Washing diapers in a portable washer

[nocturne1980]

We live in an apartment and have decided the best and cheapest route for us to CD would be to purchase a portable washer to wash our diapers. (versus using a laundry mat).

I have a question about washing because these washers do not have manual settings. It is automatic and I can pick the water level and temperture, but not just a rinse cycle.

When I wash my diapers would it be okay to wash one full cycle on cold and then wash another cycle on hot? Would this get my diapers clean?

I've done tons of research on portable washers to find the highest rated one that will fit in our apartment and the one we have picked has great reviews.

I just want to know if there is anything special we have to do since we don't have a rinse only option.

Thanks for any help!

[Ola_]

I think you can probably do either a cold cycle at the beginning or at the end.  If you're rinsing diapers before putting them in the pail for example or use a wet pail, I'd probably do the cold cycle at the end to help rinse all the soap out. Otherwise I'd be tempted to do the cold cycle at the beginning to get all the poopies out before hot water hits the diapers cause stains may set in more.

Also, do some of the cycles available have an extra rinse perhaps?  I know in our washer the heavy duty cycle does another rinse in addition to doing the actual wash for longer.

In the end you will probably just need to try it and see.  If you're not having any issues with rashes or absorbency/repelling problems then you don't need to add extra stuff to your routine.

[nocturne1980]

There is a normal, heavy, and delicate cycle. I was thinking doing a cold cycle on normal and a heavy cycle on hot. I'm planning on line drying them.

[eclipse]

I've used a portable washer (you mean the ones that hook to the sink, right?) with cds, and I just ran them through one regular cycle. I never did anything special when I used a coin-op either. I never worried about extra rinses and all that. One cycle was plenty.

[rachelsmama]

You could always go lower tech and get a twin tub washer.  You can customize the cycle on those to your heart's content, and the spinner works really well, so things dry fairly quickly.