Posted by KarenC on December 02, 19103 at 07:25:09:
In Reply to: ME dipes take *forever* to break in!! posted by Darshani on December 02, 19103 at 00:00:47:
Hi Darshani,
Welcome back!!
I agree it does take a lot of washes for ME diapers to break in. In my experience though, this is the case for many diapers I've tried, especially unbleached.
The reason for this is the natural cotton oils still left in the fabric. This is especially true for unbleached diapers because they have never gone through any chemical processing that would help strip at least some of those oils. Unbleached fabric only goes through a very basic 'wash' to cleanse the raw cotton of dirt, and leftover plant bits (twigs, leaves etc...) which leaves much of the natural oil still in place. Oil and water don't mix well, that's why you need HOT water and some detergent, to break down that oil.
My only complaint is that I wish the instructions were clearer about having to wash several times. I thought they did say that because I knew I had to do it when I first got my diapers. But considering the number of posts from people unfamiliar with it, it obviously mustn't be there and I just got the info somewhere else.
It really is a shame because I can only imagine that there must be a ton of people out there with good intentions, buy ME because they've heard they're the best (which they are!) and then end up with leaks and figure that if 'the best' leak like that then cloth must just be a big mess to deal with and give up entirely.
Karen.