OK, I cannot find the answers in the diapering forums, so if you don't mind indulging a few questions, I'd appreciate it. I'm feeling a little unprepared for this new baby coming....
We're starting out with a friends newborn cpfs and covers (hooray for freebies!)
1.)Do I always wash the pfs in hot and the covers in cool or warm?
2.)Can I use my basic HE detergent?
I think I've got the rest down, I just want to know what to tell the family that will be here to help when they ask about washing, since that'll be one of their jobs....
Quick washing instructions:
1. Cold soak (I have a toddler... but you can skip it for BF poo).
2. Cold pre-wash. With about 1/4 the recommened amount of soap. Optional add ins to kill germies- tea tree oil (about 5 drops into the water) and 1/4 cup of vinegar (into the fabric softener dispenser).
3. Hot wash.
4. Hot dry the prefolds. I hang the covers to save the elastics, but other people will hot dry them too.
You pre-wash cold to remove the ammonia because hot will set the smell. The hot wash & hot dry kills the germs.
The soap question is still in debate on the Diaper Forum. If you aren't using pul your regular soap should be fine. But, beware of brighters/whiteners supposedly they will harm the waterproofness of pul. So look for Free & clears with no whiteners-- usually the cheap house brands.
We do Hot wash/cold rinse with a 2nd cold rinse. We add plain vinegar to the first rinse. Everything gets dried on hot. No stink, no build up. The only times we've had problems were when we used regular detergent (ALL free&clear, target method, etc.) We use Bi-O-Kleen. You may have to experiment with detergent. It seems that what works for one may not work for another. Good luck!
One more slight variation (just to make things more clear for you!
)
We do a cold wash, no soap. Then a hot wash with a second rinse. I add a tiny (maybe two TBs?) bit of detergent to the hot wash. I just use my Tide HE and have never had a problem. I usually pull my covers out, but definitely hot or sun dry the diapers.
What about washing fuzzi bunz? Any detergent that works particularly well/not well. I just bought a bunch and don't want to ruin them by my stupidity so I haven't washed them yet.
We primarily use pocket dipes with hemp PFs/doublers and hemp fitteds. When I wash, I do a cold "rinse & spin" cycle and then a cold prewash with 1/3 ball of RLR, a hot wash with a small amt. of All F&C, and then an extra "sanitary" rinse. I dry dipes on high and hang the PUL stuff to dry. My dipes are occasionally a bit stinky if there were a lot of poopy dipes in the load, but they've also been in use for 3+ years (one day DD might think the toilet is a fine alternative to dipes, but apparently not for now).
Cold rinse- not detergent
Hot wash w/ cold rinse- with just enough Tide HE tocover the bottom of the lid so a teeny amount of soap
Warm rinse- just to make sure the soap is getting rinsed out
Dry everything on Hot
I have been using Tide HE on all my dipes since we got our front loader- thaty insludes Fuzzi BUnz that are a year old at this point and we haven't had any problems. About once a month- I strip my dipes good whether they might or might not need it.
We used fitteds last time, this time we're using mostly cpfs and a few fitteds.
Our routine was/will be:
Cold rinse (sometimes with baking soda)
Hot wash with detergent
Cold rinse (sometimes with vinegar)
Depending on the weather, I line dry them and toss them in the dryer with a damp towel for about 10 minutes to soften them if they get stiff... or in inclimate weather I'll just dry them in the dryer.
Hang dry PUL covers and handwash/hang dry wool covers.
BTW, right now we use regular detergent because natural detergents haven't worked with our really hard, lime-y water so far (I'm getting ready to try Seventh Generation). We have a front loader and use he detergent, but we had similar issues with natural detergents when we had a top loader so I do think it's our water.
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