Posted by KarenC on March 22, 2004 at 08:57:15:
In Reply to: ammonia posted by wood on March 21, 2004 at 23:19:06:
My first thought was that this was detergent build-up.... I know you say that you tried more rinses but it really can surprise a lot of people as to just how many rinses you need if you use too much detergent (which is anything more than about 1/4-1/2 of the 'recomended' amount). To treat detergent build-up also often takes a TON of washes (we could be talking up to 10 cycles if the build-up is pretty bad!!!). Unless you've given them a huge amount of rinses and cut down drastically on your detergent then I would try that again before anything else. It's really *the* likeliest cause of the problem you're having, the diapers smelling fine till they get hit with pee is one of the classic signs of detergent build-up. A good way to check for it is to look at your final rinse while it's agitating, there should be no suds at all (air bubbles are ok, but no suds).
A couple of other ideas.... Check the temperature of your hot water heater. I can never remember the exact temperature but it's important that the water be hot enough to kill all the germs...
Also try using an enzymatic cleaner like Mother's Little Miracle. It works well for removing problematic odors in diapers. If you can't find that specific brand you can also use the enzymatic cleaners made for removal of pet odors, you can find them at pet supply stores and they're basically the same thing.
Karen.