My cloth diapers are stinky!

stayinhomewithmy6

Senior Community Member

• Jan 22, 2007

• #1

Well, not MY cloth diapers, I guess, but DS's cloth diapers, which are all PUL pockets. This just started within the last week or so. I wash the diapers in hot with a few drops of tea tree oil, no detergent or anything else, on a regular cycle with an extra rinse. When I take the diapers out of the washer, they actually smell good - really fresh and clean (I have been smelling each one of them lately to try to figure this all out). Then I put them in the dryer on medium or delicate and when they come out an hour later they stink like musty poo. Its gross and I don't know what could be causing it. It doesn't seem like its anything in the washer, so it must be something with the dryer. Does the dryer pull out poop smells that might be 'hiding' in the elastic or something? Our other clothes (and towels, etc...) don't stink when they come out of the dryer, otherwise I would think the dryer needs to be cleaned out. I am hesitant to wash them detergent because the detergent we use is natural and it made the diapers leak when I tried it the first week we had them. This is the only detergent I've found that is friendly enough for my sensitive skinned family. Has anyone else had this problem? What do you think it could be? Do you think washing them with vinegar or dish soap would help? TIA for your input!

 

AdventureMom

Senior Community Member

• Jan 22, 2007

• #2

Okay, when you say the diapers are PUL pockets, do you mean the covers? We had cloth diapers but I always used detergent, except for the FuzziBunz. When we did have a smell, then I'd use a little baking soda in the wash and vinegar in the rinse.

If the dryer is causing the problem, the perhaps try air-drying them and see if they stink when they get fully dry. That way you could tell if it's the dryer or the diaper...?

BTW, we never dried the PUL in the dryer. Maybe that's the issue, if you're drying the PUL?

Good luck figuring it out -

 

stayinhomewithmy6

Senior Community Member

• Jan 22, 2007

• #3

I have Snap-Ez's, Fuzzi Bunz, Happy Heiny's, and Drybees, so all pocket diapers. The Snap-ez's washing directions actually recommend drying in the dryer on high, and it says you have to once a month at least to seal the PUL. It seems strange to me that none of the other diaper brands say that, but that is why I haven't tried hanging them to dry yet. I suppose I could hang some of the other ones and only dry the Snap-ez's. Oh, and baking soda! Why was I forgetting that?! I should try it! How much do you use?

 

SPJ&E

New member

• Jan 22, 2007

• #4

When I was cloth diapering, I found that putting some baking soda in with the wash really helped with the "stinkies". Baking soda absorbs odors...usually worked for me. A lot of times, detergent build up will cause the stinkies, but you don't use detergent, so that couldn't be it.

As far as how much baking soda...I don't really know! I always just dumped a bunch in there! I figured it was just baking soda, it wasn't going to hurt anything (and it didn't).

 

T

thepeach80

Senior Community Member

• Jan 22, 2007

• #5

I washed w/ about 1/4 cup of baking soda and about 10 drops of TTO. That seemed to work way better than detergent. Are you washing the inserts w/ them? Those are generally what retains the stink. I bet the baking sode would help. Are you doing a cold soak before washing?

 

Victorious4

Senior Community Member

• Jan 22, 2007

• #6

I found that soaking in vinegar before washing, then rinsing & washing with baking soda, drying in the sun was the most helpful for us.... A practice that takes patience & possibly more diapers to the rotation

 

stayinhomewithmy6

Senior Community Member

• Jan 22, 2007

• #7

No, I'm not doing any soaking before washing. I figured that would just transfer the stink from one diaper to all of the diapers. I'm going to try baking soda the next time I wash them (probably tomorrow). I just stuck my head in the dryer and it does stink a little bit. The last thing dried were the diapers, so that's probably why. DH's clothes will be the next ones dried (he'd love to know that I'm putting his clothes in a stinky dryer!) and I'm curious to see if they come out smelling the same way. I don't think they will, though.

 

SPJ&E

New member

• Jan 22, 2007

• #8

Oh that was another thing I did...I always did a cold rinse before washing them. My routine was:

Cold rinse (in plain water)
Hot wash/cold rinse
Extra cold rinse (if needed)

That cold rinse (not soak, just rinse) helped a great deal! It gets the majority of the yucky stuff out before they get washed (the yucky stuff and the hot water can be a bad combo).

 

skaterbabs

Well-known member

• Jan 22, 2007

• #9

Try doing a wash with full detergent, then stripping them again. That should do the trick. I found I needed to do that a few times a year.

 

stayinhomewithmy6

Senior Community Member

• Jan 22, 2007

• #10

How do I strip them? I know I've read about it before, but I can't remember. I know its something like repeated washes. I am re-washing them right now with baking soda and tea tree oil, hoping it helps, but I am definitely open to stripping them.

 

Dillipop

Well-known member

• Jan 22, 2007

• #11

Stripping means continuous rinsing with hot/warm water until you see no soap bubbles in the rinse water.

Have you tried using just a touch of detergent? We use purex free and clear and have never had stinky diapers. Half the recommended amount for a small load seems to work really well for us.

 

SPJ&E

New member

• Jan 22, 2007

• #12

I think skaterbabscpst's idea would work great!

And yep, to strip them, you just wash them repeatedly in hot water until you see no bubbles in the rinse. Pocket diapers can be a bit tricky, in that they are very easy to get build-up with. Stripping them is also one of the things you would do if they started leaking a lot.

 

Starlight

Senior Community Member

• Jan 22, 2007

• #13

We wash everyother day. For maintenence, I cold rinse (to get rid of all the nasties), wash, and then do a hot rinse. That seems to be working really well.

We also use a really nice detergent that doesn't build up. I've only ever had to strip after using other detergents. We mail order ours, so we sometimes we run out, hence the other stuff.

But vinegar is awesome. We visited my MIL last yr, and all she had was tide - which i'm allergic to, and Woolite, so we washed w/ the woolite. Oh, it was bad. Stinky, stinky, stinky! We stripped w/ vinegar, and it cleared them right up. We also use vinegar in our dishwasher, instead of jet dry or lemi-shine! Cheaper, and it works better, too!

 

stayinhomewithmy6

Senior Community Member

• Jan 22, 2007

• #14

Starlight - what kind of detergent do you use? We mail order ours too. It is already so concentrated that you only use 1/4 the amount of regular detergents, so to use it for diapers, it would be just a few drops. I tried it, but the couple days after I used it it seemed like every diaper was leaking and the insert wouldn't be that wet, so I assumed it had made the fleece repellent. Maybe it was just a couple of bad diaper days, though, and wasn't actually related to the detergent. If the diapers are still stinky after this baking soda/tea tree oil wash I'm doing right now, I will strip them, and then after this I will be doing a cold water rinse before washing with hot (that makes more sense anyway). Thanks to all of you for your help!

 

Starlight

Senior Community Member

• Jan 22, 2007

• #15

We use SA8 powdered detergent.

It's funny we're having this conversation, because I've just got off the phone w/ our rep (a good friend of mine). Dh and I were (jokingly) harassing her about our order taking so long to get in. We ordered it yesterday, and it'll be here by Wednesday, LOL.

This stuff is super concentrated, but I still use 1/2 to 3/4 of a scoop on almost everything, and even less on diapers. We love it because I am highly allergic to tons of detergents, and this doesn't irritate my skin it all, plus it has no phosphates, comes in a thin plastic bag in a lightweight cardboard box (compared to a thick plastic bottle) and in general, seems better for the environment.

HTH

ETA: After about 3 months of using this stuff, I decided that even tho my diapers didn't stink and didn't leak, I should have to strip... I mean, it's been 3 months, right? So I started doing hot washes w/out detergent, and watching the bubbles. And there weren't any. It's great!

 

Lea_Ontario

Well-known member

• Jan 22, 2007

• #16

Detergent really is not the bad guy for diapers.

Personally (with no stink, no repelling, no build-up) - this is our routine :

- cold wash cycle with about 2 TBSP bleach and 1/2 the "regular" amount of Tide or Purex
- cold rinse cycle
- LONG HOT wash / hot rinse cycle
- hang dry

 

skaterbabs

Well-known member

• Jan 22, 2007

• #17

I do a cold wash with about 1/5 cup of Purex, then a hot wash/warm rinse. I still have to do a full wash and strip every so often, but I think the last time I did that was 6 mos ago. Granted, we're not exactly using a lopt of diapers these days either.

 

stayinhomewithmy6

Senior Community Member

• Jan 22, 2007

• #18

Well, I really think its the dryer. The diapers smelled fine (again) coming out of the washer, but the dryer just stinks and makes them stink too. I don't know what could be stinking in it, but I think I'm going to hang the diapers to dry until the dryer smell is gone. I'm thinking that I must've put a load of not-quite-clean-enough diapers in it and the smell is sort of stuck to the seals or something. I'm also going to try using detergent again in my normal wash cycle (with a couple good rinses), like Kashi does. That sounds to me like it would get them good and clean.

 

chaoticoctopus

Member

• Jan 22, 2007

• #19

I'm inclined to think that the high heat in the dryer is too hot for the PUL. Maybe try drying them on delicate or medium after you've stripped them and tried the vinegar/baking soda solutions?

If it's just the inserts/stuffing you're talking about, the baking soda and vinegar should solve the problem.

My diaper-washing regiment goes something like this:

Wash every other day, or every 3rd day
Diapers stay in dry pail until wash day
NO BLEACH. EVER.
Cold prewash, nothing added
Cold wash/cold rinse usually, hot/cold occasionally, with several drops of TTO, baking soda (I don't measure... maybe 1/2 c.?), and a splash of Dr. Bronner's liquid castille soap (lavender scent; doesn't seem to bother any of my sensitive-skinned kiddos)
Extra rinse, w/vinegar occasionally when diapers seem not-so-fresh smelling
Dry on medium in dryer

Something in this thread is bound to help. Good luck!

 

didymama

New member

• Jan 22, 2007

• #20

didn't read all the replys yet, but i had the same issue and started wasing with Dawn dish detergent, 2tbl. maybe a little BS occasionally. easy and no smell. try this site too
pinstripesandpolkadots.com

ETA: i never have to strip now and we wash every day-3 in diapers!
cold soak/spin put dawn in then
hot/cold long wash cycle done!