Is it okay to cold wash?

[ms_mudd]

I usually do a cold wash no detergent/hot wash with detergent/cold rinse or wash no detergent

This seems a little OTT and my water bill reflects that idea too Using hot water is somewhat of an issue too , depending on how many showers Dh and the kids need or want on any day.
My nappies can still get stinky from time to time at which point I strip them.

What I want to know is if I could ;

a) get away with not doing a cold rinse at the end
and/or
b) use a cold cycle with detergent instead of the hot wash I currently use

I am interested to see what others think. I have ordered some canestan rinse so am thinking that potentially I could run some of that through a rinse once a week to keep the nasties at bay??

[davina]

For me, a hot wash is best. I can definitely see a difference within a few washes if I cold wash...the nappies are a bit stinkier, more stained etc. But so much has to do with a) the effectiveness of your washing machine, b) the type of detergent you use, c) hard/soft water etc. So the best way to find out would be to give it a go and see.

I do 1 x cold rinse and 1 x hot wash. I think your routine is probably a little OTT so you could very likely cut out that final rinse.

Plenty of people I know use cold water no probs. But for me, having tried both ways, I prefer a little heat. I just find my nappies have zero smell problems if I hot wash.

[mum2one]

Well I've never used hot water on a regular basis but thats more to do with cost than anything. I wash the nappies on hot and rinse cold if they ever get a nasty nappy rash or anything but thats only been twice. I'm a wash straight away kind of girl though so nappies of the day get washed on that day so they aren't dry pailed for long. I think what Davina says is true. Just try it and see and mix it up to see what you think. I should say that my machine has the option of an extra long wash cycle which I do do if the machine is full of nappies and that has always meant that even though they were washed in cold they have never build up smell.

God knows what DH does though because everytime he washes nappies they always smell!!

[Lisel]

I cold wash, no detergent, just normal wash then rinse cycle. After 21 months I think a few BG inserts are getting a little smelly, but not bad enough to do anything about. I strip wash the BG occasionally as day care sometimes put nappy rash cream on DD, but I do it by hand.

[MadMel]

I hot wash. No detergent or anything, just water. I do a prerinse and then a wash. Depending on how smelly the nappies were to begin with I sometimes do another rinse at the end but not usually.

I haven't had a problem with stains or smelly nappies unless I cold wash so I don't do it. I have never had to do a strip wash and I think it's because of the hot washing without detergent.

[adalheid]

I do a cold prerinse then a full cold wash with a small amount of detergent, I can't wash with hot as there is no hot water connected up in my laundry which does get annoying when I DO want to do a hot wash as I have to bucket it in which I HARDLY do as 1) the washer don't like me doing this as its fully auto computerised thing and beeps at me LOL 2) Its hard work carrying bucket after bucket of water in, so can't be bothered as I have enough to do

[ms_mudd]

Thanks for the replies. I think I will give cold washing a go and see how it works out,it seems from what most of you are saying that even an occasional hot wash will be enough.

[jimmysmummy]

I never hot wash and use about a quarter of a teaspoon of powder, and our nappies don't smell.

[ms_mudd]

hurrah for more hot showers in this household then!
jimmysmummy, do you do a rinse afterward?

[melchpeppi]

No, I dont do a rinse afterward.

I do a prewash rinse, then a cold wash with 1tbsp of Aware Sensitive and they are good to go!

I personally find that fleece can retain smells and if that happens I do a hot wash, however I dont have that much fleece in my stash so its not such an issue