prepping prefolds?

PrincessBear

I'm going to try prefolds for the first time with DD2.  I bought 6 Bummis Organic and 6 OsoCozys to start.  How do I prep them?  I know wash a bunch of times.  Do I need to dry in between washings?  Just use my regular CD detergent (I just use Tide)?  Do I need detergent every wash?  Anything I'm missing?

TIA!!

Dr.Loretta

You can boil them for 20 minutes, then wash and dry once. That should do the trick.

tokenhoser

Yeah, I boiled mine because washing things 5 or 6 times sounded like more work.

FrauElyse

I washed and dried mine (Bummis Organics) three times with detergent (ECOS free'n'clear) each time.  It really didn't take that long since they dried pretty quick but they're super-soft now and I tested them for absorbency and they passed.  I hadn't heard of boiling them though, so that could be a better way to go.

dcnm

Dr.Loretta:

You can boil them for 20 minutes, then wash and dry once. That should do the trick.

This!

gabriella78

I boiled my first set of PFs for 30 minutes (probably overkill) with no detergent or anything and they seem to be absorbent.  The only problem was the whole kitchen got really steamy and it seemed to take forever.  We don't have a vent fan over the stove, so that might have been part of the problem.

My next set of PFs I washed on hot about 4 times and dried on hot after every wash.  I used one pack of Dropps on the the first and third washes and no detergent for washes 2 and 4.  I did this over a couple nights and it didn't seem to take any time at all. I got a new HE top load washer between when I boiled the first set and washed the second set.

 That said, I'm still waiting for my baby to see how well my routines worked.  I tried dribbling water onto a couple PFs and it absorbed right away so I hope I'm good.  Also, now that everything is prepped, I can't tell the difference between what was boiled and what was washed on hot.

Hope that helps, sorry if it was too much.