stinky drybees bamboo fitted diapers

[EzzysMom]

I'm having problems with my drybees fitted bamboo diapers stinking heavily of ammonia after using them overnight with bummis covers.

The only way I've gotten them to stop stinking (like I can smell them while she's still dressed stinking) is to bleach them and I need to keep doing that every few weeks. I have three of these in rotation for night time.

My wash routine:
cold rinse
hot wash with arm and hammer green detergent (and ensuing cold rinse)
cold rinse
tumble dry medium most of the way dry and then air dry them the rest

I talked with drybees and they suggested more detergent and that doesn't seem to have helped either. I'm trying two hot cycles this morning, one with detergent and the second without. The store I bought them from suggested less detergent but nothing but the bleach worked to kill the smell yet and that is very temporary.

I wash every two to two and a half days.

Help?

[Galatea]

1. In the morning, thoroughly rinse out the diaper with fresh water to prevent ammonia crystals from forming in the diaper.

2. On wash day, do a cold prewash with 1/2 cup plain white vinegar. (Every wash.)

3. Wash hot. I don't like that detergent - I prefer Vaska or Mountain Green or Allens powder.

4. Rinse cold.

5. Wash hot again with no detergent. Check for bubbles or cloudiness in the water. If there is any, put it on another hot wash.

6. Rinse cold.

7. Dry.

[Gray's Mommy]

Have you tried a wool cover or a fleece cover instead of the Bummi's? I notice when I switched to a more "breathable" cover my diapers stopped smelling as much.

[EzzysMom]

Originally Posted by Galatea

1. In the morning, thoroughly rinse out the diaper with fresh water to prevent ammonia crystals from forming in the diaper.

2. On wash day, do a cold prewash with 1/2 cup plain white vinegar. (Every wash.)

The rest of my stash is thirsties AIO's. They say I should not use vinegar on those! Am I going to need to do two washes? I dont want to do that. I'd rather find a different night time solution.

[Galatea]

Originally Posted by EzzysMom

The rest of my stash is thirsties AIO's. They say I should not use vinegar on those! Am I going to need to do two washes? I dont want to do that. I'd rather find a different night time solution.

Well, you can do what you feel is right, but I have never had a problem with vinegar hurting any of my diapers. Ammonia is not the diaper's fault - it is just that a lot of urine sitting for many hours is going to make a smell if it is not rinsed out adequately, and the vinegar will neutralize the ammonia. You could try soaking them in a bucket with a little vinegar in water before doing the wash.

[EzzysMom]

Thank you very much for the suggestions, I'm trying the vinegar with just the night time ones now and I also used some country save detergent instead of the arm and hammer. We'll see how it goes

[Thalia]

I uses Drybees fitted bamboo dipes with a Bummi's Superbrite cover, and wash with Country Save detergent, and so far we haven't had any problems with ammonia stinkiness. Sometimes I rinse them out immediately, and sometimes I don't; so far it hasn't seemed to make much of a difference. I hope the Country Save makes a difference!