Nappy Bucket Etiquette Needed

[MatNanPlus]

We are using Bambino Mio.

I rinse in used nappies - #2 nappies have a scrub first - then into a lidded bucket (with airhole) they go in a napisan solution and get washed every 2 days, the solution is changed then and any that still have marks go in for another soak.

I have seen people mention dry bucket and wondered how this worked?

Admittedly we are in Southern Italy and it is in the mid 30's outside, high 20's inside / no A/C, hence the airhole in bucket lid (but we have no smell).

Advice?

I was just about to ask the same thing - dry vs wet pailing, so I'm very interested in the answer to this too! I hear that you're not supposed to put tea tree oil on the nappies - so what does go in the water?

Sorry for the post crash by the way.

Hi i dry pail, i flush solids away and rinse in cold water then into an airtight bucket which has a sanitary towel with a few drops of lavender or tea tree oil on it to mask smells! Then when i was i do a cold rinse first before a standard wash. HTH

I dry pail my nappies and have done since i started eight years ago and four children later.

I remove nappy and place in a sealed nappy bucket, i use fleece liners so if dc have done a poo i shake down the toilet and ocasionally i need to hold liner and flush if poo is loose but not often i then place liner in bucket and every 2-3 days i wash the nappies.

If getting smelly which they dont normally i just place a wipe on top of nappies wit some lavender oil on.

All wraps go in a seperate bucket and get washed seperatly.

I also do a rinse first, and tea tree oil in water can cause some nappy fabrics to break down apparently, I know a few people who use lavender instead.

If you dry pail do the nappies need to get a rinse in the washing machine before being washed (as 4andnotout suggests)? Is this cut out by wet pailing? I am hoping to not have to do specific nappy washes I think, and also want to try and cut down the amount of times I use the washing machine/electric, but obviously I don't know if this is workable.

depends on the state of the nappies and how good your machine is i like to do a quick rinse as i find it stops nappies from smelling over time also after 2-3 days i have a full load anyway as also use washable wipes.

my sister used to wet pail but her nappies seemed to have a set in amonnia smell that mine never had.

I started out wet pailing and switched to dry pailing cos I couldn't stand the stinking bucket of skanky water...

Wet or Dry, I put the washing maching on a cycle with prewash but didn't put any detergent in the prewash bit. So they get a rinse. I only ever washed nappies with nappies, cos I did them on hot (if children sharing nappies they need 60 deg). I did put tea towells in and wipes, but not clothes or towells.

Airtight bucket here, kept in a cooler part of the yard outside. Never seemed to get too stinky even in that summer of 06 hottest on record.

Wraps I mostly swished about in the dc's bath water after they'd got out, then washed in with the nappies once a week or so or if pooey.

With 2 dcs in nappies they took up a full load by themselves anyway.

I wont wash clothes with nappies for purely asthetical reasons that if any clothes leaked onto my lovely nappies i would cry! Today a stray wipe found it's way into the dark wash and is now murky grey and that was enough to give me the hump!

Arggh that would give me the right hump as well!!

So am I right in thinking that when dry pailing you still give them a quick hand rinse before putting in the bucket?

I only rinse those nappies that really need it which is not often ie tummy upset, most nappies come straight off bum and into bucket.

Only seriously pooey ones if it wont shake off iykwim! Wee ones just get chucked straight in the bucket!

Ok that's fair enough, thanks. Do you think that doing a dry pail keeps the nappies softer over all, I wonder whether leaving them soaking for a couple of days reduces the quality of the fabric/rots?

I used to soak but my reasons for changing were:

1. Fed up of putting my hands in scummy water to retrieve nappies to wash.
2. Buckets were really heavy to carry downstairs.

3.Some of my purple tots bots discoloured, which i think was the nappisan.

Keeping the nappies permenantly soaking rots the fibres imo. And the elastic in shaped ones. Specially if you use napisan or other soaking agents which were designed for when mothers used terries, prob didn't have washing machines and would have to hand wash or boil the nappies to get them clean.

Wet wee nappies straight in the bucket.

If a nappy was pooey I would shake off poo down toilet then hold the nappy under the flush water so the worst came off, then shake the nappy in the loo water to get rid of any stubborn bits!

So yes pooey nappies were sort of rinsed first, but not rinsed like when you wash something.

Wet pailing doesn't keep the nappies softer, you have to tumble dry for that. I just got used to crispy nappies cos we line dry.

BTW we kept bucket outside but I just chucked the nappies out of the bathroom window then put in bucket after I'd walked downstairs. So no need to carry bucket or nappies through the house.

Only works if you are in a house though, I wouldn't try that one unless you are in an apartment where your balcony is under the bathroom window

To OP - if your nappies still have marks, don't put them in for another soak, just use them again, wash again. They dont' get pooed on every time, and over time with washing and line drying the stains will come out. Nappies seem to need a bit of sun to keep them really spotless.
New baby poo does stain badly but will come out with washing and sun, later on the poo doesn't seem to stain as bad.

I dry pail.

I wash every 2 days. I always do a pre-rinse before the main wash, I kind of think that otherwise you are putting a load of wee soaked nappies into the machine, and then the main wash is water and wee iykwim.

Damp flannel with a few drops of either lavender or tea tree oil is draped over the contents of the bucket, to minimise smells.

My kids are our of nappies now but for whats its worth, I dry pailed - just put all dirty nappies and wipes in to a lidded bucket (after shaking off what poo I could or holding liner under the flush), and then washed every two or three days at 60 degrees with no pre-wash.

It's true thes best way to get stains out is to dry them in sunshine.

TY all,

I have now got a bowl so all unpooped nappies are rinsed in running water and put into open bowl, only pooped nappies & wraps are soaked.

Tried that FJ but the remaining marks got baked in so have 4 icky ones even 3 months on have found 2 soaks (4 days) works and using a nail brush on the poop ones at the rinse also helps.

we drypail
some are a little stained but have been through the washer so I don't mind.
they bleach nicely in the sunshine.
we dump poo in th eloo and rinse the nappy in cold water.
We always put a drop of lavender oil on the lid of the nappy bucket.

I dry pail, few drops of Lavendar oil sometimes in the bucket if things getting whiffy (mainly because I didn't ahve any tea tree to hand). I use the prewash on the machine, so they get a rinse.

I use paper liners which catch most poo. DS is 2 and still does fairly extensive soft ones. Sometimes I have to scrape excess poo that has escaped the liner with loo roll. Some of the cuffs of my shaped nappies are showing stains a little, but doesn't bother me too much as I know they are clean and they are only going to get pooed on again. Sunlight does help, I have some bamboo squares too and hanging them outside does help to minimise any staining.

I compromise!
I'm dry pailing, and using a liner, but my breastfed 10 week old seems to explode every other day, and so those nappies are put in a bucket of water. It's (usually) 1 per day, though, and I tip the water down the toilet.

I wash every other day, and often mix babyclothes and nappies. But I try to be careful with colours!