And here we get to the crux of it - the main thing that puts many people off cloth nappies is the thought of the washing. Elizabeth was certainly feeling intimidated by the thought: "It seemed difficult and hard work and all a bit too scary. Or at least that was until I actually tried it! However, I know that won't convince you completely (it didn't convince me): nothing but actually doing it yourself will do that." (You might also see some of the comments in our Personal Experiences section.)
Now, the first thing to do is to get things into perspective. As we said earlier, some people would have you believe that washing cloth nappies still involves boiling them up in the copper and scrubbing them by hand. But when you think logically about it, washing cloth nappies just can't be that much work these days! Most cloth nappy users wash every 2-3 days. And for most of us, we find that the real work in laundry lies in the folding and ironing afterwards - which you don't do for nappies. Simply bunging them in the machine and hanging them out is actually very little time. It takes about ten minutes in total. For the amount of money saved most of us can definitely afford ten minutes every second day.
The fact is, the quality of modern washing machines, detergents and the nappies themselves means that there is very little work in getting cloth nappies clean. There is also one other key difference now - drypailing. Drypailing refers to storing the nappies in an empty bucket before washing, instead of the traditional method of soaking.
The traditional method is to have a lidded bucket full of water and a nappy soaker such as Napisan. As you change the nappies, you get rid of any poo off the nappy, then place it in the bucket. When the bucket is full, you pour the water out, place the nappies in the machine and simply give them a good rinse and spin.
This is a very good way of getting them clean, but it has two disadvantages. The first is that it is a pain in the neck having to fill and empty buckets of water, especially if you have to lug them around the house. The second is that Napisan and other soakers can be quite expensive - more so than ordinary washing detergents. If you are unlucky, it can also irritate your own skin as you handle the nappy buckets. And there are some of us who refuse point blank to have harsh chemicals like nappy soakers near our babies' skin so we need to consider other options.
Positives
Negatives
This alternative allows the washing machine to do the work for you. Once you have disposed of the poo (if any) you simply place the nappy in an empty bucket. (You might choose to rinse a poo-ey nappy first.) You could even use a rubbish bin with a flip-top lid or a tough bag. When the bin is full, you up-end it into the washing machine and then wash. No filling, emptying or lugging of buckets.
Now you would naturally think that drypailing would be a pretty stinky alternative however the opposite is true. Drypailing does not stink out the house! When curious friends ask where the nappies are they are frequently amazed that the nappy bin is sitting right there in the bathroom. There is no denying that the bin can get a bit smelly on the inside, but with the lid closed no odour escapes at all. (Elizabeth reckons that it really passes the test if it can cope with her two stink-monsters producing 6 poos a day between them!)
Positives
Negatives
Many people compromise by dry pailing in the bucket/bag and soaking in the machine. They load the machine at night and turn it off once it is full. The nappies are then left to soak overnight before the machine is switched on the next day to continue where it left off. Warm water can be used successfully this way without the need for a prewash (although an initial rinse is still a good idea).
The first step is to remove any poo. With very runny newborn poo (especially breastfed) this is almost a lost cause. Thankfully it is so liquid that it just washes out anyway. Hard to believe but true. For the truly squeamish (usually the husbands, I'm afraid!), you could use a Little Squirt spraygun very effectively to get rid of most of it into the toilet first (see below).
Once on formula or solids, a baby's poo will usually become much easier to deal with. Typically it will simply roll off the nappy into the toilet. If not, giving the fleece liners a good stretch will usually get it off. You can also "sluice" the nappy - hold one end of it firmly inside the toilet bowl and then flush, allowing the water to wash the poo off the nappy. If you have used paper liners, then you only need to dump the liner and all into the toilet.
However, if you have any trouble at all with poo removal then we absolutely swear by The Little Squirt. This is a spraygun that you attach to your toilet cistern and it produces a high pressure water jet which is fantastic to get anything off the nappy. I can't recommend this device highly enough. (See here for more.)
For traditional soaking you use the method described above.
For drypailing, you use the method above which gets you as far as the nappies in the machine. Then it's up to you how to proceed.
If you have a top-loader, a good method is to give the nappies a soak by using the washing machine itself to do it. First you put the nappies through a rinse cycle, which gets the worst of the wee out. Then you fill it up on a hot wash and add the powder. It's not necessary (contrary to popular belief) to use a nappy soaker - ordinary washing powder will usually do. In fact, it's usually best to use ordinary powder in roughly half the amount recommended. Once the machine is full and has agitated for a few minutes, you then turn the machine off and allow it to soak for a few hours or perhaps overnight. In the morning, you simply turn it on again and allow it to finish the cycle. It's that simple (and it still gets a soak).
You can skip the soaking period altogether, and you may wish then to rinse the poo-ey nappies before they go in the bin, which makes marks less likely. Some people find this helps, others don't find it necessary - it really depends on your baby. You may also wish to do an extra final rinse, particularly if your baby has sensitive skin. However, if you don't use too much detergent to start with, you are much less likely to need the extra rinse.
With a front-loader the story is different. An ordinary washing cycle on hot is usually adequate, with an extra rinse either at the beginning or the end. Many people add a small amount of white vinegar for the final rinse as this makes the nappies softer when dried on the line. The acid in the vinegar also counteracts any traces of wee left in the nappies (as urine is alkaline).
It is rare to have any problem with staining if you wash with these methods. Occasionally Elizabeth washs with something stronger like Napisan if the nappies have been particularly disgusting. But that is rare - usually an ordinary hot wash with ordinary washing powder will do. You do not need to "sterilise" the nappies or use really harsh chemicals in order to get them clean. Deborah stays clear of most chemicals and relies on bicarbonate of soda to give an extra boost to the wash if she feels it needs it.
In summary, then, the washing instructions are: