the never ending saga of cleaning cloth diapers

[anarchamom]

i'm almost at my wits end with my cloth diapers. we've been using them since my little one was bon-- so almost 2 years. for the past 6+ months i have been struggling to get the stink out. i have a front loader which is the problem i'm sure, but there is nothing i can do about that for now. the wet towel in the washer doesn't help, soaking the diapers first doesn't help. i have gotten the stink out before by washing them in my mother-in-law's top loader over and over in order the strip them. i can't do that often though. the stink is from urine since he almost always poops in the toilet.

does anyone have a suggestion? is there some kind of pre-soak i can use? anything at all? i expect that my little one will be out of diapers in a few months, but i'm on the verge of switching to disposables which would make me pretty unhappy.

thanks

[silversparrow]

i pre-soak with detergent, vinegar, baking soda, and peroxide bleach sometimes. it seems to work pretty well. i also put about 10 drops of tea tree oil in the wash. and make sure to dump the water rinse off and wring them out a bit before washing too.

Recently I started just throwing the diapers in with the rest of the wash daily. DH thinks it's gross, but the smell seems to go away since it's diluted and not a whole load of pissy diapers, and still put the tea tree oil in. You might also want to try soaking and washing with borax if you can find it. I used to use it, but then we moved and the grocery store here doesn't sell it.

[BubblingBrooks]

Pre soak overnight in a bucket filled with water and a few drops of tea tree oil, if your front loader is not cutting it.
WalMart sells a 2 ounce bottle for only $8.
 

[Mom2M]

I have a front loader and actually have to add water to it using a pitcher. I probably add a couple gallons for each wash. I do a quick wash to rinse out pee, then a regular wash with detergent, vinegar in the rinse, then a quick wash with no soap or anything added to rinse again.
Also, if you can get them out in the sun it really helps get rid of stink!

[Pat899]

I will say the evil word, bleach.  Look stink is from bacteria build -up.  You need to kill it and bleach will do that.  It is very simple.

[silversparrow]

Originally Posted by Pat899 

I will say the evil word, bleach.  Look stink is from bacteria build -up.  You need to kill it and bleach will do that.  It is very simple.

or you can do what our grandmother's did.... boil them on the stove!

And the sun thing works great too.

[chel]

I use bleach, but you can boil if you have prefolds or at least rinse out the diaper after you take it off.

[Mama Chickadee]

I have to put in a plug for Bio-Kleen!

I have had stink issues, and I have a front loader which I detest. I had been running THREE cycles.... a wash (soak, wash, extra rinse) with a splash of bleach, then a wash (soak, wash, extra rinse) with clean rinsing detergent, then a final wash (again...  soak, wash, extra rinse) and only then was I getting them clean and stink free. I've personally found that while putting them in the sun reduces staining, I think that going in a hot dryer helps kill what is causing the stink for us. 

I just got some biokleen a couple of weeks ago, and I have been soaking the dipes in water for an hour or so in the diaper pail with a squirt of biokleen, and then doing ONE wash cycle... and no stink! I am really hoping this continues to work, but so far so good.

[elus0814]

I think the biokleen product the pp is talking about is bac out, made by the biokleen company. It really does work great. I also have a front loader and while it is more challenging to get the diapers clean it's not impossible. I find that what helps the most is to do a cold rinse with a couple tablespoons of bac out, hot wash with detergent but not too much, then run warm/warm delicate cycles until bubbles are no longer seen. The delicate cycle uses more water than other cycles. It often takes 2-3 delicate cycles with an extra rinse (3 water changes per delicate wash cycle) to get everything rinsed out. When I run fewer cycles/water changes the diapers smell. I don't add extra water to the machine during any of the cycles. Yes, it takes 3-4 hours of washing but it's only going back over to push the button to turn it back on when I hear it sound that it's done.