about to give up (my diaper stink....)

[Chloe'sMama]

Ok, I have posted on here how much I love my Happy Heiney one size... I do love them, they fit well, are easy to use and are super cute. I don't have problems leaking as long as I change them on time, but they STINK. I have boiled them, stripped them, hung them out in the sun for days at a time and bleached them. The bleaching works for one cycle and then the stink is back. It is from poop, not urine. It is a coffee type smell and it drives me crazy. I am not willing to bleach them each use as it is not good for the environment, my dd or $$$ (having to add an extra rinse to the load). Anyways, am I missing something or should I just give up. I don't know if I can convince DH to get prefolds which I heard do not stink nearly as badly. He already prefers disposable even with how easy the one size are.

Anyways, help talk me down.

[babycarrier]

Do you have hard water? I used Calgon water softener and that helped.

I'm sure others have better ideas but my hard water made anything more than prefolds or inserts to hard to keep stink free.

It is frustrating when you try everything and you still got stink. My hubby did use disposables sometimes while I experimented with trading post stash building.

[ssj77]

It sucks to have stink problems, especially when you find a diaper that you really love. What is your wash routine? What detergent are you using and how much? Do you know what type of water you have (like the pp said)?

That should at least start us on a road to getting rid of the stink.

[Chloe'sMama]

I don't think we have hard water.

I do a cold rinse, no soap
A hot wash with Country Save(1/2 to 3/4 of a scoop, depending on how many diapers I am washing).
Cold rinse and an extra cold rinse before it is finished. Then I hang them in the sun for the day (at least 8 hours).

I do a load of diapers every 3 days.

The covers are fine, it is the microfiber inserts that stink. I wonder if I get prefolds and use them in place of the inserts (folded up and stuck in the little space) if it would be as absorbent and would it stink less? I may be able to convince DH to buy 20 prefolds if I can prestuff them all and have them ready for him.

The one concern is that those would stink too.

[MuslimMama]

I have heard that the soap you use makes a huge difference. The lady at Abby's Lane (abbyslane.com?) is an AWESOME resource! I would write her an email or call her b4 giving up. I use original Tide and it seems to works well for me.

[Dreamer]

Do you use vinegar in the rinse? Do you use cloth wipes? Do you use the max water setting?

I have to use vinegar with every rinse & had to stop using cloth wipes because it was putting too much poop in my washer! Also, use as much water as you can to wash your dipes. AND make it HOT HOT HOT. Now that I've made those few small adjustments I have no stink issues whatsoever!

GL & HTH!

eta: we wash with Tide.

[jenmichelle99]

Originally Posted by Chloe'sMama

I don't think we have hard water.

I do a cold rinse, no soap
A hot wash with Country Save(1/2 to 3/4 of a scoop, depending on how many diapers I am washing).
Cold rinse and an extra cold rinse before it is finished. Then I hang them in the sun for the day (at least 8 hours).

I do a load of diapers every 3 days.

The covers are fine, it is the microfiber inserts that stink. I wonder if I get prefolds and use them in place of the inserts (folded up and stuck in the little space) if it would be as absorbent and would it stink less? I may be able to convince DH to buy 20 prefolds if I can prestuff them all and have them ready for him.

The one concern is that those would stink too.

I stuff my pockets with prefolds and it works awesome. So much easier to maintain and do NOT stink where my couple of inserts do. I would definately do this. They are very absorbant too. Do make sure to prep your prefolds if you buy new, or they are not going to absorb very much.

[inky leeuhhh]

Originally Posted by MuslimMama

I have heard that the soap you use makes a huge difference. The lady at Abby's Lane (abbyslane.com?) is an AWESOME resource! I would write her an email or call her b4 giving up. I use original Tide and it seems to works well for me.

i agree, stephanie is awesome.

[Michigan Mama]

I have found that hot rinses are much more effective than cold - I would try switching your cold rinses at the end for a hot one.

Also, I'm quite sure Charlie's recommends using the full scoop of detergent. Maybe you don't have enough detergent to get all the "stuff" out. Since Charlie's rinses out well, there's not a big issue with detergent build-up.

good luck!

[poppan]

IME natural fibers are sooooo much easier to get and keep clean than microfiber is. Also the fact that prefolds are "flats" with fewer layers to get clean will really help as well. BUT -- I also think there are tweaks you can make to your wash routine that may help to solve your stinkies, without having to buy more diapers.

Are you using a toploading washer? How many dipes go in at a time and how much water? Diapers really need water to get clean and IMHO it's best to fill a TL washer no more than halfway to the top and then use the maximum amount of water so you have a good water to diaper ratio.

Switching to Tide may also help as it has enzymes that help eat away the organic waste. It rinses out relatively well (see lab test results on country save website) and most babies seem to do just fine with Tide as long as you are rinsing well.

When you say you are doing a "cold rinse, no soap" does that mean you are running a short wash cycle as a rinse? Or that you are just selecting the pre-wash option on your washer? I've found that my diapers only get clean if they are pretty clean by the time the wash w/detergent part of the cycle starts -- otherwise they are just rolling around in poopy water and no amount of detergent added to poopy water does much cleaning.

[Chloe'sMama]

I bought a dozen prefolds and stuffed them in my diapers for now. I also washed my inserts with Tide and they don't stink!!! I don't know if it is because it is so scented that it just covers up the smell??? Anyways, I think I am going to stick with the prefolds when I can and only use the inserts when in a pinch.

Do you think I can sell the inserts? I would prefer just to get enough prefolds for all my diapers, but I just bought 12 for now and will need to pick some more up.

[Chloe'sMama]

Also, Thank you all so much for your troubleshooting and advice.

[poppan]

In my experience Tide doesn't just cover up the smell, it actually does a better job of cleaning the dipes than most of the natural detergents. I attribute it to the enzymes but I dunno for sure.

You might be able to sell the inserts separately. But usually they don't go for much money. It might be better to just store them and sell them with the pockets when it's time to do that.

[icy02]

Originally Posted by Dreamer

Do you use vinegar in the rinse? Do you use cloth wipes? Do you use the max water setting?

I have to use vinegar with every rinse & had to stop using cloth wipes because it was putting too much poop in my washer! Also, use as much water as you can to wash your dipes. AND make it HOT HOT HOT. Now that I've made those few small adjustments I have no stink issues whatsoever!

GL & HTH!

eta: we wash with Tide.

good tips!!