Can't shake the stink...

[TeaLeaf]

Hello everyone,

I need help amending my wash cycle/products so I can get rid of the smell of my AIOs (SposoEasy). It's not ammonia. You can't tell when they come out the dryer. It only smells bad when DS wets the diaper.

Right now the weather doesn't allow me to hang them out to dry in the sun and I will not use chemicals, e.g. bleach, to fix this.

1. we have hard well water that smells bad (sulfur) to start with. we have a water softener, but it doesn't help with the smell and we're not in a position to change that system right now.

2. I have a top loader and do the following (only cold rinse available):

a. cold wash w/1 scoop of Charlie's soap and 1 scoop of Oxo-Brite, cold rinse (fast agitation)

b. hot wash w/1 scoop of Charlie's soap, cold rinse, cold rinse

I tried vinegar only once and another time oxo-brite only when doing a. but it did no good. Should I persist with one or the other or drop one, etc?

3. I dry on low heat for however long it takes to dry the AIOs.

Help! Thank you

[chely7425]

If it were me I would do a 2nd hot wash instead of the 2nd cold rinse... and try and catch the washer before it filled for the rinse part of the wash cycle. I don't always catch it but I try!

[TeaLeaf]

Thank you for the reply. I'm doing a load right now and will try that route.

Any other suggestions are appreciated.

[Michigan Mama]

Ditto. I don't have a hot rinse option either, so I just set it to hot wash again and try to set it to rinse after the machine has filled with hot water. I am using Charlies also, and only put it in the hot wash, not in the first cold rinse, but that shouldn't make a difference in odor, since Charlies rinses out well.

[TeaLeaf]

The Solution

Well, here it a possible solution for those of you who have hard well water and bacteria caused stink.

Although I didn't think it was a Charlie's soap problem, I thought I'd call them for help since I hear they don't bite and they didn't They were very nice and extremely helpful.

Here is the solution I was offered and it worked great, I'm stink free :, i.e. bacteria free:

1. cold rinse with water only
2. warm wash (w/cold rinse) with 2 heaping scoop of Charlie's soap and a disinfectant in the form of either 1 Tbsp of bleach, 1/4 cup of hydrogen peroxide, or 1/4 cup of back-out. Vinegar was mentioned, but I personally don't think it's that powerful a bacteria killer and ammonia is not my problem so I didn't ask for dosage.
3. warm wash (w/cold rinse) with regular dosage of Charlie's soap, i.e. 1 Tbsp
4. cold rinse with water only

All washes/rinses were done in a top loader with max amount of water. The first two cycles were done at maximum agitation.

I opted for bleach this time since I was ready to burn the AIOs out of frustration. However, I am opting for the peroxide for future loads.

I was also on their web site, where I suppose I should have checked before calling them b/c they have 2 pdf's that are priceless in terms of info and if one is willing to put it together, the solution to most problems including mine... http://www.charliesoap.com/downloads/hardwater.pdf and http://www.charliesoap.com/downloads...anddiapers.pdf

I'm grateful for Charlie's soap folks to take time out of their schedule to help me. They have my patronage for as long as I do laundry

[jennchsm]

I also have hard water, and have experienced exactly the stink you're talking about. What fixed it for me was to wash all my (clean) inserts on a bleach cycle. (My machine has a special cycle for bleach.) I do it about once a month, and it absolutely cured the diaper stink for me. Last month I tossed my stinky AIOs in with the inserts, and it fixed those as well.

I think it voids the warranties on some dipes to use bleach, but I was desperate!

[chely7425]

I've bleached my inserts once to get rid of that same stink. I might do it again in a couple months, just the inserts though because I don't want to hurt my pockets!! We switched to Country Save recently and that has fixed a LOT of the stink issues!!

[TeaLeaf]

That's why I was reluctant to use the bleach in the first place, but like you, it was either that or a torch. I figured one tablespoon isn't much for just once. The PUL outer shell is really what worries me... bleach can put a hole in them!

However, I just did a load and used the 1/4 cup peroxide with it... we'll see how that goes since I had some of the nasties in that load. Maybe you could try that in your regular wash and see how it goes

Happy

Originally Posted by jennchsm

I think it voids the warranties on some dipes to use bleach, but I was desperate!

[chely7425]

I might try the peroxide... if the bleaching every couple months doesn't help!! Only our night time diapers are stinky right now so I think we are ok... I hope!!

[TeaLeaf]

Based on my understanding of the disinfectants, peroxide or bleaching will work equally well. Peroxide, however, is gentler on the fiber and I wonder if your pockets would be fine. You could check with your vendor and do without the bleach altogether. I know for sure bleach will damage anything and shorten its life; thus, my doing it only this once. I'm planning on using the peroxide on every load so I don't take a chance at those nasty bacteria getting in contact with my DS again... who knows what's brooding in there...

Originally Posted by chely7425

I might try the peroxide... if the bleaching every couple months doesn't help!! Only our night time diapers are stinky right now so I think we are ok... I hope!!

[Galatea]

Using one or two tablespoons won't hurt anything and will solve a lot of stink. bumGenius! recommends 1/4 cup once a month and all their stuff is made of PUL. Above that amount and you risk lightening all natural fibers and weakening the fabric. But used sparingly, bleach is great, and it beats throwing away the diapers.

FWIW, hydrogen peroxide is what natural or color-safe liquid bleaches are made of, so you can buy that instead of medical H2O2.

[chely7425]

Originally Posted by Galatea

Using one or two tablespoons won't hurt anything and will solve a lot of stink. bumGenius! recommends 1/4 cup once a month and all their stuff is made of PUL. Above that amount and you risk lightening all natural fibers and weakening the fabric. But used sparingly, bleach is great, and it beats throwing away the diapers.

FWIW, hydrogen peroxide is what natural or color-safe liquid bleaches are made of, so you can buy that instead of medical H2O2.

This is really good to know!! Thank you for sharing the info

[CookAMH]

For those who use bleach, do you use color safe bleach or regular bleach? Does the stitching on the prefolds or the color on the AIOs get bleached out?

[Galatea]

Originally Posted by CookAMH

For those who use bleach, do you use color safe bleach or regular bleach? Does the stitching on the prefolds or the color on the AIOs get bleached out?

Color-safe liquid bleach is hydrogen peroxide. It will not lighten anything. It also will not cure stinkies as well as regular (chlorine) bleach, but is good for routine use. Regular (chlorine) bleach will not lighten anything if you use a few tablespoons to a quarter cup; more than that and it will lighten all natural fibers. It will not bleach synthetics (PUL, fleece) but will weaken them if you use too much. It is good for occasional de-funking.

[TeaLeaf]

Regular bleach but I was told no more than 1 Tbsp is needed. In fact, after a total of 3 rinses and 1 more warm wash with detergent I can still smell it, not a lot, but I can tell it was in the wash. Did 18 diapers all at once, 1/2 of them were "clean" and smelly only, not soiled; I would only fill my washer to 1/2 capacity otherwise... I was above that. Someone mentioned 1/4 cup was recommended by bumGenius, but it sounds like overkill considering with my 1 Tbsp, I was stink free... I use a top loader... I wonder if that would be safe for the diapers in an he washer; I can't imagine the bleach stench if I had used 1/4 cup...

With the regular bleach, this once, I didn't see any color difference, but I have SposoEasy AIOs which are pastel colored to start with so I might not be able to see. My stitching is white. I also do my cotton wipes and didn't see the dark and light green stitching change.

Hydrogen peroxide is the 1/4 cup and afaik it's color safe and more environment friendly so I'm exploring that venue now. Watch out your fingers though

Originally Posted by CookAMH

For those who use bleach, do you use color safe bleach or regular bleach? Does the stitching on the prefolds or the color on the AIOs get bleached out?

[Talula Fairie]

ETA: nm, I see you fixed the problem. I wish I had tried that!

[lifeguard]

I've been using regular bleach on my yellow prefolds for a few months now & cannot really see any lightening. It was the only thing I found that kept my dipes non-stinky.