This post has been copied and transferred from our Facebook Discussion Page
Domino Pads
We started a brief discussion of this in the status updates but I am worried it will move down the list and eventually get buried so I am posting it here again.

Domino Pads
Carrying this over from our status updates:

Diane T: I rinse mine right after use, then toss them in with the diapers until wash day. Cold rinse, hot wash, cold rinse in Country Save.

Danica N: thanks for posting that Diane...I was wondering if I could just toss them in with the diapers!!!

Stephanie R.: I rinse them and then wash with my diapers with homemade clothes soap.

Aubrey T: I rinse in cold and then soak in peroxide. Like a charm!

Domino Pads: Sounds like I am the only lazy one! I just toss them in with the diapers. Nothing gets rinsed by hand. The diapers get a cold rinse in the washer, then hot (not super hot -our water heater is turned down a bit to keep the kids safe), the...n a cold rinse and that's that.

One of our customers had good results with stain removal/prevention in the dyed pads (peroxide not recommended as long term it will fade the colors) by using a dab of her laundry detergent directly on the stains and then do the regular wash routine.

Emily C
Do you need to prewash your pads 5-6 times before use like you do diapers?
about 10 months ago ·

Domino Pads
good question. But I would say no. My recommendations would be for the dyed pads:
wash them once without detergent just to get out any detergent residue My washer may have left behind after dyeing the pads.
Then wash them once with your own detergent and ready to go.
For the Minkee or natural Bamboo pads I would just wash them once before use.
The fabrics are all prewashed before I work with them so no need to prep them other than a wash before use type of routine.

Christy H
For the moms washing with CD's, do the pads leak any menstration onto the CD's and stain them? Do you also hang these up to dry in the sun?
Do you wash nursing pads with them too and what kind of detergent are you using? I heard rockin green something is really great with CD's ...
Do you have a seperate bag you hold them in until laundry time or just throw them in with the CD's or normal laundry?
I read a post on another board about CD washing, one mom would keep her washing machine full of water and throw each diaper in until she had a full load and then wash all at once. Would that mess with the integrity of mama cloth pads or nursing pads?
We are expecting our first CD baby in March and I would love to use mama pads and nursing pads that are re-usable too.

Domino Pads
Christy, glad to see you found the discussion area.
I just threw mine in with the diapers and never noticed any staining of the diapers. I am sure it also depends on what diapers you have. As always: natural fibers will stain easier than synthetic, etc.
Sitting in plain water (no peroxide, etc.) should not damage the pads in anyway if this is what you choose to do (sounds like it would tie up the washer a lot. I have two little ones so I wouldn't have that time to wait all the time)

Christy H
So you threw them in right after use or when you were washing them? Should I use a separate bag to hold them until washing day? I'm sure once I get started it will make more sense...

Domino Pads
Honestly I just threw them into the dry pail after use.

If you prefer to keep them separate you could:

Dry method: You could collect them in a wetbag (just get a large one) and then just add them on wash day.

Wet method: Some people keep a big jar on top of their washer with water and a tiny bit of soap in it and just place the used pads in there for soaking until wash day.

Christy H
Oh that makes sense with the wet method!! Its funny what pregnancy does to your brain! I have a mental block!

Emily C
I only started using Domino pads since I got pregnant (although I didn't know it at the time) and so I just leave mine in a pile in the laundry room (which is right by our bathroom) by the towel I throw in with the diapers to make a full load and get enough water. I wash mine with the diapers on a cold soak with a capfull or two of BacOut by BioKleen and then do a warm or hot (we keep our water heater pretty low too) with an extra rinse. I use Selesital Soap laundry detergent. I have some lingering issues with smell becuase I was using Seventh Generation detergent which I found out too late, leaves quite a residue.

Domino Pads
Oops forgot: you asked about detergent. I've tried different ones. Right now I am liking Country Save. It's gentle, yet effective and it's very affordable.

I've tried Rockin Green and it's fine. I've never heard anything bad about it.
I just wash so much and we can't really use the fragance stuff so with Country Save working so well and being so affordable I didn't see a reason to switch to Rockin Green.

Diane T
After reading Karin's note that she never rinsed her pads before throwing them in with the diapers, I started doing it that way, too. The cold rinse to start takes all the staining out, so there are no blood stains on anything. I do usually keep a wet bag in my bathroom to store the soiled pads until wash day, because my laundry room (where the diaper pail lives) is on the other side of my house.

Liz W
I just toss them in with the diapers, no pre rinsing by hand. My diaper routine is cold rinse, hot wash with an extra rinse with Rockin' Green Hard Rock (we have really hard well water). They come out looking just fine. No blood on the diapers either (them again I usually fold them in half, dirty side in, when they go in the diaper bin so the blood isn't sitting against a diaper for a day or two either).

Jamie U
I have a small wet bag I keep in my bathroom fir used pads. I do rinse them after use, but I missed the "no rinse necessary" memo. I'll give it a shot next time around and see what happens. On cloth diaper laundry day, I toss the wet bag and pads right in with them. I've had no issues with stain transfer.

As for nursing pads, they actually go in with either DD's and my laundry, or the CDs. Mine are just plain hemp, and I wash our clothes and diapers with the same detergent, so I'm not as picky on which load they are in. I've had no problems with them, either.

DH does his own laundry, as he won't give up on fragrances and softeners...but that's a whole different discussion!

Christy H
Thank you so much ladies! Really appreciate it!

Domino Pads
From Jenny:
I want to share laundry tips: previously purchased 1 hand dyed bamboo set and 1 bamboo set from you. i've used the plain white bamboo set maybe 6 times and they are still clean! no stains.
I handwash my pads but soak them first in cold water. then using safeguard soap, i scrub the soap on the stains and put them under the sun (without rinsing). then when it's time for my next bath, i wash them with a local detergent soap that's hypoallergenic and chemical free.. good as new!
about 8 months ago · Delete Post
Elizabeth Arosemena Kwiatkowski
Hmmm...this is interesting...I'm really cautious with my cloth diaper laundry but not so much my mama cloth. I just do a short cycle to rinse them out and then do a full load with towels---I just use our regular laundry detergent which is Tide Free & Clear (not what I use on the dipes). I guess I may find myelf troubleshooting in the near future.

Laura S
has anyone tried sunning the stains out of their pads? like you would with diapers?

Liz W
I haven't but I'm sure it would work. One biological stain is pretty similar to another lol. And the sun even fades clothing dye if you leave the fabric out long enough.

Domino Pads
I am getting something in the mail.... in my type of business there's not many freebies I get to test so I am majorly excited!

Somebody is sending me a new eco-friendly laundry detergent made specifically for menstrual pads. It has ingredients that are supposed to break up blood better than regular detergent.

Laura S
awesome! maybe peroxide? don't they say it works well on blood?

Domino Pads
not peroxide.
In fact peroxide may be fading the dyed pads.
But that will be part of the test: if it's tough on blood will it be gentle enough on the colors...

Laura S
we will have to wait and see! you would think hospitals would have come up with something good by now!

Gina T-G
@Karin- I know what you are testing and I can't to hear what you think!!!

I wash my nursing pads and the few momma cloth pads I've been testing out along with my cloth diapers. I prefer a warm rinse followed by a hot wash with an extra warm rinse at the end because I firmly believe this routine gets more odors, biological stains and detergent out of the laundry. I use Rockin Green Hard Rock detergent and it works great. No problems with the momma cloth fading so far. I sun my diapers to get out stains and when necessary, add white distilled vinegar to stubborn stains before placing them in the sun. I have not tried sunning a blood stain yet but I plan to try it when the need arises.

Savannah H
I'm intrigued to read that many of you wash pads with the cloth diapers, I probably would have assumed pads need to be washed separately for sanitation reasons?

I want to try cloth pads when my cycles start back up, but my hubs is freaked out by the idea. Help me out, ladies.

Domino Pads
I think the really interesting thing is how many different approaches work.
Some people also soak them -kind of like a wet pail method with diapers.
Others just store them in a wetbag (dry)
You certainly can collect them and wash them all in a 'just pads' load at the end of the cycle if it makes the other people in the household more comfortable.
Not being able to just throw them in with other laundry like cloth diapers might mean though that you need more pads than somebody that combines laundry (maybe the $$$ of that helps with convincing the hubby?)