Rejuvenating cloth nappies

[PigeonPie]

I've just bought four more nappies for DS2 and they're white and fluffy! Our old ones (Motherease Multifit) are getting hard and crispy, particularly where they have been wee'd on for 2 and a half years.

Does anyone know of a way of doing a sort of 'deep clean' on them? Does soaking them in white vinegar before washing them help?

I am using eco wash balls in the machine as detergent was giving DS2 a rash, but I don't think it's a lack of detergent doing this as I think it's been gradually building up for some time.

All ideas gratefully received.

Try washing them with no detergent and just a big glug of white vinegar in it's place on a 60C wash. You could try soaking them in white vinegar - I have never used a neat solution just added a big glug to the nappy bucket.

Hanging them out in the rain overnight works quite well too.

Keep them away from radiators and if you don't have a tumble drier maybe ask a friend who does if you could put your clean nappies in their drier for a few minutes - this is best done when they are almost dry but not quite. They only need to be in for 20 mins or so and they will soften up.

None of these things will make them as soft as new but they will help get rid of the crunchiness.

hth

I know you shouldn't generally use bleaches or whiteners etc on wraps, but is it ok to put my grey wraps in napisan very occasionally?

Also what is it about tots wraps that no one likes? why are motherease so much better?

not sure about the napisan as I don't use it so not sure what's in it. I would say don't risk it, or risk it on just one wrap. I'm sure people have accidently bunged a wrap in the wash with their nappies and added napisan and got away with it. I guess it would depend on the quality of your wrap as well - thicker ones may cope better(?).

Tots wraps / V motherease - I find Motherease a lot more reliable. Although there isn't much difference in the cut of the wrap my tots wraps tend to leak a fair bit every now and then whereas I have never had a leak from a Rikki (even when used simply with a pad folded bamboo square) - the gussets seem more reliable. That said, I prefer the airflow anyway. Tots wraps look nicer though!

hiya. Napisan is absolutely fine on motherease nappies and wraps. I was told to use a tablespoon of napisan in every cloth nappy wash when I started instead of wet-bucket-soaking, and have been using cloth for over 2 years now - I use Motherease onesizes and ME airflow wraps plus a whole variety of others - they are all fine and it has no effect at all on the PUL of the wraps that I can tell, and the wraps always go in the napisan-containing wash. My nappies haven't ever needed "stripping" either, so I presume the napisan is keeping them clean too.

HTH.

Napisan is baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad.

any ideas on how I can whiten my grey tots wraps?

Napisan is very baaad! Try a friendlier one to bum and nappy like onelife pure or mio fresh or the php one.

I have a new tots wrap to test - have never used one before as they have a bad reputation for leaking - but no leaks as yet - has been a month so am quite impressed by the new ones

Just leave everything on line for a few days and hope it rains!

napisan is fantastic for getting rid of stubborn stains etc, I use it to soak my flannels/badly stained dc clothing/bibs in. I use a nappy bucket - the pastic is deteriorating

Never soaked my nappies in it though!

Napisan is really bad for the environment and bad for nappies and especially wraps as I believe it deteriorates the waterproofing and elastic over time - pleeeease don't use it. Use PHP nappy soak or similar if you think you need to use nappy soak.

I recommend the tumble drying advice given before and do try a hot wash with no detergent. If they need brightening up, hang them out on the line on a sunny day to bleach them a bit.

Before I got my Eco balls I wasn't using any detergent as DS2 was getting nappy rash so I wanted to eliminate detergent before anything else.

The nappies are fine apart from where they have been urinated in over 2 and a half years, which because I have two boys, is in the same place at the front. They feel as though they've got limescale embedded in them. I tried soaking half a cup of white vinegar in one today as a test before washing the load this evening but it hasn't done anything to soften or remove the crunchy bits.

I've got a tumble dryer so I'll try that tomorrow once they're nearly dry.

Any other ideas?

Don't forget to hang them out in the rain - doesn't matter if they are already wet when they go out. It will take a lot to get them soft after a few years use though I should think - I find big fleece liners are the way to go when the nappies start to go hard.