Crunchy nappies

[jd28]

Does anyone have any good advice about getting nappies softer? I use a mix of Totsbots, little lambs and motherease. I don'thave a tumble dryer or a washing line (fat lot of use anyway at the moment) so they're all on the airer and after drying they're stiff as a board! I've just moved from London to South Wales and I thought the move from hard to soft water would help, but no...

I dry pail, rinse and wash with bio detergent and a few drops of tea tree oil.

Any suggestions?

[Purplecat]

I had this problem when I line dried mine, the only solution I found was to tumble, so look forward to finding out if anyone has the answer!!!

[friendlybaby]

The crunchiness could still be a remnant from when you did live in a hard water area, so I'd use white vinegar in the fabric softener section of your machine. It will take several washes but should help diminish the crunchiness.

Other then that it will just be a case of screwing them up after they have dried to crack the crunchiness. That sounds horrid, but it is in effect what a tumble drier does.

[mumtokirsty]

I know you're not supposed to use fabric softener, but now and again I use it, just to keep the nappies nice and soft. It doesn't seem to really affect the absorbency either. I use Ecover - it is gentle and has a nice smell.
If that doesn't work I actually SOAKED one nappy I bought second hand, which was REALLY hard, in PURE vinegar overnight, and then rinsed it over and over until there were no bibbles whatsoever. This really helped to soften it

[littlekiwi]

according to one thing I remember reading fairly recently you can use bold 2 in 1 and comfort softener on nappies, likewise on towels too. Something to do with clay.

[jd28]

Thanks for tips, ladies. I'll try the white vinegar thing and report back!

[HannahBanana]

White vinegar. AVoid softners but Bold does work (so I've heard lol)

Also rubbing the nappies softens them up... I've not tried it but I'm guessing like a dry scrubbing type way :laugh:

[nichepburn]

Let them hang out in the rain before drying them

[daisymay]

We have really hard water round here and white vinegar does help. But the best thing is a spin in the tumble drier, especially with those balls that you get from Lakeland (a blue one and a pink one). Can you put them through a friend's tumble drier or go to a laundrette?

[jd28]

Hmm, several washes later the vinegar doesn't seem to be making much difference. They do soften up with some vigorous rubbing and shaking, but it's a bit of a chore. I guess I'll just have to wait until the weather improves and the wind can do the shaking for me...

[littlekiwi]

Just to update on the bold 2 in 1 - it really is ok to use on nappies- bamboo, cotton terry and fleece liners too. The nappies do come up softer. We live in a very hard water area and found that even switching to bio made a small difference. The extra push of the added softener in the bold makes them lovely again.
HTH
Catherine.xx