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it is very possible, that i am just a terrible laundress... but nothing i do gets rid of our stink! i've tried everything i can think of, but our diapers still have a stinky smell the moment my daughter urinates! it is getting to be embarrassing when we are out - people probably think i don't bathe her! 
so, here is our typical routine... soak diapers for about 2 hours in cold water. then i rinse and drain. next, i wash them on the HOTTEST setting our water heater goes to with 2 Tbs of washing soda and 2 squirts of simple green. THEN, i wash them again on the hottest setting with no detergent - for fear of buildup. (yes, i know, look at the water i'm wasting!!)
i have tried stripping them on multiple occasions. i have tried using no detergent. i have even tried using surf detergent b/c i was desperate.
my daughter is 20 mo and not a big drinker, so i think her urine is on the more concentrated side, but still, her diapers shouldn't reek, right? we have been having this problem for months. i remember someone saying on this forum how when they put their child in disposables, it smells worse than cloth. oh, how i long for that day!
does anyone see a huge problem i am missing in this washing equation. i love our cloth and really want to keep using them, but i am going to have to stop if this stink continues!
oh, also i wash every two days, religiously!
thanks in advance for any advice!!! |
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| I dont soak mine for fear of stink. My DS is 22 mths and his urine stinks. My dipes only do on ocassion (if I use too much soap). I use vineagar in the rinse cycle then. I only use Arm & hammer sensitive. I don't know if I helped you but just wanted to comment. Good luck. i am sure the moms will come to the rescue soon. |
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| I would do a cold wash cycle with no detergent and skip the soak. Then try good old Tide with the soda still, on the hot setting, do your regular wash/rinse and a second rinse. This is my routine for 3 years no stink. I always use two tbs of washing soda as well. |
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We alternate adding baking soda/borax/vinegar to our diaper wash -- we have hard water and front loading washer. The vinegar also helps soften them a bit. We're on child #2 in the diapers and the combination of detergent + additive + sunlight has kept our diapers smelling fresh -- and white (always surprising since we have a bf 21wk old.
Good luck!
- Maya |
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I use Country Save (can be hard to find Whole Foods has it), and I only use a teaspoon at a time.. I use a water softener (calgon), we have really hard water. I set my HE machine to the sanitary setting and do a pre rinse. I haven't had any stink issues so far.
Hope this helps you! |
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thank you all SO much! i will try these tips. i wonder if our water is really hard, too... does that make them stink more?
thank you!! |
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I don't have any particularly brilliant words of wisdom except to say that when I briefly tried the washing soda/Simple Green recipe my diapers got stinky. I abandoned it pretty quickly (although lots of people have had great success with it, I know) and went back to detergent.
Good luck! |
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Hard water makes diaper more prone to build-up. My in-laws have very hard water that they use a softener with, and whenever I go there I get diaper issues (is it the hard water? the softener stuff? don't know!). They also use Tide, which works great for some people and not so great for others, so I don't know if that has much to do with it, but basically, even though their water is softened, even something like a teaspoon of Tide doesn't really rinse out unless I run a series of hot rinses. I cringe at the water usage, but after staying there for a month my diaper stunk, both the ammonia that means build-up and also just a stink when wet.
Although I don't think that many people have build-up issues with the simple green recipe, you can see what happens when you do a hot wash with no detergent. If you get quite a bit of sudsing, then build-up might be your problem. If you don't, then it's probably something else. You said you'd tried washing with no detergent, but not sure what you saw.
Either way, I guess something I'd just consider worth trying would be soaking those diapers in hot hot hot water (easy if you have a top loader; fill hot and add a kettle or three of really hot water) and a lot of vinegar (think cups, can't really overdo it), and agitate once in a while. That can help with build-up, and isn't going to hurt anything if build-up isn't the issue. Then I think I'd probably try another detergent. When I moved recently from overseas I had to try to find a good detergent for my water/washer, and it took a bit of trial and error. A detergent that got good ratings from some of the detergent-rating lists was a stinker for me (although fine for clothes).
I decided to try Country Save, and have been doing pretty well with it. |
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