Washing Mama Cloth

[amazz]

I don't CD, but ordered a few Freshies to try to help allieviate some of my AF issues and I have no idea how to launder them. Any suggestions?

TIA,
Angela
mama to my raisin and furry mama to Chloe
~ A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on. ~Carl Sandburg

[mudder17]

Well, I usually rinse them with cold water (minishower or sink) and then drop them into the diapers and wash with the diapers. But since you don't have diapers, you can just rinse them off with cold water, drop them in a wet bag, and every couple days or so, you can toss them in the wash. If you're concerned that you need a cold rinse first to prevent the setting of stains, you can do a cold rinse and then a hot wash. I would probably do a hot wash with a second cold rinse if you have that option. Then you can throw in the dryer--I usually dry mine with diapers on medium. If you have any PUL shells, you can just hang them to dry.

HTH!


Eileen

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

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_emerald_18m.gif , 18 months & counting


http://tickers.baby-gaga.com/t/catcatcvi20040222_4_Kaya+is.png

[amazz]

Thanks, Eileen. How about washing them for the very first time before I use them? Do I need a special detergent or anything? I have a very mild detergent b/c I have super sensitive skin if that makes a difference. My Freshies are windpro bodies with hemp soakers.

And sorry to sound like an idiot, but what is a wet bag?

Thanks again!
Angela
mama to my raisin and furry mama to Chloe
~ A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on. ~Carl Sandburg

[mudder17]

I would use the same detergent that you use for your other stuff, but use a little less. You'll have to experiment, but pads, like diapers, tend to hold onto detergent more, so you want to be careful not to use too much or you get buildup. You can tell if you've used to much if you look at the rinse cycle and see a lot of bubbles. If you do see a lot of bubbles, then do an extra rinse and then just use less next time.

Oh, and a wetbag is just a waterproof bag that can hold wet things like your pads after you've rinsed them off. But the ones I like are PUL or nylon, which means they also do some breathing so they don't stink as much as if you were to use a ziploc bag. You can get some from various places like

lilbunz.com (I believe she sells Bummis, which are nylon totes)
snap-ez.com (these are PUL, and I'd get the solid colors...they have an umbrella snap and a loop to hang over a doorknob or hook)
naturalbabies.com (I think she sells Bummis, but honestly, I haven't looked in a while)

Since you're using them for mama pads, they don't need to be very big. But you can figure that out by looking at how many pads you have and what size you would need for that many pads.

There may be a thread in the CD101 thread about wetbags, but if not, if you do a search for wetbags, you'll find a huge number of sites. :) The three above just happen to be some of my favorite places.

Actually, I do have a print Snap-EZ wet bag that I'm not using if you'd like it. It has lady bugs on it and I'll send it to you for the price of shipping, if you'd like. I haven't used it much because I have other bags that I've been using. I do happen to like the solid colored ones better because they're less stiff (and I needed mine to go into a pail), but this one works perfectly well. You'd just throw in the whole bag into the wash with your mama pads and hang to dry.


Eileen

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

http://www.gynosaur.com/assets/ribbons/ribbon_emerald_18m.gif , 18 months, hoping for 2 years


http://tickers.baby-gaga.com/t/catcatcvi20040222_4_Kaya+is.png