Washing Disaster WAHHHHH

[~Kimba~]

Ack! Usually I save all my nappies till I have a load and wash them together every couple of days. But now that I'm back at work I thought it might be easier on me to just throw the nappies in with our regular washing, mainly so that DH can just chuck whatever was in the daycare bag and the nappy bucket into the machine and do a load whenever the machine gets full, instead of leaving all the nappies for me to do.

Well BAD IDEA!!! as now I have a bunch of DARK GREY STAINED nappies and inserts. Part of my beloved, pristine, painstakingly cared for stash is cosmetically ruined! :crying: There was obviously something new in black or dark navy in the wash, and DH didn't think to separate it out.

Some of the nappies didn't seem to hold onto the dye at all (phew) but any aplix or microfibre (including most of my gorgeous new Bumgenius and their inserts) has grabbed the dye like no tomorrow...and I now have a natural BBH with dark grey 'edging' where the stitching thread grabbed the dye (which actually looks kind of funky so I shouldn't complain :laughing:)

Does anyone know if it's possible to strip the dye out without bleaching or ruining the nappies and inserts? I'm currently running them through the wash again a couple of times without drying to see if that helps.

Hellllp meeee

[shanz]

I cant help with the striping of the dye. but we use a teaspoon of salt in every load to stop dye from running. I can wash bright reds with whites and have never changed the colour of anything. HTH

[~Kimba~]

We usually separate within reason but even without being too fanatic about it, I've never had this happen even with my normal clothes - I nearly died when I pulled the grey things out of the machine! Seems that microfibre and aplix just love to change colour - will keep that in mind if I ever want to intentionally dye something!

I can't even figure out what it was that had dye that ran, and so strongly, because I'm pretty sure everything that was in the machine had been washed before *scratches head in confusion*

Ah well it's only cosmetic...just means I'd never be able to sell these particular nappies. Lucky I love them and probably wouldn't part with them anyway!

[veve]

oh honey ... sigh ..

:hugs: to you .. that would hurt!!!!!

I cant help - would it possibly start to fade with a few days in the sun???? *clutching at straws*

xx
Jen

[bluey]

You can get a dye remover from the supermarket - run away I think it's called, but after using it, I would give the nappies a couple of super good rinses to get rid of the chemicals. Or just dye your nappies another colour :) Good luck with it all.

[~Kimba~]

I hope so Jen! I'm also hoping they don't look as bad when they're dry...sigh. They just looked so fresh and new and clean and pure before. Now they just look...Grey. Old. Tired. And they're only a few washes old.

Lesley - thanks for that! I'll give it a try. I've just had another look and it seems to be mostly the aplix on the Bumgenius and the microfibre inserts plus the edging on a BBH (the BBB didn't seem to grab it at all, strange huh), so fingers crossed you won't even see much of it when Jet's wearing
them.

Another reason not to love aplix - at least snaps don't stain :laughing:

[Foxymoron]

Yep get a sachet of runaway. Ideally you use it right away, but tomorrow when the shops open should be fine. I always keep a sachet just in case.

[chookandratsmama]

try a wash with bi carb soda or grab a cheap bottle of soda water and hand wash in it (no water) then chuck in the machine?
or rub half lemon onto the stains and hang in the sun :thumbsup:

[~Kimba~]

Yep get a sachet of runaway. Ideally you use it right away, but tomorrow when the shops open should be fine. I always keep a sachet just in case.

Problem is we're going away this afternoon and won't be back till Monday :crying: I wonder should I just leave them soaking in the machine till I can get some runaway? it's harder to remove if you let them dry first isn't it?

[mamabearof3]

I wouldn't leave them soaking until monday, that's 3 days away and too long for elastic to be wet for, let them dry on a clothes horse inside and then use the runaway on Monday and that will give them a good chance.

I've got a bbh that was once grey and after regular use again it's heading back to just a tad off it's normal colour

[beeware]

I have a microfibre insert that's gone a bluish grey tinge at some stage- how I'm not sure. Was the washing on a cold or hot wash?

I hope they improve with a few washes :fingerscrossed:

[gremily]

Do you wash on warm/hot?

I wash nappies in with our clothes the majority of the time, but I always wash on cold and I've never had that problem.
If I want to wash the nappies on warm/hot I always do them seperately.

The soda water suggestion sounds pretty good though:thumbsup:

[Gumby]

I hope so Jen! I'm also hoping they don't look as bad when they're dry...sigh. They just looked so fresh and new and clean and pure before. Now they just look...Grey. Old. Tired. And they're only a few washes old.

Lesley - thanks for that! I'll give it a try. I've just had another look and it seems to be mostly the aplix on the Bumgenius and the microfibre inserts plus the edging on a BBH (the BBB didn't seem to grab it at all, strange huh), so fingers crossed you won't even see much of it when Jet's wearing
them.

Another reason not to love aplix - at least snaps don't stain :laughing:

The same has happened to my bumgenious as well. I am not sure what happened in the wash but the colour grey has stuck. This happened a few weeks ago and unfortunatly it hasnt faded yet.

[stellarella]

Kim are you sure its not paracetamol stains :detective:

I thought I had a running nappy in my load for a while but then I figured it out.

Just a thought...

[MilkOnTap]

You can get a dye remover from the supermarket - run away I think it's called, but after using it, I would give the nappies a couple of super good rinses to get rid of the chemicals. Or just dye your nappies another colour :) Good luck with it all.

There is another one called Dylon (I think) - but I just dont know what it would do to the nappy absorbency... :confused:

[pookiesossige]

I did the exact same thing about a month ago! Used Run-away, but it didn't do that much- it helped a little though, I think. the rinse water after using it was a bit blue, so it must have removed some of the dye. Mine had dried first, as I couldn't get some straight away either. So same situation!

The good news: they are back to normal- totally!! Even the BumGenius applix and my BBBs :yes: Even the microfiber inserts! Gosh they grab the dye, don't they!
Nappies here are washed on hot and bake in the sun allll day (because I am lazy and also get sunburned too easily- I hang out early am and bring in late arvo) I think the sun was what did the job :yes:

Good luck! and don't stress, all is not lost!!