Green soap and cloth nappies

When I bought my first cloth nappies, I was trying to find out with what should I wash them. My first choice was the greek well-known green soap "Arkadi", considering that such a natural and pure product would be nothing but proper for the job.

Wrong wrong wrong....

The residues built up, the nappies were smelling very bad and I had to do my first stripping!

I asked the company that produces this soap for info but the people there had no idea about cloth diapers, so they couldn't be more specific with them...As I was searching, I found very specific information regarding the use of green soap for washing cloth nappies, on an expert's site:

(You see I am using only the "nappies" word at this article... Because of The Nappy Lady...)

Here comes the analysis:

Pure soap flakes, rather than detergent, give a much softer feel to nappies and wraps. They are particularly useful when washing wool wraps, because they retain the wool fat, or the lanolin we add.

 Soap flakes leave cotton very soft to the touch, but not as absorbent, as well as with all the other nappy materials. Here comes the reason why:

 Soap is primarily made of fat, animal fat, or vegetable oil (e.g. olive soap) and sodium hydroxide. This explains why soap is alkaline and not great for sensitive skin. 

It can leave a film that can affect absorbency. But the main factor seems to be hard/soft water. Hard water will leave a "fatty scum" on the fibres, no matter how much you rinse, and that will affect absorbency. Soft water is better, as the soap disolves more completely. 

 As for clogging the machine, it's back to the hard/soft water thing. It shouldn't be a huge problem in the dispenser drawer, but can be in the waste pipes, because you are getting rid of the scummy water at that stage. The inside of the pipes can get clogged until they are totally blocked.

However, a good dose of very hot water and washing soda crystals does wonders for that. It declogs the machine as well as the pipes. 
Too much froth in the washing machine inhibits the cleaning process, which is why you should be really sparing when using soap flakes instead of detergent. Adding them direct to the drum rather than in the dispenser drawer makes sure that all the flakes get to the nappies rather than stuck on the path from the dispenser drawer.

If you have a toploading machine, there is less of a problem, presumably because there is more room for the froth to get to the top of the water and out of the way. 

 My conclusion: just do not use green soap to clean cloth nappies!

About laundry, again?

Yes, once more about laundry!

We have to make our life as easy as possible, so any information helping is more than welcome.

This time the news come from great Antoine of Bambinex!

I copied our discussion just to see how simple things are:

"The best way to wash nappies is to wash at  40° or 60° in case of disease, and ONLY with washing POWDER, ideally special for colours (no whitener agents which brings residues and down the absorbency). Never liquid washing, nor stain remover, softener, chlorine etc… Nothing except washing powder. Please to observe the right quantity : i.e 2 table spoons for a full washing machine = 30 grams, not more, this is enough, cause too much powder also causes residues.

This advise is available for all kind of nappies, observing washing instructions is 50% of the success, if not you will have a lot of disagreements, like bad odours  leakages etc…

...............................................

About washing we made a lot of tests and studies with the help of a Belgian detergent producer (only for Pro use) and we learnt a lot from them.

I can say that all I say have been tested etc.. etc…We are particularly sensible to washing because a big part of our sales are microfiber nappies which are marvellous nappies that work very well, but microfiber is building up residues very quickly when wrongly washed and then a lot of claims from mums. That’s why we focus on washing instructions and try to teach them to mothers.

Bamboo or cotton are less affected, but this is just a question of time, and at the end those have also problems.

And more, most of our nappies are now One Size ones that fits babies from birth to potty, means : a longer time of use,  long lasting i.e guarranty for more than 300 industrial washes, we must use high quality fabrics and components, perfect making off etc…

We  are also involved in professional use , for babies in nurseries and adults in hospitals and aged people homes. High quality, heavy duty, long lasting and return on invest are absolutely required in that area. We learnt a lot from that experience to.

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If you can find ARIEL special colour, this is very good. Enzymes are not really an enemy, the problem is when there are too much enzymes in the formula, but enzymes are the best to wash organic stains.

Or we have our own powder…."

 To conclude:
- Wash your diapers at 40 degrees or 60, if your baby is sick.
- Use a simple washing powder for coloured fabrics! Two tablespoons are enough fora full washing machine.
-No softener, no bleach, no chlorine. Enzymes are not a problem, as long as they are not too much!
-There are special detergents (according to my opinion, as long as we can find them easily, like in the store next door)

How do I wash my new diapers?

The one that will win the diapers, will have to wash them 3-6 times in order to reach the maximum of their absorbence!

The girls from "clothnappy.info" have a different proposal and this is what I do (since I cannot wait long for all these washes...);

Step 1 - Fill a bucket with luke warm water and submerge nappy/nappies. Leave for 24 hours.

Step 2 - Add nappies to the washing machine and wash on a low heat (30-40) with 1/3 of your usual amount of detergent. Rinse twice.

Step 3 – Dry nappies on an airer and repeat steps 1&2 once more.

So, this is it. Your diapers are ready for lot of wearing and "dirting"... 

Stripping, do I need it?

So, its been two months of cloth diapering and I have been washing only with green soap, since I did not have decided what should I buy (unfortunatelly I did not find anything suitable at the super market and I just got the famous soap nuts).

Everytime they dry, I like watching them and I smell them...

This time I did not like AT ALL the smell...

Let alone that the first stains came up... Ups, here is an unexpected leakage as well...

Does this mean the time has come for the first stripping?

I have the following questions;

1) Why couldn't I wash them with a normal laundry detergent, just to make sure they will clean very well, and then do a dozen of rinses just to make sure that nothing is left?

2)Why the materials that smell the most are the microfleece and the polyester? Here comes the value of the raw materials as cotton and bamboo?

3) Is there any chance that the good cleaning of the diapers is the reason why all manufacturers don't make pocket nappies?

Too many questions for me and I want answers to all of them. 

So it is time for washing and searching!

P.S. Do not think that the previous post about stripping was written just now on purpose...It just happend! The perfect mother enstict!

How do I wash our diapers?

After searching the network about the best way to wash one's cloth diapers, I realized that, eventually, everyone does whatever fits them, since everyone has a different machine, different babies, other detergents, other kind of water, etc. etc. 

So I managed to gather some information and give them to you.

(Many thanks to Amy Sue from zany-zebra where I found the most concise information. As I mentioned before, I am very bored searching the web... Unless it has to do with shopping ...)

 

BASIC STEPS

1) Clean as much "solids" as possible from the diaper

2) Take off all the inserts

3) Turn inside-out the diapers and close the velcros so that the cloth does not get scratches and to clean better the inside of the nappie. Most diapers have a "special" tab to close on that the velcro while washing. Use it! If after a couple of washes you see that it opens, then close them at their usual tab, and turn diapers inside-out. I

4) Do a cold prewash

5) Wash in as hot water as the diaper manufacturer allows you to, with the maximum water quantity 

6) Use only ¼ or ½  of the suggested detergent quantity for yout washing machine 

7) Rinse with water at the maximum temperature 

8) Do one more rinse, just to make sure that the detergent is all off.

SECRETS

1) Put soda at the prewash to remove stains and bad smells 

2) Βάλτε ½-1 φλυτζάνι λευκό ξύδι στο τελικό ξέπλυμα για να μαλακώσουν οι πάνες και να απομακρυνθούν οσμές που δεν έφυγαν

3) Σε περιοχές με σκληρό νερό βάλτε αποσκληρυντικό. ΟΠΩΣΔΗΠΟΤΕ. (Το χρειάζεται και το πλυντήριό σας)

4) Με ½ φλυτζάνι χυμό λεμονιού στην κύρια πλύση, απομακρύνονται οι λεκέδες

5) Μερικές σταγόνες Tea tree oil, βοηθά στις οσμές αν τις ρίξτε στο τελευταίο ξέπλυμα

6)  Ο ήλιος βοηθάει πάρα πολύ. (Τα έχουμε πει αυτά άλλωστε!)

ΕΠΙΠΛΕΟΝ ΜΥΣΤΙΚΑ

1) Πλύνετε πάντα τις πάνες πριν την πρώτη χρήση, όσες φορές συστήνει ο κατασκευαστής

2) Μην πλένετε πάνω από 24 πάνες κάθε φορά

3) Αν χρησιμοποιείται κρέμες κατά του συγκάματος ή θεραπευτικές κρέμες  (με οξείδιο του ψευδαργύρου, δηλαδή zinc oxide) βάζετε πάντα χαρτάκια απορροφητικά (liner), διότι λεκιάζουν τα υφάσματα

4) Μην αφήνετε μετά το πλύσιμο τις βρεγμένες χρωματισμένες πάνες να μένουν έτσι για πολύ ώρα διότι μπορεί να μεταφερθούν χρώματα από τη μία στην άλλη

5) Μετά το πλύσιμο, μυρίστε τις πάνες: δεν πρέπει να μυρίζει καθόλου απορρυπαντικό. Αν δεν έχει ξεπλυθεί καλά, ξεβγάλτε άλλη μία φορά ή κάντε stripping, δηλαδή «απογύμνωση» των υπολειμμάτων πάσης φύσεως από τις πάνες

6) Αν έχουν μείνει λεκέδες στις πάνες, βάλτε χυμό λεμονιού πάνω τους, αφήστε τις στον ήλιο και μετά ξαναπλύνετε

7) Αν βάλτε ένα επιπλέον κύκλο στραγγίσματος στο πλυντήριό σας, οι πάνες θα στεγνώσουν πιο γρήγορα