Water not getting hot enough.....

katiejo86

I'm mostly a lurker because I just ventured into CD with my 4 month old preemie twin boys.  I'm sure this has been discussed before, but couldn't really find it.  I have been checking my water during the wash cycle, and it only reads about 97 degrees.  I do a cold rinse, wash on heavy duty and the water plus option, and then another rinse.  The setting says HOT but I don't think it gets hot enough.  Our water heater is set pretty high, if we let the water run while doing dishes, ect. it gets too hot to touch.  I am currently using Alva pockets with all different inserts, and some prefolds with covers.  I have an HE top loader, any advice?  TIA

KLXVI

I also have an HE top loader.  I can't see the temp of our wash water, but my washer's instructions say that cold water is added in the hot wash to save energy.  Unfortunately, I don't know if there is a way around this    

katiejo86

I was afraid of this.  My husband seems to think we should shut the cold off while it's filling for the wash, but I already run back and forth from the machine enough, I didn't want to have to add that to the mix, especially since I have been letting the wash run while I am in bed.  On that note, the boys don't sleep right now so I will be up anyway, maybe I will try it.........*sigh* 

jesstellina

katiejo86 said:

I was afraid of this.  My husband seems to think we should shut the cold off while it's filling for the wash, but I already run back and forth from the machine enough, I didn't want to have to add that to the mix, especially since I have been letting the wash run while I am in bed.  On that note, the boys don't sleep right now so I will be up anyway, maybe I will try it.........*sigh* 

We do this. It's annoying, but we haven't been able to find a way around it. Our washer is an old, non-HE one though, so I don't kow if there are any other options for you.

katiejo86

Also, I use Tide powder, how much detergent do you ladies use?  I realize everyone uses something different....just wondering.....

KLXVI

I use Tide to the 1 line.  I haven't experimented with other levels, though.  

It might be worth checking your washing machine manual to see if there is an extra hot setting.

jess9802

My machine is a cold wash machine, so the hot water is really tepid. In more than 14 months of cloth diapering I've not had any issues (that is, the diapers always smell clean and they're never stained). I use powdered Tide up to Line 2.

ETA: This is an interesting site that can give you ideas for compensating if your water isn't hot enough: https://blog.bummis.com/2011/10/laundry-science.html

My current wash routine is a cold water rinse and spin. Then I add the laundry detergent and run a Bright Whites cycle with a soak and extra rinse. The machine fills with the "hot" soapy water, then the diapers sit and soak for 30 minutes, then they agitate, then there are two rinses.

katiejo86

What is your wash routine jess9802? 

katiejo86

The only other issue I had recently too was prepping my GMD prefolds.  I did at least 6 washes and dried in between each, but the absorption still didn't seem ideal.  I assumed it was because my water wasn't getting hot enough as well.  What else can I do to prep these, any tips?

 

Into+the+Kitty

Are you having any issues? If your diapers are still coming out clean, I would just keep going with your current routine and use your not so hot hot water.

katiejo86

The only "issue" that I had the last couple days is some of the diapers still seemed to have a little stink out of the dryer.  I was going to try more detergent at my next wash. 

I have just been reading so much about hot washes and the water temperature so that was the first thing I looked into.

Into+the+Kitty

Are they smelling like poopy/barnyardy? Try more detergent first. Some people can wash in cold or warm water and never develop issues. I would play around with the easier elements first rather than trying to make your water hotter by like shutting off cold water, etc. Ain't nobody got time for that, especially when you've got two beautiful boys to bond with.

Into+the+Kitty

As for the prefolds, you can either boil them if you don't have too many, or just keep using them and they will gradually continue rising in absorbency until they're at the max.

katiejo86

I feel like some are developing a barnyard smell, but I also think I might just be paranoid.  When I smell the rest of the pocket diapers it seems like the suede cloth could just smell weird to me.  The miocrofiber inserts don't smell, at least I don't think, and I wash all together.  So, that's why I'm not sure what to think. :-/

Into+the+Kitty

When I've gotten barnyard, it smells off to me out of the dryer, and then once my DD pees it smells like she's been farting. It's never overwhelming, but the diapers aren't getting clean enough. I'd still play around with detergent amount first,and if the problem doesn't get fixed then try to figure out water temp.

If you have a top loader, you can just fill a bucket with super hot water and dump it in when it's filling. You can do the same with a FL by pouring it into the detergent spot. It may be easier than shutting off the cold water if you have a sink in your laundry room.

katiejo86

Thank you for the advice!

jess9802

katiejo86 said:

What is your wash routine jess9802? 

I edited my post above to add it, but here it is again:

First, a cold water rinse and spin. Then I add the laundry detergent and run a Bright Whites cycle with a soak and extra rinse. The machine fills with the "hot" soapy water, then the diapers sit and soak for 30 minutes, then they agitate, then there are two cold water rinses. Our diapers are primarily diaper flannel flats and covers, but my BG 4.0, the Blueberry OS pocket diaper, and the Flip microfiber inserts are all clean and we've never had issues with getting them clean.