Dryer: You can use your dryer to dry all your diapers and covers *EXCEPT WOOL*. While prefolds and flats can take a beating, and you could dry these on higher temperatures (, anything with PUL you'll want to dry on low or no heat.
Hanging to dry (Outside): Line drying is a great way to dry diapers, but you need to be careful with that, too. Try to avoid having your PUL in direct sunlight for prolonged periods of time. Also try to avoid the hottest part of the day. No, your diapers won't suddenly burst into flame, you just want to be sure that they don't get hot enough that it damages the PUL (same reason you don't want to be drying in high in the dryer) or ruins your elastics (they can become brittle).
Hanging to dry (Inside): Rainy days, freezing/snowy days, or you just don't have a clothes line? No biggie! A drying rack can be super handy. If you don't have a drying rack, you can get octopus hangers to dry your diapers. If you run out of clips on that, you can drape extras across the top like this:
Other places you could dry diapers (inside): Curtain rods, over the edges of baskets and chairs, shower curtain rod... get creative!
My diapers tend to see a combination of both hanging and line drying. Sometimes the PUL/TPU diapers will go in the dryer, but normally they are hanging to dry. I'll usually throw my inserts in the dryer to expedite the process. If I hang those to dry, I will throw them in for a few minutes to soften them up (wool dryer balls).
Disclaimer: Thoughts of Fluff is responsible for the content of this post. All opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own.
Do you think that your wool dryer balls reduce your drying time and do a good job of softening the diapers/clothes? I'm considering getting some, but they're a little pricey, so I haven't done it yet. I hang dry my PUL covers and have been concerned about using clothes pins on the PUL. Have you noticed the octopus clips affecting the PUL in any way? Thanks for all of your helpful posts!
ReplyDeleteWool dryer balls do a fabulous job softening clothes. They did help a reduction in dry time initially, though I don't know how much time they shorten it by, I never really paid too much attention to that. I was skeptical about their ability to soften, but I haven't used anything BUT dryer balls since 2011. This includes clothing. :) I have a more detailed post on a review I did for LooHoo dryer balls. http://thoughtsoffluff.blogspot.com/2013/05/loohoo-wool-dryer-balls-review.html
DeleteI would like to state that not all dryer balls are equal. I've had some that soften, reduce dry time, AND reduce static (like LooHoo), and I've also had some other brands that soften and reduce drying time, but the clothes are super static-y.
I have not noticed anything negative from using my octopus hangers. :)