My cloth diapers are stinky!

[lovinwaves]

I haven't read the other replies, but could it be that they are mildewed? Could it be that they stayed wet too long once? I have left a load of wet towels accidently once. I dried them and they stunk when they came out. EWW!! So I rewashed, again smelled fine coming out of the washer, but after the dryer I could smell that smell again!! I tried everything but could never get the smell out.

Try getting one of the diaper wet(sink water) and then wipe the diaper on the back of your hand. See if your hand smells like that musty or mildew smell, if so then that might be your problem.

 

[LEAW]

Try 2T dawn in a hot wash, then rinse until they stop bubbling... liine dry the pockets, hot dryer for the inserts.

The true test is how they smell once they get peed in
If you smell poo when they get peed in, they need washed again, with some sort of soap.

 

[joolsplus3]

www.charliesoap.com It's SO good. I use it for everything (and so no one freaks out, it's not Soap, that's just the name, it really is super-natural detergent).

Cold rinse, hot wash, cold rinse. (I think we are due for some baking soda in the next load, but it's been a few months and nothing's too stinky, really).

 

[stayinhomewithmy6]

Yay! They are clean & fresh smelling now! I stripped them, so I washed them with a normal amount of detergent, then ran them through the whole wash cycle one more time. There weren't any suds in the water the 2nd time, so I figured that should be enough. I even dried them in the dryer and they still came out smelling clean. Thanks for all your help with this today!

 

[Stresch]

We use Allen's Naturally, about 3 mLs per load. It works really well for our super sensitive skinned kid. A lot of the natural soaps will make the diapers repel because it leaves a waxy finish on them, but not Allen's.

Cold soak, Hot wash with the Allen's, Cold rinse, heated dry for 30 minutes, hang to finish drying. We've had to strip them a few times, but they've never gotten stinky or repelled.

I have no clue how to de-stink your dryer, but I know that if you pack a stinky (mini) fridge with newspaper and leave it for a few days, the paper will absorb a lot of the odors.

 

[abacus2]

http://www.pinstripesandpolkadots.com/detergentchoices.htm is a great resource for choosing a cloth diaper detergent. I think you need at least a little detergent to get diapers clean and definately do a cold rinse 1st. Oh, and high heat is good for PUL, bad for elastic, so if you have leaks you might need to give your pockets some time in the dryer. Don't stretch hot elastic.

 

[tchrgrrl]

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.

Are your clothes coming out stinky? If not, I would say that is unlikely.

We always use detergent and there are many detergents that are not recommended because of leaking and wicking. The only time we have had a stink issue was when I totally blew it and used a diaper ointment containing fish oil - VERY BAD IDEA and VERY stinky diapers

Our regular wash routine:
cold rinse with a few drops of tea tree oil
hot wash/cold rinse with about 1/8 the scoop of Tide (regular tide with no bleach, no additives, no funky stuff)
cold rinse
low dryer

Our stripping routine:
cold rinse with a few drops of tea tree oil + about a cup of baking soda
hot wash/cold rinse with 1-2T of Dawn dish washing detergent
cold rinse - repeat until no bubbles are present
low dryer


Good luck!

 

[menfusse]

It seems you've figured it out, but I was going to reccomend a good washing with detergent and rinsing till the bubbles were all gone. I personally use detergent or dawn in every load now because I was having the same problem you were. They smelled wonderful out of the wash...stinky out of the dryer. I've come to the conclusion that you really need detergent to get that smell gone. Even if you only use it one was a week, it really makes a difference. Since I started using it in all loads..no more stinkies.