Strong chemical like smell?

[springbride]

I have noticed that our prefolds and KLO are starting to smell worse, almost like a chemical of some sort when DD pees and sporadically gets a burn looking rash. Is this an amonia build up? Or just waiting too long between changes?
Do I need to strip them? or is there something else to do? Can I strip them in my washing machine or do I need to boil them?

Whew, that's a lot of Q's TIA!

[Michigan Mama]

I would guess that it is from build-up and stripping would probably help. My stripping method is to squirt a little blue dawn in my machine (I have an old TL) and rinse with very very hot water until I don't see any more bubbles (open the lid while agitating and look for bubbles!). I turn my hot water heater to do this (be careful, of course!).

You can boil them, too, but the above method usually works for me.

I would strip them first, and then consider adding a smidge bit of vinegar during your normal washing cycle to help keep ammonia at bay. I only do it maybe once a week and it does seem to help.

Good luck!

[jadekat]

I agree with pp. I usually strip with RLR. It works really well.