stinky motherease, couldn't strip - any ideas?

[momster]

I'm 8 months pregnant and just got out the Motherease dipes I used with ds. Near the time he grew out of them they became pretty stinky and caused him diaper rash. At the time (6 yrs ago), I tried stripping them. Did about 10 wash cycles trying plain hot water, hot with baking soda and a couple hot with vinegar rinses. Didn't use detergent. Anyway, didn't work.  I had read back then on the Motherease list that others were having similar problems and speculating that it was the small amount of polyester plus the thickness.

[momster]

Sorry this is 2 messages, but I didn't want to lose the message and have to type it over again.  So, I can't afford to buy all new dipes. Had originally been gifted these from my SIL who used 5 dipes and gave up.  Other details: we use Seventh Generation detergent (but did the stripping on "clean" dipes without detergent.  We didn't use any fabric softener or anything else except occasional vinegar/baking soda in the washer. No dryer sheets. Any ideas? Really don't want to throw them out.

[Ola_]

I would definitely try washing them with detergent, it may be bacteria build up or something that your regular wash routine couldn't get rid of.  I'd probably try some blue Dawn (and then rinse lots) and if that doesn't work I'd try to get a small amount of Tide detergent (like a sample or something so you're not stuck with a whole box of it) and wash with that.

[momster]

Hi Ola,  thanks for the suggestions.  Why would Tide or New Dawn be better than seventh generation?  I am very allergic to perfumes and many other chemicals, so I'm wary of putting these in my machine. They don't come back out easily.  But I'm open to hearing what in these detergents would work better. Thanks.

[Ola_]

Dawn dishsoap is normally recommended for stripping diapers, there's something in there that is able to pull out gunk that may be causing issues.  You need to rinse lots afterwards though to make sure you rinse it all out, and apparently the "original" blue Dawn dishsoap is the best for this.

[LionessMom]

using dish soap is bad for your washer.

soak the diapers overnight in detergent (full recc'd amount) 1/4 cup baking soda, and some bleach. the next day rinse then wash with detergent and bs rinse with vinegar. do that twice. if you cant use bleach then use some other disinfectant like borax. in order to kill the ammonia you have to use disinfectant.

[RthyCrunchyMama]

DO you know what is causing the problem.  Did you use rash creams or could it be detergent build up.  Rinsing will only help if it is detergent build up.  a couple squirts of dawn will help if it is rash cream build up.  You can also try to use some oxy-clean.  DO an over night soak on very very hot water. Turn your hot water heater way up.  The hotter the water, the better it will break down residues.  Here is a stripping resource.  If it is a detergent build up I would switch detergents. 

[momster]

Thank you ola, Rthycrunchymama and Lionessmom,

I am also concerned about not ruining my washer with Dawn.

If I was using any rash cream at the time, it would've been Weleda calenda cream (not the diaper ointment with zinc), and yes there is an ammonia smell.  I used Seventh Generation detergent.

I'm very sensitive to bleach - gives me asthma, sometimes even just the chlorine coming off tapwater when they up the chlorination like this week.

I've never tried Oxyclean or borax.  I'm assuming borax doesn't have perfumes it. Will have to look into Oxyclean.

Also looking at the Wonderballs and Green Wash Balls on Gaiam that  change pH of water. They say they can be used with little or no detergent - wonder if that would help. Water isn't especially hard, but isn't soft either so changing the pH might do it.

I won't be trying any of this till the weekend cause we're moving Thursday. Have to do it right away cause I went into labor a bit early with DS.  Oh and I'll check out that stripping resource Rthycrunchymama. Thanks.