We have only been using cloth diapers for a short time. I love the way my daughter is always dry when I change her. the only problem is, when I wash the diapers, they are still smelly, like urine. We use bio-clean to wash and then thru 2 rinse cycles. What am I doing wrong? Please help!! I'm going insane washing and washing.
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~Kimberly~ Mama to a butt-kicking soccer player and one beautiful ballerina ~wife and soulmate to my love, Jeff
We have problems with stinky dipes from time to time.
I keep changing my washing routine until something works. This is what is currently working....
rinse in cold water and vinegar
Wash in hot water with 1/2 the amount of suggested detergent (Detergent build up can cause smelly dipes).
Add another rinse cycle with a drop of lavender essential oil.
Many people report stinky diapers using the "natural" or "free" soaps (of which BioKleen is one) because they leave a residue on your diapers and that is the cause of the stink, particularly if you have hard water.
Here are a couple of links explaining why you shouldn't use these natural soaps:
I use sensi-clean and haven't had a problem with stinky diapers, even though I have very hard water. But the solution is to "strip" your diapers of the detergent, which means eitther doing numerous washes with just hot water (turning your water heater up) or buying a product in WalMart called "RLR" (this isn't an acronym, that's what it's called, it is sold in a package of 2 disks in the laundry section) and using that to strip your diapers (according to the most knowledgeable women over on the mothering diaper board).
Then you need to get another detergent besides bio kleen. If you don't want to get sensi-clean (also sold as Sportswash in hunting/camping stores), you can try any liquid detergent you want (e.g. Tide, some people find Tide Free works, same with All Free & Clear, though I've had probs with both). Use 1/4 to 1/2 of the recommended amount and rinse twice.
It may take some experimenting but once you strip your diapers, stop using biokleen, and try something else, I suspect your problem will be gone.
Yes, I would switch from the Bio-Kleen to either a store brand detergent or Tide, Era, etc. You should use only 1/4 to 1/2 the recommended amount in each load.
If you are dry pailing, make sure that you are rinsing the poopy dipes out before you put them in the pail. Also, it is best to wash diapers every 2 days or so, and only wash about 20 at a time.
If you can, hanging them out in the sun will work wonders for both stains and freshness
Fill the washer w/cold water and a glug or two of vinegar let it agitate then forward to spinning it out. The vinegar cuts the ammonia pee smell much better than baking/washing soda ime. From ther I'd just wash them once or twice w/very little detergent and 1 extra rinse.
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Amelia
mama to Olivia (3/98) and Michael (10/99)
*~*~Sell crazy somewhere else, we're all stocked up here~*~*
First off, I've found that terry in diapers become smelly easily. Hence, I try to stick with non-terry dipes. Secondly, are you doing two washes or 1 each time? I do a cold wash/rinse, and then a hotwash/rinse/rinse. And of course, the longer you go between washes the smellier they will get. Good luck! That stripping stuff sounds interesting.
I've found that no matter which detergent I use, how many rinses I use, how much detergent I use, etc., my diapers stink. The only solution for me has been to line dry my diapers. The sun kills the bacteria in them and I have nice fresh diapers again. We lived in an apartment for a year, and no matter what I did they stank. Now that we're in a house again, and I can line dry no more stink. A couple of times in the apartment, I just layed the diapers on the grass for sun exposure. That worked pretty well, and I just finish drying them in the dryer.
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Victoria
Homebirthing Momma to Coleen, Paul, Katarina, Emma, and Baby Garrett.
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