2. They are not usually eco-friendly
3. They can irritate skin if residues are left behind.

If you really want white nappies, try something like Cotton Bottoms eco-friendly nappy white.

Yes, vinegar softens nappies. Tumbling for 10 minutes before line drying works well, too, or us Bamboo nappies (eg Bamboozle or Wham-Bamboo), or micro terry nappies (eg Fluffles, Swaddlebees Pockets, Magic-Alls) which line dry lovely and soft.

Emma
www.makesachange.co.uk/
The Organic and Fair Trade Baby Boutique

Thanks Emma, but with no tumble dryer and a draw full of ME and Bumbles I'll be trying vinigar. I did look at bamboozole but they took too long to dry and I hated the feel of fluffles ( some fabrics I dislike touching).
ta all- I'm sticking with dry pailing, tried soaking once and found dealing with heaevy nappy bucket and then getting dripping nappies into washing machine more unpleasent than I was willing to deal with.

Does dry pailing really smell less?? I use napisan and have no probs. Do you put essential oil in the dry bucket or something?

And does the moon really bleach nappies?! Am sleep-deprived and very gullible at the moment...

I use dry pailing and it's fine as long as you wash nappies after 3 days, after that it gets a bit ammonia smelly at the bottom of the bucket. I add Ecover laundry bleach to the wash to help combat stains. No sun here at the moment - where is the hottest August ever that was promised???

Hi Sarah,

Yes, with no tumble dryer you will have a problem with bamboo - although they will tolerate radiator airer drying (ie on the airer, not direct heat). I know exactly what you mean about the fluffles - but good news! They've just released a new version which feels gorgeous - none of the stickyness of the originals.

Anyway, as you've already got lots of nappies just try to get the sun on them which does a grand job of bleaching, and if all else fails remember that you're the only person who sees them!

Spiker - no nothing in a dry bucket. Putting essential oils in the dry bucket would risk drops getting into the fabric, and without being diluted as it would be in a solution it would be more likely to remain on the nappy after a wash and cause a skin reaction. Just remember to wash out the bucket after it's emptied each time and it's fine.

I honestly don't know if the moon bleaches nappies - but I can say don't leave your wool wraps to air on the line overnight!! I did once, and ended up with a huge moth-eaten hole in one... dagnabit.

Emma
www.makesachange.co.uk/
The Organic and Fair Trade Baby Boutique