CD First time washing help/advise needed

[Leningradka]

I am cross posting this here hoping for some advise from you guys since I didn't get any response in the diaper forum:

Newbie in need of help

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So I am a first time mom, with my babe due any day. I decided to CD after reading MDC I got 36 indian prefolds and covers (some bummies, some thirsties, all together 6)

I did my prewash yesterday. I was not 100% sure I did it right, but I tried to follow the recs on here. so here is what I did, please tell me if I did it wrong:

I did 1 wash with cold water (using allens for everything), followed by 6 hot water washes - this is just for diapes, not covers. I then dried it until they were damp in the drier, and now they are hanging outside to dry. I also washed covers with the rest of the babies' cloth and hung them up to dry (didn't put them in the drier).

So I would like to know if I did it right, or if there is anything I should redo. I don't have to wash the pail liner do I? It can just be washed with diapers, right? I got a blueberry (I think) liner, its ok to throw it on hot with diapers?

Thank you for your help guys!!!

[syd'smom]

Not in your ddc, but it all sounds good to me! I just took the pail liner full of dipes and pushed the dipes out into the washer and threw the liner in after. What's the liner made of? Most cloth dipe stuff is made to stand up to lots of hot washes, as that is what you need to do. Good luck! (I switched to full time cloth after dd blew out of 4 different brands of sposies in one day! )

[ambrosia77]

My understanding is that when you're prepping the PFs it's important to dry them on hight heat (in the dryer) between each washing since that is what encourages them to shrink and quilt up and get nice and soft and absorbent. (No fabric softener obviously.) From your original post it sounds like you washed them six times in a row without drying in between, is that correct? So if you're feeling like they are not quite thick or absorbent enough, you could try washing and drying them a few more times. I also got a lot of advice that the hotter the water the better when prepping PFs. A lot of people add a kettle or two of boiling water to their hot washes to raise the temperature a bit. Depending on how hot your hot water is, you could try that.

good luck!

[jrabbit]

you need to dry them in the heat of the dryer - that's equally as important as the hot wash. What I do with new diapers is:

wash 2 times in warm
dry on medium heat
wash 2 times in warm
dry again

When you're using them, you can use the sun to dry them, but you need some extra ooomf when you're preparing them.

covers (anything polyester, really) - can be washed one time, and it's only to make it "yours" - you're not preparing them for anything - they don't have sizing in them like cotton does.

I prefer warm water for my laundry, including diapers - unless the diapers are particularly stinky.

My normal laundry method:
1. cold rinse or short wash cycle with baking soda only
2. warm wash cycle with detergent and maybe baking soda - vinegar in rinse
3. one more rinse with vinegar
4. dry on medium heat - air dry anything waterproof

have fun!
--janis

[wild fire child]

I washed mine probably 8 times, but I dried after every 2 to 3 washes and I made my washer do extra rinse cycles. Mine are unbleached though, which does make a difference.
The really important thing is once they're dry you need to put some water on them, if they still repel then they're not done, it should soak right in.
The diaper bag can be washed with the diaper load, but I chose not to. The PUL is what keeps it waterproof, just like diaper covers, and that can break down faster in hot water. Maybe not fast enough to matter, but I'm paranoid

[Leningradka]

Thank you guys!! Looks like more laundry ahead of me! I did wash them 6 times in a row. And dried them once at the end - I originally put them outside but they were not drying so I threw them into the dryer.

I chose indian prefolds b/c everyone was raving about how soft they and these didn't get too soft - guess now I know why! I should have asked you guys before I did laundry not after, and I spent the whole sunday running the washer.

Ambrosia, I did run on hot, and its hot enough where you don't want to stick your hand in it, and I have a front loader so I am not sure that I can even add hot water to it.

Janis, how many more wash/dry cycles do you think I should do?

Noelani, mine are unbleached too.
Thank you

[jrabbit]

don't worry about the hotness of the water at this point (warm will be just fine) - just wash/dry them maybe two more times. As you use them, they will continue to soften up.

I've been selling cloth diapers for the past 6 years ... I've never found a significant difference between the bleached & unbleached with regard to how many times they need to be washed before they soften. I personally prefer unbleached, though. And I have had some Indian cotton that I did like best.

best wishes
--janis

[dayiscoming2006]

I believe it's recommended that you wash and dry them 5-6 times to make sure all the natural oils are lost. That's what I did. That's what the instructions that came with my unbleached prefolds said. Make sure you wash with a detergent safe for cloth for both covers and diapers. I used arm and hammer naturals free and clear and it worked well.