Cloth nappies driving me mad!

[bigbang]

Hello!

DS has been in cloth since 6 weeks old, he is now 19 months. We use pocket nappies (loads of different ones) and two parters with wool pants at night. He has had nappy rash on and off for about 6 months, he is in sposies sometimes as it helps the rash.

Anyway these nappies are actually sending me insane. They never seem to get clean, they smell of wee even after they have been washed and I am sure they are what is irritating his bum. The night nappies are stinking in the morning, really really strong make-your-eyes-water not normal stench. I wash them with a quarter powder, rinse or two before and after normal wash, dry on the airer/radiator/ very occasionally tumble dryer. Every so often I do a bio wash at 60.

I feel like I have tried everything with them. I thought maybe I wasn't using enough powder, so increased it for a couple of washes to half powder, no difference. I have also tried 'stripping' them, tried 2 washes without powder plus about 10 rinses, no difference. I have tried soaking them in vinegar (not the pul) and tried bi carb, and have run out of ideas.

I really hate the things at the moment! I am expecting number two and the plan was to use the same nappies, I can't be doing with buying a whole new set but cannot put them on another child as they are.

Anyway, please help if you can. I don't know what else to try or what could be going on with them. Is there a fail safe stripping method? Or do I need to do something else? I expect I have been doing everything wrong all this time! Please offer any pearls of wisdom I am ready to try anything! Thanks.

Fight ! Fight! Fight !

Oooh I do like a good Class War arguement.

lmao

would it be better to fly to france or go in a 4x4?

private rickshaw powered by organic butternut oil

I didn't think any of us were being smug about using cloth?

Btw what's a holiday? Only planes I've been on in over a decade were at Brooklands museum!!!

And wow we walk to school too because we can't afford the petrol!

sorry, don't fit into your class-bashing stereotype. I have a small car (1.1 L) and don't have a holiday home; and the last holiday we had was a 5 day honeymoon, admittedly in Belgium and France but it was via carferry and our car.

ANd...what is it about becoming a mother than turns people into environmental scientist (2:ii).

I wasn't it in for the environment never said I was, I was in it for the COST - 3 children in 3 years - work out the maths!

On that note - you seem to have become slightly barking mad.

Good night

"3 children in 3 years - work out the maths!"

Ha ha. The irony.

Definately not middle class jet setter's here, i use cloth as having 2 in nappies costs a fortune in disposies to be literally thrown away and tbh when washing for a family of 6 what is an extra load every other day?

I think you should start your own thread for your ramblings dastardlynmuchwee.

the op is looking for advice on stripping her nappies of ammonia, not to be lectured at and insulted by the likes of you.

sheesh, MN is getting more and more nasty as others have observed recently. you'd think that nappies and potty training would be safe from random acts of vitriol.

no no Daisy - as (whatever it was we got called, can't remember can't be bothered to look), we are clearly fair game. Along with all lentil weavers.

That is the 2nd time this week washable nappy users have been accused of being middle class snobs!

It must be a terribly dull life not having the choice of which beautiful fluffy nappy and patterned wrap to put on your DC If they spend that extra 5 mins a week washing nappies they wouldn't have time to waste posting nonsense I reckon....

Middle class?...I honestly couldn't afford to (and wouldn't want to) spend all that money on disposables.

Were you looking to make a helpful point, dastardly?

Because the OP has tried disposables, y'know.

OP: I had a similar problem with dd1 & tbh, found using disposables helped when she had a rash. (Fleece-lined pocket nappies, cleaning with cotton wool & lotion & a good dollop of sudocrem worked too, but dh found it too much faff...)

OTOH ds & dd2 only ever get rashes with disposables.

For the teething nappies (ammonia - grim) I'd suggest soaking them - I just drop mine in a bucket in the bath & wash my hands over the bucket so they're soaking in soapy water. It dilutes the stench (which is definitely worse in paper nappies) & prolongs the life.

But if nothing else works - use disposables for a week, see if it's any better. It might be - to be fair, however obvious the environmental & financial benefits, once a rash has taken hold IME with d1 it needed a week's break to alow it to heal.

mum....shop assistant
dad....skilled worker
educated...local comp
paid to put myself through university as a mature student living on beans (of the heinz, not mung, variety ) to fund it.

what a charmed middle class existence

personally I just don't like the smell of dispos, or the fact that my DC are wearing paper knickers....I mean if paper knickers were sooo great, we'd all be using them wouldn't we? And if by using cloth I can save a dustbinful of nappies going to landfill every week, then all to the good.

bigbang - I don't know whether or not you've tried raw egg white on the nappy rash? I've never had to use it but a friend of mine who used clothies used it when her DS got bad nappy rash and it did help.
Fresh egg white - paint it on and let it dry before putting the clean nappy on.

Also sprilon spray (available on pescription) worked when all else failed - it's designed for bed sores is very thin so it breathes but completely waterproof.

Worst case of nappy rash turned out to be strep A so don't assume that it is nappy rash......

yes to the egg white on nappy rash. this has sorted out some really nasty rahses on my DD who is very prone to getting rashes. We now clean her with doublebase or E45 emollient as anything else flares it right up.

sorry I have nothing more positive to add to your thread bigbang, but I have similar issues with DD and was hoping for some new things to try.

Oh gosh what happened here!

Err I don't know what to say. In fact I think I will ignore all that completely as I am lost for words.

To clear up any misunderstandings about his nappy rash and types of nappy... Yes cloth is irritating his bum, but only for the past few months so I know its a problem with the nappies (hence my post in the first place) rather than with cloth nappies in general. We have had no problems for most of the time. The rash itself isn't that bad, nothing sudocreme can't handle, just clears up quicker in a disposable, its not like he screams in pain when I change him. In fact I am not sure that he even notices, its only me that gets in a state about it as I know its not normal for him and a problem with the nappies... Which I want to sort out...

Thanks for all the helpful suggestions, I am going to spend the next couple of days trying to strip them down again with vinegar, soaking and napisan. I will also start to wet pail once I have got my head round how to do it properly.

just make sure that all the napisan gets rinsed out properly it's harsh stuff and I would just start out soaking with plain water or a tiny bit of mio fresh or similar and carry on giving it that cold rinse before washing.

Have you tried washing them at 60 or hotter it did really make a difference to mine & it's good for your washing machine to have the occasional blast to get rid of any build up of powder residue in the machine. My instruction tell me to do a hot cycle one a month!!!

Also if you put your powder/liquid in the drawer you often get loads of build up in the tubes leading to the drum which means that your clothes get rinsed in detergenty water - it's better to put the stuff direct in the drum (I use powder, put it in first and have never had problems but I only use half the recommended amount even when I don't put soap nuts in as well!)

Dp came home with vinegar and napisan this evening so the soaking will commence tomorrow. Its going to be a fun day.

I will make sure I rinse the napisan out thoroughly, cheers cargirl. I do wash them at 60 every so often and run an empty machine at 95 when I remember to. Good tip about not using the drawer, I have been doing that. Do you just sprinkle the powder into the bottom of the drum before the clothes/nappies go in?

You have been very helpful guys thank you Fingers crossed something works.

yes I just put the powder in the drum first and then washing on top but I do that with all my washes.

hi big bang
i've just noticed this thread and wondered how you got on?
we use lollipop fleece nappies and they don't smell, i borrowed a cotton terry one from a friend as a trial and couldn't work out what the horrible smell was - i boiled it/vinegar etc... and couldn't get rid of the smell.
i'm sticking with my lovely fleece ones!

Hi there,

I don't normally come on this topic much but by chance I was browsing and saw my old thread resurrected, I might have missed it otherwise.

We are getting on fine now, after all the soaking and rinsing there was improvement! I now wash nappies at 60 every time just to be safe though. We haven't had problems with nappy rash for ages either, expect when he does a toxic poo! I don't know what the cause/solution was tbh but something helped. They are not perfect and new again but we are back to normal which I am happy for. I haven't started wet pailing if I am honest as it is very impractical in our flat, and dp was not keen on wee and poo soup!