Stinky Diapers

Hi folks,
Any of you Mother-ease users have tricks in getting the stinch out of the cloth diapers?  Is there a soak mixture you recommend?
My son's diapers currently soak in Borax and then washed with Seventh Generation Liquid Detergent/Borax. 
When he wears the diapers his body heat engages the stinch but his diapers are clean. 
Please help.
Thanks,
DiaperDad

Hi DiaperDad,
 
We don't get many dads around here so thanks for posting your question.
 
There are numerous threads on this forum that offer great insight on laundering problems.  If you have some time, it is worth checking them out.  A helpful hint here and one there and before you know it you're underway to solving your problem.
 
Smelly diapers happen for a number of reasons but mainly it is due to diapers being stored for too long a period of time prior to washing.  Unpleasant odours set into your diapers and sometimes, unfortunately, you can never get them out.  It is a little similar to finding a wet towel one or two weeks after its been used in a heap in a corner (maybe your children are still too young to do this) somewhere.  You can wash this towel repeatedly and it smells ok coming out of the wash but the moment you use it the old musty odour is there.  The odour has set.   Hopefully it is not the case with your diapers.
 
Follow the wash and care instructions on this forum.  Use hot water.  If you have a sanitary cycle on your machine don't be afraid to use it.  Always do a short cycle to get most of the urine and stuff out so that when you begin your full cycle, you are starting with a somewhat clean load.  Next, you may want to re-think the eco friendly laundry detergents.  They are fine to use on your everyday household laundry but most do not have the strength to deal with bacteria laden cloth diapers.  Try switching to a commercial detergent like Ivory Snow- formulated for use with cloth diapers and gentle on baby's skin- at least until your diapers come clean(er).  Lastly, increase the amount of detergent you use.  The internet, for some odd reason has made popular the use of too little laundry detergent.
 
Let us know if this is helpful, DiaperDad and welcome to this forum.

While detergent experiences can vary widely, and what works well for someone might not work for someone else due to water, etc., I didn't have good luck with 7th-generation.  I didn't actually use it for diapers, but I felt like after a while my shirts were just not getting clean.  They'd smell fine out of the wash but after a few days in the closet, just kind of stale.  Not stinky, but kind of like they'd already been worn.  So if you're already washing every few days on hot, I'd think that detergent is probably the thing to tweak, and alas, something non-green may very well work better.

If you are wanting to stick with the eco-friendlier detergent, you can try to help it out a bit with things like tea tree oil and vinegar.  Not miracle-workers, by any means, but maybe something to try?

We don't soak our diapers. We dry pail, i.e. I use a garbage pail and a Mother-ease mesh bag to store used diapers. I wash my diapers nightly because as Erika said, stinkies seem to be worse if I wash every couple of days. I do a cold rinse to get poop out first (hot water seems to set stains more) and ensure diapers are nice and wet because I have a HE front loader. Then I run a hot water wash with an extra rinse at the end (to ensure soap is gone). I have been using more soap than usual because my diapers were starting to smell more. I find the PUL retains more stink vs. MEOS. PUL items such as diaper covers, Uno, Duo, Wet Bags - I put all these through the wash now instead of hand washing once I was told they were designed to go through the washer. Oh and I use Nature Clean which is an eco-friendly soap. Good luck!