Posted by KarenC on December 17, 19103 at 07:36:54:
In Reply to: Stinky covers...Is it ok to strip them? posted by Noah'sMom on December 16, 19103 at 22:39:58:
Yes, no harm at all. I wouldn't recomend washing them too often in really hot water though, as it can be hard on the waterproofing.
Smelly covers are different than smelly diapers though and much more difficult to remove odors. When diapers stink it's likely because they either have detergent build-up or they weren't washed in hot enough water (so all the germs weren't killed). It's fairly easy to remedy that with a strip wash that will remove build-up and kill germs. But with covers, usually the cause of odor is that they were left in contact with dirty diapers for extended periods (for example if someone puts them in a diaper pail, wet or dry). I'm not sure what the best way to remove that odor is, I do know though that it's not easy as the odor is now set inside the PUL of the cover. I would try the strip wash and also some amount of hanging outside to air them out and expose them to the sun's UV rays (not easy this time of year but I'd try anyway). If you're the adventuresome type or if you feel you have nothing to lose, you could also try bleaching agents such as Oxy-Clean or chlorine bleach. Try the chlorine bleach only as an absolute last resort and only if you're at a point where you're about to ditch the covers because it's terrible for the PUL on covers and you could end up ruining them.
Karen.