www.incontinentsupport.org

Hello everyone!

We will be moving to a new home near Raleigh, NC, sometime in the Fall. As part of that move we will be buying new appliances, including a new washer and dryer.

I would like to be able to use cloth diapers at night (currently I use them only as an over-diaper on top of a disposable) and try cloth during mornings when I work around the home and do not go out. This would result in some savings, but brings up the subject of laundry.

What considerations have you found to be important in selecting a washer and dryer to use with cloth diapers? I would think a pre-wash and a hot hygiene/sanitary mode. What else? What about an extra hot mode for the dryer? I normally do not have BMs at night, but, as I am bowel incontinent I must consider the possibility of BMs in cloth diapers and having to wash them - which is a new subject for me . This is not a critical issue as BMs in the morning would be exceedingly unlikely due to my morning preventive enema procedure.

Are there any specific brands and models which have worked better than others? I would appreciate any input you might give.

--John

Check Consumer Reports for extra-capacity washers. BMs in cloth diapers can be a real hassle. I put mine in a Clorox pre-soak in our laundry tub before washing in an extended-cycle hot water wash, with a cold water rinse.

Patrick, good advice. I am not planning on BMs in cloth diapers, but I must admit the possibility of an unscheduled accident. What about poop liners inside the cloth diaper? They have them for infants, do they have them in adult sizes (obviously I have not checked this)? Remember, I still would be wearing disposables for most of the day and early evening or whenever I left the home.

--John

Sorry to reply to my own last posting, but I am trying to stimulate some responses on the subject.

From some reading on the Internet, mostly from moms washing cloth baby diapers, I am getting the impression that HE High Efficiency washers that try to reduce the amount of water and soap used are a VERY BAD idea for me to use to wash adult cloth diapers. I am reading about moms having to add hot or even boiling water to the washers in order to achieve an effective rinse.

It sounds like I need a good, but older, model that is not high efficiency - is that correct?

--John

I've tried to use cloth in the past (currently shelved that idea, new apartment has communal laundry).

Everything I researched said the same thing: HE washers are not so good. A large quantity of water is best for washing diapers, which an HE machine simply won't do. Old-school top loaders are the only thing I've ever really used to wash diapers, so I don't have personal experience with HE machines used for this purpose.

I do wonder if the top-loading HE machines might be better than the front loaders, especially if the water level can be manually overridden.

Ender, thanks for the reply.

From what I am reading, it appears that the newer HE washers determine the water level automatically from the weight of the clothes in the tub and adjust accordingly. I am not reading anything about a means of overriding that - which seems to be why the moms are manually adding water.

--John

I haven't tried washing diapers in an HE washer, but I did rent a place with one for a year. My experience was that HE just means that your clothes don't get clean, and they start to smell after a few months, and then everything you wash smells weird.

MSUSpartan, I think you just confirmed what I have been reading. Thanks.

Unfortunately I think my better half was thinking of one of the new sparkly HE models! I have been preparing her for a potential change to non-HE by pointing out that we will be saving money with cloth diapers.

--John

I have an LG front loading washer and dry set in my home. I have used them for over 2 years and my clothes always come out smelling fresh and clean. Most of the smell most people get with front loaders is mildew that forms inside the washer because people don't leave the door open slightly to prevent mildew and mold from forming.

The set I have does great and actually measures the load for the proper amount of water. I always wash with hot water only, unless I have something that needs to be washed in cold. I add OxyClean laundry additive to Dreft and let it go to work. The washer always smells clean after the load is finished.

AS far as washing cloth diapers?
Diapers that are soiled need to be soaked. That is the only way they will get clean in any washer. Pee soaked diapers need to be washed before they get the strong ammonia smell or they will not get very clean either.

I'm suspecting most of the stories about moms adding more hot water would be from very early HE washers. Ones made 10 to 15 years ago. The modern front loaders won't let you add hot water. If you do add any water the washer will recheck the water level when the door is shut and it will drain the excess water before continuing the load cycle.

Make sure your house has the hot water set for around 130 F. That will kill almost all fecal and urine based bacteria and allow the washer to get the diapers clean. Anything less will not kill enough bacteria.

_________________
When life hands you a lemon, make lemonade.

I hope I may be able to help here. The reason front load HE washers are not preferred for cloth diapers is because of the job they are designed to do. They are made to measure the volume of clothes in them and use the minimum amount of water so not to waste water or power. Great for day to day laundry but bad for diapers. The key to washing cloth diapers is lots of water, either prewash, extra rinse, ect. With diapers you are not washing out dirt and grime. There is an organic waste you need to get out. What will happen with a HE washer is it will get the bulk out but there is stuff left over on a smaller scale.
Any one that has used cloth can tell stories about diapers that are washed and dried and smell fresh out of the dryer but as soon as the get wet the foul odor will knock you down be it an ammonia smell or what is sometimes discribed as a "skunk" smell. This is from not getting completely clean. This is where the extra water comes in to play.
As for adding hot or boiling water, this only needs to be done a few times a year. I will only do it about twice a year. This it to "strip" the diapers and give it the absolute best cleaning. This is the only time I will use bleach on my diapers. This way I am not adding a harsh cleaning to them all the time and getting more life out of them.
If you have any questions goggle stripping cloth diapers and you will get a plethora of web sites with different suggestions. Doing my research I did not find two that were the same. If you do decide to go the cloth route yourself, learn some different technics and try them out and learn what will work best for you. There are a ton of factors that will dictate which process you will need like thickness of the diaper, now many you want to wash at once, how hot the washer can get by itself and believe it or not, the type of water you have. If you have a well and have hard water, this can add a little bit of a curve to get the process down for you.
I know this sounds like a huge pain and makes you question if cloth is worth it but trust me, with just a little work you will find what will work for you and when that is done the rest is pie and totally worth it.

Rope