tell me about washing at the laundromat...

[alaskaberry]

*How many times a week do you go?
*What temp wash?
*Do you clandestinely dump vinegar/tea tree oil in with the rinse?
*Do you use the dryer or hang your dipes to dry?

I'm in the process of switching to cloth, however I've been at my parents (running water! ) for a month and now am returning home. I use a friend's washing machine every week for our regular clothes, but she has a front loader and I wouldn't feel comfy washing poopy dipes(I use flushable liners, but these are not always sucessful) unless I could somehow sterilize her washer afterwards, kwim? (tea tree oil??)

TIA!

[potatofairy]

when i've used the laundromat from time to time, the most embarassing thing is the ammonia stench cloud that wafts through the place when you crack open the pee bag. usually i try to go when the place is pretty empty.

we've done a bit of ec, but when we have poo dipes, we rinse them out before throwing them in the bag w the rest.

i wash on hot w/ detergent or soap nuts... i dont really worry about sterilizing, but when other people have, or i've gotten dirty looks at the laundromat(only happend one time) i run an empty cycle afterward on hot, with soap.

hth

ps. doesnt having a washing machine feel soooo luxurious when youve been going without!

[justmama]

we had to use the laundromat for a month when we lived with my in-laws and they were having septic issues. it's not fun with a few kids to entertain! Anyway, we were using a mishmash of fitteds, pockets, prefolds, and covers then. We drypailed everything and went twice a week to wash. Hot wash with 1/2 recommended amt of detergent(i think i used sun back then 3 years ago but they changed the formula since and we've only had luck with original liquid tide now) and then a cold rinse. In the toploading machines only. And I took them home to hang dry but it was more of a cost-effective measure than a diapering need. But I was a little concerned with other people's use of dryer sheets affecting the absorbency of my diapers, especially the pockets, so it was dual purpose I suppose. We didn't have any issues.
If you want to handwash, it's not hard. You can do it quite easily at home with two rubbermaid buckets and a toilet plunger or even just your bare feet. Since we don't use a diaper sprayer and mine's still nursing so her poop isn't very solid and she's a toddler with gross poop, I would recommend the plunger. Check out the off-grid forum and run a search for handwashing cloth diapers. There are a few threads that are very very helpful.

[junipervt]

I used a laundromat for over a yr. here is what I did

used only the top loader washers / washed 1x a week / used 5gal buckets w/ lids as pails
-wipe out washer w/ vin & water mix
-start hot wash w/ a tiny bit of allen's naturally liquid
-dump 1 bucket of stinkies in each washer
-let wash cycle run (hot wash w/ cold rinse)
-take diapers out
-seperate out pockets (to take home to put on drying rack)
-wipe out 1 big dryer w/ vin & water mix (keep in a spray bottle / roll of paper towels or rag)
-throw a few wool dryerballs in, load wet diapers in & dry

never had any stink problems, but about every 4-6m I would (& still do) bleach all of my microfiber inserts jik

I had all different kinds of diapers.... pf's, fitteds, pockets & aio's

also I never got any negative comments from other laudromat patrons. & believe me there were people washing things MUCH stinkier than my DD's diapers. I did get a lot of positive comments & questions usually when I was folding the clean diapers.

if you have any specific questions feel free to pm me