An idiot's guide to cloth.......

[Dozymare]

Just because I spend ages trawling various threads looking for answers, here is a thread for us to ask some really silly questions......

I have been using cloth for about 1 month - I got a 2nd hand kit of another MN'er who was so helpful at the time. I am getting on quite well but have the following questions if someone would be so kind to answer.....

1. Why has my DD now got nappy rash? I am changing her far more frequently but still not beating it. She has never suffered from it before - what is the best thing to use as a barrier and to cure?

2. I have a HUGE selection of nappies - I don't get what I should be doing with the nappies that have a booster attached eg Fluffle..should I be tucking that into the nappy or leaving it on the top?

3)can't stand the smell of the nappy bin - what can I put in to counterbalance that

4. Do you always use a liner? If so, what do you prefer - throw away or washable?

5. I can get a lingering smell of poo in the kitchen near the washing machine - at the mo, I am using disposable liners so not getting much poo on the nappies before going into the machine - is it going to block my machine?!

Aside from these few hiccups, I am loving cloth

TIA

IMO

1. Try fleece liner (it acts as a stay dry barrier). Or a disposable liner soaked in camomile tea, but don?t wring it out, leave it wet. Or try a silk liner if you have one.

2. Nappies with sewn in boosters tuck into the nappy, but if you find leaving it out better, then go with that. It still adds absorbency.

3. A few drops of lavender oil or tea tree oil in the top/round the rim of the bucket.

4. Any liner for newborn runny poo is, IMO, optional as the liquid goes through. But fleece liners can stop staining in this instance. When DS started to eat solids but didn?t move much, paper liners were great. When he started to move more and the wiggled around I brought a fleece blanket cheap from a supermarket and cut shapes to fit the entire nappy and that contained better the mess made from all his squiggling around!

5. Poo will not block your machine, but do remember to run a rinse first on your nappies if you don?t soak and run a service wash on the hottest temperature every month to clear your machine.

HTH

thank you so much!

Another Q...why should I run a pre wash and what is a service wash

a service wash is an empty wash at ninety degrees

do a cold rinse prior to washing the nappies just to get the poop off. I don't anymore tbh. I have a bucket that I hold each poppy nappy over (straight after taking them off Blake) and give the nappy a really good blast with cold water to rinse it (I don't use hot water or a warm rinse now as this could possibly set stains)

Blake gets a rash only when teething - if he does I use a fleece liner and coat him in metanium. You could use a barrier cream to prevent it and always use a fleece liner (keep LOs bum dry and to protect the absorbency of your nappies). Any of the following are good - petroleum jelly, zinc & castor oil and my favourite of the moment is waitrose's own baby bottom butter (mainly used as lip balm by me!).

the good blast to rinse the nappy is with cold water from the showerhead!

Cold prewash to rinse urine out as hot/warm wash can wash in urine smells. I do this every wash.

Service wash is the hottest wash you have, usually 90 degrees, with nothing in it, no clothes and no detergent, just the hot water to clear out any dirt and soap residue to keep machine clear, both for nappies and for other washes.

HTH

Oh, DS nappy rash (when he had it) I used Body Shop hemp hand cream, would you believe! The best!