What am I doing wrong? Cleaning bum genius and inserts...

[Crazybean]

I have several 3.0's and many, many inserts. I have done searches on here and tried just about everything recommended for cleaning! I've tried about 7 different types of laundry detergent, hot rinses, cold rinses, sun drying, line drying, dryer drying, regular rinses and they still smell horrible. Either I have a horrible washing machine or I should quit doing laundry.
I think the problem is the ammonia? It won't leave them alone and if I happen to leave the dried diapers and inserts on anything, the smell goes to whatever it is resting on too... ahhhhhhh

[chely7425]

What is your current wash routine? Are you opposed to bleach?

[Crazybean]

Originally Posted by chely7425

What is your current wash routine? Are you opposed to bleach?

Well, to tell you the truth, I haven't put them on DS in awhile because of the smell and because it causes an immediate diaper rash.
I was doing a hot rinse cycle, no detergent. When that was done, I did a regular wash cycle with all free and clear and some baking soda. Then I would dryer dry- that was my latest. I'm not opposed to bleach to get this to work again...

[mamadelbosque]

I've never dealt with stink, so I honestly don't know if it'd help or not, but once ds1 started eating regular food and his poop changed, I started buying and spraying poopy diapers with Biokleen Bac Out.... I've heard other places that it helps with stink, so I'd try that.

Otherwise, my wash routine goes like this: COLD/COLD wash with lots of detergent (think your regular amount for washing clothes, plus a little extra), followed by a HOT/COLD cycle w/o any detergent & an extra rinse. Then I dry. Occasionally (maybe once every month or three?), I'll add 1/4 cup of bleach to the HOT/COLD cycle and do a further HOT/COLD cycle afterwards - which is what I think I'd do if I had stink issues. Maybe even put a 1/2 cup of bleach in there, or soak them in a bucket with bleach for an hour or two, and then run throught the wash a few times.

Does your washer/drier stink like ammonia??

ETA: Oh, and the only detergents I've used are allens naturaly (fine), ecos (gave me repelling issues for months till I switched again) and planet (currently working great

[chely7425]

We battled some MAJOR stink issues and here is what finally worked for us... first, to destink everything initially I did a hot wash cycle with soap, then a hot wash cycle with a 1/4 cup of bleach then just kept doing hot wash cycles till I didn't see anymore suds... definitely took a couple but they came out smelling TOTALLY clean. Then for everyday maintenance, we switched to Tide regular powder. I know it isn't always a popular choice but it is what works for us, none of the natural detergents did. There are 3 lines on the scoop and we use up the bottom one. We do a hot wash/cold rinse cycle with soap and then a hot wash/cold rinse cycle with nothing. If I notice them getting a little stinky I throw a bit of bleach in the first wash cycle (like, a couple tbsps) So yeah.. that is what works for us!

[Katie T]

I would do a hot wash with no soap after they are clean and see what happens, I am guessing you will see lots of suds. Ammonia stink in my experience is from detergent build up which is a common problem with the bum genius liners. Then go from there. What kind of a washer do you have?

I used them and in my front loader had nothing but problems, but in my top loader I would do a cold wash with no soap to rinse them, then a hot wash with soap and then hot washes with no soap till I saw no suds. It takes several cycles but my dipes quit stinking so it was totally worth it. Good luck. If all else fails buy prefolds and stuff your bg with those, they are much easier to keep stink free IMO.

[SleeplessMommy]

do you have hard water? that could be a huge part of the problem. find a friend with a water softener, do a single bleach wash, then wash on hot with no detergent until the stink is gone.

I switched from air drying my pockets to using the dryer because of ammonia. machine or outside line drying is probably going to be part of your long term solution.