Are we doomed with a FL?

[tayndrewsmama]

Ds is 2 1/2 months old now and we are fighting a terrible battle right now with the diapers. We use Little Beetles with wool covers. He's constantly getting a rash and the diapers stink after he pees in them too now. It wasn't until the pee stink started that the rash started as well.

When the other two were little we had a top loader. Now we have a front loader. We didn't expect to be doing diapers anymore so I didn't consider washing diapers in our purchase. How can I tell if this is detergent build up or not enough detergent used or something else? I am starting to get panicky about his little bum and am seriously considering getting some 7th Gen diapers until I can get this straightened out. And anyone who knows me well, knows this is a pretty drastic thought for me.

We have used BioKleen for years. I currently have BioKleen, Arm & Hammer Sensitive and Country Save here. I tried to strip them with Dawn even. It seemed ot help a *little*, but not much. I couldn't even get any suds with the first teaspoon of it either.

HELP!

[Kimbokarrie]

The key with frontloaders is to get a good rinse, which most of the time means doing a full wash. And if you are having ammonia, then that means that you aren't getting enough water through your diapers to dilute the ammonia salts properly. So I would do a full wash on cold, with no soap. Then a full wash on HOT with soap, and then another full wash on cold to make sure everything is rinsed out.

You can also try adding a towel in with the diapers, to trick the washer into thinking that there is a heaver load and it will add more water.

[tayndrewsmama]

Good idea on the towel! I have been doing a cold wash, then hot wash, then an additional triple rinse. The cold was I have been using detergent in, but I have set it on the bulky bedding because I read it uses more water. I'll try your suggestions though!

So, do you think the issue is that they aren't clean enough instead of just a detergent build up? That could explain why I needed to use three teaspoons of Dawn to even get any suds. :

[starling&diesel]

Oh, good idea about the towel! I'm going to try that!
Right now, we do a cold soak with borax, a hot wash with cold rinses on the "Whitest Whites" setting, and then straight into the dryer.
We uses minimal Nature Clean soap. Like, 2 teaspoons, maybe.
I find if my DP does the wash, she tends to put more soap in, and the diapers stink even after washing. Someone told me the smell 'clings' to the soap. Dunno if that's true or not, but the less soap the better, in our house!

[Kimbokarrie]

It could be a compounded issue, but in my experience most of the time ammonia smell is from not rinsing enough on the front end. If it's combined with repelling and other stuff, than it could be buildup but I would work on the front end first.

It's like if every diapers hold 8 oz of urine, and you put 15 diapers in a wash load. That's 15 cups of pee! That's a lot of work for any soap (especially when a frontloader adds about 15 cups of water anyway so that's like 50/50!), so the more urine you can rinse out before adding the soap the more effectively the soap can clean your diapers.

[Kimbokarrie]

Originally Posted by starling&diesel

Oh, good idea about the towel! I'm going to try that!
Right now, we do a cold soak with borax, a hot wash with cold rinses on the "Whitest Whites" setting, and then straight into the dryer.
We uses minimal Nature Clean soap. Like, 2 teaspoons, maybe.
I find if my DP does the wash, she tends to put more soap in, and the diapers stink even after washing. Someone told me the smell 'clings' to the soap. Dunno if that's true or not, but the less soap the better, in our house!

Yeap, you are right if there is soap left in your diapers that will lead to stink issue. Surfactants are meant to attach to things and wisk them away in the wash, but if they don't make it out of the rinse water then they attach to your diapers along with all the funk that you are trying to remove.

[tayndrewsmama]

In regards to "tricking" the machine, would it be stupid to put tennis balls or other things in the wash that have weight, but won't absorb the water?

[Kimbokarrie]

I just worry about what would leach out of them...I just looked back on my last post and I forget to mention that it should be a wet towel. Oops!

[JTA Mom]

You can also just manually add 3 gallons of water to your front loader. Wait until the initial fill up is over (aka when the water stops pouring in and it starts agitating. Turn off the machine. Add 3 gallons either through the detergent dispenser if it goes directly into the drum or open the door.

I do this and it makes a HUGE difference.


Also, even with extra water, you might still have some stinkies.

There are left over ammonia crystals that cause stink.

And then there are bacteria that live off fresh pee and create ammonia as a by product. If you still have stink issues, a bit of a bleach and vinegar soak helps.

Ami

[LZP]

I dont mean to thread hijack... but i have a FL that doesnt have a cold pre-wash function (we have a "Quick Wash" but it uses warm water wash, cold rinse.) but I hate to run 3 full cycles- that'd be 3 hours for one load of dipes!

Would rinsing/dunking/soaking the dipes before putting them in the washer help? I know it's an extra step, but maybe it would be helpful? we're putting in a laundry sink beside the washer, and I was thinking I might soak dipes in plain water in there before washing....

thoughts?

FWIW, we have a Bosch FL if that helps anyone. it hardly uses any water- maybe 6 gallons total?

[tayndrewsmama]

If I add it after the initial fill then it won't drain it? I tried adding extra water before I turned it on once and it just didn't add any water to it at all. That sucked.

[tayndrewsmama]

Originally Posted by LZP

I dont mean to thread hijack... but i have a FL that doesnt have a cold pre-wash function (we have a "Quick Wash" but it uses warm water wash, cold rinse.) but I hate to run 3 full cycles- that'd be 3 hours for one load of dipes!

Would rinsing/dunking/soaking the dipes before putting them in the washer help? I know it's an extra step, but maybe it would be helpful? we're putting in a laundry sink beside the washer, and I was thinking I might soak dipes in plain water in there before washing....

thoughts?

FWIW, we have a Bosch FL if that helps anyone. it hardly uses any water- maybe 6 gallons total?

Any ideas to help! Ask away!



What about adding BacOut to the pre-wash? I used to do that with the other kids. I guess I don't know why I haven't been doing it this time around.

[Kimbokarrie]

Originally Posted by LZP

I dont mean to thread hijack... but i have a FL that doesnt have a cold pre-wash function (we have a "Quick Wash" but it uses warm water wash, cold rinse.) but I hate to run 3 full cycles- that'd be 3 hours for one load of dipes!

Would rinsing/dunking/soaking the dipes before putting them in the washer help? I know it's an extra step, but maybe it would be helpful? we're putting in a laundry sink beside the washer, and I was thinking I might soak dipes in plain water in there before washing....

thoughts?

FWIW, we have a Bosch FL if that helps anyone. it hardly uses any water- maybe 6 gallons total?

That should help dilute the ammonia salts- especially if you can do a few water changes. Does your Bosch have a soak cycle? Someone sent in a wash routine for my website for a Bosch Nexxt and said that the soak cycle is nice...

[tayndrewsmama]

Originally Posted by LZP

Would rinsing/dunking/soaking the dipes before putting them in the washer help? I know it's an extra step, but maybe it would be helpful? we're putting in a laundry sink beside the washer, and I was thinking I might soak dipes in plain water in there before washing....

I bet soaking them in the sink and not wringing them out would help to get the washer to add more water too. Wouldn't that be like adding a wet towel?

[Kimbokarrie]

Yeah, I have also heard of some people skipping the spin cycle to keep the diapers heavy through most of the washing process.

[LZP]

Originally Posted by rockingreensoap

That should help dilute the ammonia salts- especially if you can do a few water changes. Does your Bosch have a soak cycle? Someone sent in a wash routine for my website for a Bosch Nexxt and said that the soak cycle is nice...

ooh- DUH. yes, we do have soak. i will test it to see if it's cold water or not. I could do a sink soak and then a soak in the washer and that should do an OK job. and bac-out- yes, i'll test that.

we have pretty hard water, so i'm also concerned about that causing stink issues. esp when BGs and other PUL covers say not to use vinegar or bleach...

and a reduced spin! good idea too.

[Kimbokarrie]

Hard water will make things harder too. I have a solution for that too...

[LZP]

removed by administrator

do share.... tayndrewsmama- do you know what kind of water you have?
is it hard or soft?

i have read lots of places about hard water sometimes causing stinkies.

[tayndrewsmama]

Have you ever tried Calgon water softner? I used that at my parents house when I did diapers there and it worked well.

[tayndrewsmama]

Originally Posted by LZP

do share.... tayndrewsmama- do you know what kind of water you have?
is it hard or soft?

i have read lots of places about hard water sometimes causing stinkies.

Soft water. I checked to make sure we didn't run out of salt either. That has been known to occur here on occasion.