Cold water wash for cloth?

[S'mores]

Hi,
I know you have to prewash your hemps etc in hot water to get their absorbancy up so was planning to take them to the laundrymat (or Mum's!) to do 3-4 washes there.

I'm wondering just how vital warm washing of pocket nappies is, or is cold water wash OK??? We only have cold plumbed out to the laundry & I'm wonding how much of an issue this will be.

Does anyone have any advice? Thanks

[KarniF00l]

I usually wash in cold water but making sure that i then hang them out in the sun. Plenty of exposure to UV rays is also a very effective sanitizer. When i use the dryer thats when i wash on warm.

[veve]

ooh I often wash in cold ... I only ever use warm (never hot) and that is only if it is an especially 'dirty' nappy load ..

I agree.. sun is your best friend... if the nappies get lots of sun .. you should have no issues :D

xxx

[Tam-I-Am]

I think the rule of thumb is that you need to apply 2 of the following 3 things to kill the germs:

1) heat (either hot water, or drying them in the dryer)
2) washing powder - an appropriate amount of course (1/2 the normal amount)
3) sunshine.

If you can make sure the nappies get 2 of the 3 above, they should be adequately sanitised to be okay. The only problem that you MIGHT have is smelly hemp....In which case, make sure that you give them a wash with a tablespoon of bicarb soda until the water doesn't suds anymore.

I THINK this is right. I'm happy for other people to come along and tell me I'm wrong though :D

[S'mores]

Thanks for your advice!
I was a little worried I'm about to embark on the Clothie journey only to have it stopped before it began due to our ancient plumbing :o

[sasha]

Another quick way to get your hemp ready for use if you don't have access to a hot wash is to boil them. Just boil them in a big pot of water with a little bit of washing powder for about 20 minutes. Then let it cool before draining, then pop them into the wash for a rinse and spin cycle (cold is fine). This should remove most of the hemp's natural oils to make it absorbent.

Regarding the cold wash, as everyone else has said, it is totally fine, as long as you use washing powder, and hang them in the sun as often as possible :)

Have fun :)

Sasha

[OM]

Another quick way to get your hemp ready for use if you don't have access to a hot wash is to boil them.

lol I never would have thought of that! Certainly makes sense though;)