Rash/diaper smell and an apartment washer

[lovelylisa]

So I have a diapering problem and I hope you all can help me solve it.

My DD dipes stink like ammonia when she pees. She's 2 months old and the dipes are second hand. I ran them through the wash and the dishwasher and then the wash again before she wore them so I *think* I got them good and clean. We have fitted dipes and prefolds. When she pees sometimes they (the second hand fitteds especially) reek like ammonia.  She has a diaper rash that won't go away-- and I don't know that poo is causing it because she really only poos once a day but the rash still persists. I think the problem is the diapers (vs yeast or anything) because of the smell.

I use Tide free and clear, and the washers don't give me an option to run an extra rinse or other regimens that I see other people do because they are public washers. So when I wash I run the dipes through a regular hot/warm cycle with the bottle's recommended amount of detergent. They look and smell clean but when she pees there's an odor and  now she has a rash.  Should I run them through 2x with each wash? Maybe a cycle with no detergent? I don't really love the idea of doing it 2x because of the cost. The fitted dipes don't really dry well so I already have to do two cycles when I dry them. 

I was thinking I should probably switch detergents. Maybe the Tide isn't rinsing well enough. We aren't having any problems with leaks or anything. does anyone have any other ideas to what may be causing the problem? What would you do?

ETA.. I am using a diaper pail so it would be possible to soak the dipes in some sort of solution between washes. We rinse the diapers in water before we wash them now as it is.

Thank you in advance for any advice you can give :)

Edited by lovelylisa - 8/16/11 at 12:28am

[chel]

I've had this happen before and bleach is the only thing that fixed it.

[mcoreen]

I dont have the smell problem. but my DD has a rash that will only go away when i switch to disposibles.  This happened when after i switched to Tide.  I ve read that tide, even the free & clear leaves behind residue that locks in ammonia & can cause rash.  I think we have to strip the diapers & switch to a more diaper friendly detergent.  I ve never bought anything special before, just cheaper store brand soaps.

[abiyhayil]

I just used sport wash for diapers for the first time.  IMO this has cleaned WAY better than bacout, oxiclean, bleach vinegar (I've tried them all)  I ordered it from amazon, but you can find it in the hunting section at walmart with a fluorescent orange label. 

ETA: I usually use soap nuts or baking soda/ borax homemade detergent

[lifeguard]

Lots of people will say absolutely no bleach but I found it to be the easiest solution. You could try boiling them on the stove in a big pot & then doing lots of rinses.

[lovelylisa]

So do you guys think it's a problem with the detergent ? Not the way I wash them? What would the bleach do exactly?

[chel]

I think thie smell issue is often from bacteria. Detergents don't sanitize. Doing something like boiling will kill the bacteria, but so will bleach. So whatever will work for you.

I bleach only the poop diapers to limit the amount of bleach.

[lovelylisa]

Thanks for your help guys, the bleach worked on the smell! Rash is healing too, i hope this fixes it.