UPDATE: Learning to Strip

[psophia17]

UPDATE:
They got a bigger hose going to the drain pipe, and sealed it up good at the connections, and now there's no leaking - yay! I'll be sure to check out the snake situation at Home Depot next time I go there (I try so hard to avoid there!) just in case, and will keep the vinegar/baking soda/boiling water trick in mind...thanks for all the advice!

Oh - and the diapers only took about 6 hot rinses before there were no more suds, I added an extra one for good measure and now we're cooking again.

__________________________________________________ __________________

I need to strip DS's diapers - since the washing machine incident of the other day, they have had 3 cups of detergent poured on them (DH and FIL were both "helping"). They are in the wash now - and all seems to be going well, if you don't pay attention to the inches and inches of suds.

What is the fastest way to strip these? Hot, warm, cold, a full cycle, just a rinse cycle, a soak cycle? About how many cycles do you think I'm looking at?

Thanks!

[mudder17]

LOL, when I first saw your subject heading, I had to double-check to see which forum I was in. :P


Hot wash for sure, since soap is more soluble in hot water than in cold. When I really need to strip, I usually do a hot cycle with a second rinse, since I think the washing/agitation thing helps get the suds out. But I've never tested it. My machine does allow me to do a double warm rinse (but otherwise all the rinses are cold), so I would possibly try that. You could try tossing the diapers in the shower and spraying them with a hard spray of hot water first (do you have a way to control the type of spray you use?) to get rid of the majority of suds first, and then do the wash cycles. It's kind of a pain, but it my reduce the number of cycles you need to do.

Keep us updated! By the way, did they fix everything correctly this time?

Eileen

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/candle.gif

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif , 15 months & counting
Kaya's cousin, due October 9th!!!

[psophia17]

I hoped to get more input with a more catchy subject ;)

ATM, I'm running a lot of hot rinses (fill up as a regular on hot, then switch the cycle to rinse when agitation starts). It's not 100% fixed, but it's nowhere near as bad as it was - now there's a trickle of water overflowing the drain, instead of a river. I think the problem is that the new machine drains much faster than the old one...how do you fix that, exactly?

Anyhow, it seems to be working...two cycles already and 1/2 the suds...this works exponentially, right?

[pritchettzoo]

Supposedly setting the water level *lower* will help agitate out some of the suds. Then you keep increasing the water level until it runs clear.

It was nice of DH and FIL to try...maybe you need a sign on the washer in case they get in a helping mood again? You don't want to discourage them--just train them! ;)

Anna
Mama to Gracie (Sept '03)
and a BOY! (coming July '05)

[nohomama]

Are you sure your machine is the problem and not your drain? It sounds like the drain is slow and needs to be snaked out, perhaps professionally. We had water backing up our basement drain when I did laundry and snaking out the drain took care of the problem. If took us a year to motivate to actually have the drain snaked out but when we finally did, the problem vanished. Imagine that.

[psophia17]

I'm sure the drain is the problem, just getting the ILs to call the landlords is impossible...I wish I had a plumber friend. I'll probably just pour a gallon of bleach down the drain and hope that helps, back when I lived in an old, old apartment with unsnakeable pipes, that was the only thing that helped when the bathtub backed up.

With a little luck, we'll be out of here by fall, at which point it won't be my problem anymore - I can't wait :)

[psophia17]

After the bouts of "helping," I explained to both of them about how the detergent soaks into the soakers but is hard to rinse out, therefore less is more. I hope explaining it so that it made sense helps. We'll see :)

[zen_bliss]

i have many times felt like supergrrl for opening a drain or toilet with a box of arm & hammer (get it down in there) followed by a half gallon of vinegar then some boiling water. a plunging if needed. all that fizzing action loosens the clog. sometimes it takes more than one pass, but it beats inhaling fumes.

[toomanystrollers]

Back to unclogging drains, you can buy your own snake at home depot - it's pretty easy to use.

HTH

[mudder17]

I was just going to suggest that! Much better than bleach and a lot less dangerous. Also with the plunger, if you coat the part that covers the hole with vaseline, it'll help create a better seal.


Eileen

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/candle.gif

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_gold_12m.gif , 15 months & counting
Kaya's cousin, due October 9th!!!