Prefolds not soft after washing - any tips please?

[Lyra75]

Hi there, I'm new to this board and looking for some advice. My 14 month DS has been in cloth nappies since birth (prefolds with wraps - mainly motherease Rikki wraps) but until 3 weeks ago we had a laundry service . Now our laundry service has gone bust and we have a house with an outside line and a clothes pulley, and a huge stash of prefolds from the nappy company (we got to keep them) so we are keen to keep using the cloth. But I just can't get the nappies nice and soft like the nappy company did. Any tips on how I should be washing them? Currently we dry pail, then prewash with just water, wash with ecover (half the usual amount) and dry outside if no rain, inside on ceiling pulley if can't get outside. But they just feel a bit rough.

Any advice gratefully received.

They probably tumble dried them. Try using soapnuts they make the water softer.

Here will send you a sample & information sheet

www.inasoapnutshell.com/id20.html

They probably used to tumble dry them TBH. That makes nappies really soft but isn't good for them at all.

A bit of white vinegar in the fabric conditioner draw would help a bit.

Can you use fleece liners with prefolds? I've no idea as I use shaped nappies. Anyway, if you can then that would be ideal. Fleece stays soft what ever you do to it and provides a stay dry liner too. Makes getting rid of poo easier too

I was not too impressed with soapnuts myself, but I use Bamboo which stays pretty soft anyway. Maybe the difference is more marked with cotton?

I have rock hard Thames Valley Water and if the soapn nuts have been little used I can really tell the difference, I still using a little bit of washing powder though.

I agree about bamboo being much softer - perhaps invest in some bamboo squares and just pad fold them like the pre-folds? The are quite cheap.

I would think the laundry service was tumble drying them hence the softness.

Some things other than tumbling that can help keep nappies soft are:

A glug of white malt vinegar in the softener compartment during the wash

Leaving them out in the rain every now and then

Rubbing them together before putting away for use.

Letting them dry on the line for the main part then finishing them off in a drier will soften them up so if you have a friend with a drier maybe you could take them round for the last bit of drying.

Don't dry them on a radiator unless you really have to or they will go very hard. If you use fleece liners then you need not worry too much about the prefolds being soft against the skin.

x posts - sorry

I told my DH that mumsnet would have some ideas - thanks for the quick replies. Lots of things to try. Will definitely look into some soft liners - hadn't thought of that (even though we use fleece reusable wipes which do stay nice and soft!)