Is that what a stinky dipe is ?

[MommaWojo]

So I've only be cloth diapering for a short time. Here's my situation...
4 month old ebf
Prefolds/Thirsties Wraps
Fuzzibunz S/OS
Rockin Greeen
We just use a big wet bag for our "pail" and we do laundry twice a week.
My wash system is cold cycle, hot wash w/detergent, cold cycle. It was working really well but the last two times I've washed when I did a quick check before tossing in the dryer things were still kinda smelly. So i just rewashed and that seemed to fix it. Does this mean I need to strip them? OR is it a detergent thing?(semi-soft water 2 tbspns of detergent)
Maybe I'm over thinking it but i am hoping some expert on here can say, "oh all you need to do is..." and solve all my confusion
Thanks in advance,
Christine

[Katie T]

I would say it could be one of two things depending on the smell.

If they just smell dirty I would say try more detergent.

If it is a ammonia smell I would try doing hot washes with no soap and check for suds. It may be detergent build up.

I think cold rinses are a waste of time or water. I only do hot washes as a rinse (my machine doesn't have the option for hot rinse) and then I always check for suds and continue until the water is clean.

Also sometimes a short soak (30 min) is helpful to get rid of smell mainly in synthetic fabrics.

[cristeen]

Are you using a front loader or a top loader? If it's a FL, then I'd say before increasing your detergent, try increasing your water. I have to add approx 2 gallons of water to my FL during the rinse and wash cycles in order for them not to come out stinky. It took a while for it to accumulate though, he was about 7 mos before I started noticing it.

[Galatea]

If you have soft water, it could be the detergent not rinsing fully.

If it is a front loader, you may need more water. A second hot wash with no detergent would be good.