Stink question

[blessedwith7]

When my 23mo old boy pees in his prefold diaper it has a strong pungent/skunk-type smell. The smell is almost immediate; that's how I know he is wet. It doesn't bother me much except that I usually can't use a cover over again. It would be nice to get more than one use out of a cover. The smell does bother my husband and I was wondering if I do something differently we could eliminate it. I do try to change him right away but should the smell really be that strong? I thought it might be his age? He only drinks water and raw cow's milk. I use a dry pail (planet wise wet bag), rinse in cold, wash in hot with two rinses, just a sprinkle of detergent and nothing else added. The diapers smell fine when they are clean, really no smell actually. So any advice? Is this normal? I have no trouble with rash whatsoever.

Thanks!
Theresa

[fruitfulmomma]

The core of the diaper isn't getting clean so when it gets wet from his pee it brings the smell out. I would start with adding more detergent to your wash.

[Marissamom]

we were having stink issues for a while. I solved it by doing a few washes where I added Oxy-clean, adding more detergent to every wash (I now use the same amount I would with a regular load). Then for maintenance, for a while I was rinsing every wet diaper before it went in the pail, now I'm adding about 2 teaspoons of baking soda to my presoak and rinse, to help dissolve the pee crystals better.

[chel]

i agree it is a wash issue. i ended up using a small amount of bleach in my front loader.

i'm now using a top loader and don't have to use bleach at all

[cristeen]

It is a wash issue.

What I discovered by sitting down in front of my FL and watching it wash my dipes is that it stopped filling before there was sufficient water in the tub. It was agitating an essentially dry tub, because the dipes had absorbed all the water - there was nothing to actually wash with. So now I have to wait for the machine to finish filling, and then dump in an extra 2-3 gallons of water for it to agitate with.

All the bleach and extra rinses in the world didn't help me get clean (non-stinky) dipes until I figured out there was a water problem. So if you're using a FL, that's always the first place I suggest looking.

[blessedwith7]

Thanks for the help! I have a top loader. I'm going to put baking soda in with the first rinse, up the water level, and use more detergent (I do have some oxyclean so I may try that) in the hot wash. Hopefully that takes care of it! It's been this way for awhile; I should have asked sooner.

Theresa

[Marissamom]

The baking soda seems to work best if it's in there for a soak. my machine has a pre-soak/pre-wash cycle. but you can also leave the top up for about 10 minutes after the machine fills. for us it's really helped the pee crystals dissolve so they come out with the rinse.