Washing cloth diapers in HK

S

seattleite

Registered User
We are moving to HK from the States in June. My question is about washing cloth diapers and what quality of washing machine I can expect in an apartment around Tung Chung or Discovery Bay (I'm sorry if I seem ignorant about the neighborhoods or apts, but we haven't chosen a place to live but we have to be close to the airport).

We used to live in Bahrain and I would never use cloth diapers there because the combination of the water, substandard plumbing, poor quality machines made your clothes dirtier after washing.

Here in the States I have a "sanitize" setting on my machine and I can feel confident that the diapers come out clean.

What can I expect in HK-- is it standard to expect a great washing machine that will yield great results with cloth diapers?

Sorry if there's an obvious answer but I just don't know and thought it wouldn't hurt to ask!
 
completely depends on the flat you are in...
we just bought NAPPISAN... would sanitise the nappies easily...
 
"What can I expect in HK-- is it standard to expect a great washing machine that will yield great results with cloth diapers? "

Mostly - Yes. Unless you take a very old building / flat with plumbing issues. Also, all kinds of good detergents for baby clothes / nappies are available.
 
Yes, I use cloth with no problems. We have had good washers in both apartments. You may not have a dryer though, so will possibly need a dehumidifier to help them dry.
 
I agree with Flack. Washing is no problem. Our washer is a "two-in-one" that converts to a dryer, which essentially means you can only dry very small loads or it takes forever! So we line dry mostly, and when it's humid we use a dehumidifier. There are lots of detergents available, but if you are very particular about one, you might bring some to last awhile until you get to find another that you like. I know it took me a few tries to find one that rinsed out completely and didn't cause any problems.
 
I live in Tung Chung and the washing machines here are mostly Seimens front-loading washer/dryers. They have a cycle which includes a prewash, and I use that to wash my nappies/diapers (they also have other cycles of course). They come out fine. Napisan is not necessary for routine use. You can also choose the wash temperature (cold up to 90 deg I think - I use 40 for nappies).

Drying is the problem. Some flats have balconies where you can put a rack out, some don't. Even for those that do, summer is so humid that it can be hard to dry stuff properly. I am used to lots of sunshine and so adjusting to living in a flat with no direct sunlight and no line drying capabilities took a while. I ended up buying a separate tumble dryer so that the multiple loads of daily washing could get done in a timely fashion. I use the dryer a lot, sadly!

If you do use the washer/dryer as a dryer too, remember to take out the load, shake things out, and then put them back in before using the drying function. Otherwise, the items remain bunched up tightly by the final spin cycle of the washing part, and will take forever to dry.

I have found that the constant tumble drying has really worn my nappies out in a way that didn't happen before. The elastic goes and holes develop in the cloth over time. However, it still beats buying disposables constantly (although I do use them when out), and I have so many nappies it really doesn't bother me too much.

Good luck with your move!
 
Last edited:
I've stayed in some differnt short stay apartments in Hk and my expereince with washing machines (but not with cloth diapers) is not grea. At home in Canada I have your standard north american style giant front loading washer and separate giant drying and do wash once/week for my family of 5 by running both machines most of the day once/ week

In HK the washers are these combo washer/dryers that wash your clothes, then dry them in the same machine, so it takes twice as long to do laundry, but actually it is more than twice as long because they dont' really dry very well, espcially anything cotton. Synthetics are okay. I live in a really dry part of canada so all clothing seemed damp to me in Hk, whether line dried or dried in the tiny washer/dryer combo. ( we never had a dehumidifier, so this would help a lot I'm sure)It only holds a fraction of the clothing that a north american washer holds so we seemed to laundry all day long, every single day, and because it is so hot and sweaty, your clothes need to be washed more often, so I can not even imagine how you also add in cloth diapers to that. I have no idea how a family could manage doing laundry in one of those ona regular basis! If I ever have to live in HK on a longer term, I'll be looking for the biggest washing machine available. I've only ever seen the little 2 in ones, so I'm not even sure if you can get separate washer/dryers in HK.
 
Capital, we have washer only. You can buy either a separate washer and dryer or a machine that does both. A lot of apartments do have one machine that does both to save space.
 
My front loading washing machine washes really well and has very high heat options, but one thing to consider is that it is very slow. It can take over 2.5 hours to finish a load with hot water as the washing machine heats the water up (as opposed to being filled with hot water from the tap) and the full number of rinses (4 on the cotton program)! Also it does not have such a large capacity as a North American top loader.
 
It was many years ago... (my youngest is now 12).

1) Soak used diapers in pail w/ napisan

2) Washed diapers - I think on cold setting. I think we washed them in Napisan too.

3) Hung to dry - on the roof in good weather and on the laundry rack in the living room in bad weather

Didn't have problems w/ infections or anything.
 
Currently using cloth and soak in bucket of water with 1/4 cup vinegar then wash in front loading machine at 60 degrees (c). We are lucky to have access to an outdoor communal washing line but when weather not good we dry on a rack with a dehumidifier. Works well.
 
I wash cloth nappies in washing machine on pre-wash setting on 60 deg. Takes about 1.5hr. Nappies come out very clean. Haven't used Napisan or other sanitiser yet. Just use Fairy Non-Bio in both detergent compartments. I dry them them in the separate dryer which takes about 40 mins. I use the pocket re-usables nappies which dry much quicker than all-in-ones.
 
Thanks for everyone's responses. I'm glad to hear several other people are using cloth just fine; makes me feel like I can do it, too. I suppose the key is to find a decent machine!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top