[engineer_mama]

I know we've all had the evils of bleach drilled into us, but as a last resort, I washed my Samuel's Soakers with a 1/4 cup of bleach a few nights ago. Voila! Absolutely no ammonia smell anymore. In fact, the diapers hardly smell like anything at all, even after a full 12 hour night. And no redness on either tushy. I think this is the key, mamas. Now I just need to figure out how often this needs to be done. Maybe every 2 weeks to a month? We'll see. I also went ahead and ran all my cpf's through some bleach as well because even they get stinky sometimes. I think a periodic bleaching shouldn't shorten the life of the diapers too much. And two good rinses got rid of the chlorine smell completely. The dipes were just nice, fresh, and clean.<br><br>
It's worth a try anyway, if you've been having trouble with stinky hemp. Yay! My kiddos can be in cloth at night again <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/orngbiggrin.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="orange big grin"> Thanks Kermit!!

 

[rockymtnmama]

Karen, I've been thinking about trying this! My hemp is intermittently stinky and nothing seems to completely get rid of the ammonia smell. Did you do a soak with bleach or just run it through in the hot wash w/ detergent?<br><br>
Just a sidenote, when I used a diaper service my diapers never had that smell, even overnight! I am sure the service used bleach. Maybe that's the secret?

 

[engineer_mama]

Nope, no soaking. I just put it in the bleach dispenser and ran the washer on hot with a little detergent.<br><br>
Hope it works well for you to!

 

[huskrkid]

Won't the bleach wash out all the colors in the serging in the naked dipes & what about prints?<br><br>
Hmmmmmmm evil on one side, good on the other...what to do?

 

[Melda]

I was told this by a well known WAHM that visits here alot and I did it and it worked. I did mine about a month ago and no stink has come back yet ... So i would say prolly no more than once a month ....

 

[rockymtnmama]

So how much do you use? Would 1/4 cup be enough for a full load?

 

[engineer_mama]

rockymtnmama ~ I used a 1/2 cup for a full load.<br><br>
huskrkid ~ no guarantees, but the serging on all my prefolds and SS's retained their colors. I wouldn't do this with prints, though.

 

[mommy2boys]

I just wanted to add, I tried Clorox 2 with good results. I beleive its a peroxide bleach. So if you are a little nervous about bleach you can try that first.

 

[allformyboys]

I have bleached everything in my stash probably at least once (*gasp*) prints, fleece, hemp, cotton colors EVERYTHING. The prints look washed but not really faded (even the flannel prints) a few have a 'lighter' look to them but not bad at all. The fleece is exactly the same color, the serging never changes, and the only thing that really changed is some washcloth wipes I had that I got cheap at walmart. Everything else kept its color and is totally stink free! The HB's were the worst smell wise I think because they are a the thickest and hardest to get really clean. But I use bleach probably once a month, I have been CDing for 9 months now and no break down, no holes no real 'wear' to the diapers at all. ~

 

[DecemberSun]

I ran out of laundry detergent a week ago, and all we had was Electrasol powder for the dishwasher. We didn't have money for sposies, or more soap, so I used the dishwashing detergent. The second ingredient is chlorine bleach, so I was afraid to use it... but I used a 1/4 laundry scoop for a full load of diaps, rinsed twice, and they came out bright and clean! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/orngbiggrin.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="orange big grin"> My colored FB's don't look a bit faded, and all the hemp smells fresh. I felt this was a little gentler than straight bleach, and it worked nicely!

 

[girlfactory]

I think as long as you have the washer filled TO THE TOP, add the bleach, swish it around, then add the diapers, you shouldn't have any spot bleaching. And such a small amount shouldn't affect the color of anything drastically. The 1/4 cup really does work.............just do an extra rinse to get it all out.<br><br>
KidsAtHeart, wouldn't that be a hoot if dishwasher detergent was the new ultra cleaning tool for diapers? Too bad it's so expensive per ounce compared to laundry detergent. But good thinking!! <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/thumb.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="thumbs up"> Necessity is the mother of all inventions <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="smile">

 

[oceanbaby]

Yep, I had to do this too. I used color safe bleach, and it totally solved the ammonia stink/rash problem in our hemp. That was almost 2 months ago, and I am just now starting to detect the ammonia smell again, but not bad yet. I'm planning on doing another hemp bleach in a few weeks. I'd rather have to replace my diapers than deal with the ammonia stink. It burned my eyes, and gave ds a diaper rash.<br><br>
I just put in about 1/4-1/2 cup with the wash, did the regular two rinses plus one more just to be sure the bleach was all out.

 

[Morwenna]

Hey, I am new here, but had the same problem so I wanted to reply. I boiled my diapers! I didn't want to use bleach and was at my wits' end, so I boiled them on the stove! It worked great and is a bit more natural than bleach...I just thought what our grannies would have done. I think maybe it has more to do with the thickness of the diapers than what they are made of. That's why I think flat prefolds or diapers with snap ins/inserts may be better.

 

[campingmumma]

I'm bleaching mine today - finally a solution - thanks everyone!

 

[MamaMonica]

If you don't have a bleach dispenser, can you just put in with the diapers- pour it into the full washer? I have been on the verge of this for months and keep pulling back before buying the bleach. I simply can't get the smell out of my thick hemp diapers.<br><br>
Thank, you thank you engineermama for the green light on this. And thanks, Holly for the original idea. I've tried all the low-intervention techniques.<br><br>
So is the verdict that peroxide bleach will do the trick? (here I am backing off again...)

 

[rockymtnmama]

Well, I did it! I bleached my stinkiest, I'll let you know if it worked in the morning!

 

[campingmumma]

I used a color-safe bleach tonight (called Vivid ? -have to double check). Anyways, I could smell the difference just coming out of the washer - ahhhhh, so fresh and clean. Oh, the joys of stink-free fluff <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/orngbiggrin.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="orange big grin">

 

[Love my 2]

I've found that a long soak in boiling water and oxiclean really helped get the stink out of my hemp too. I haven't tried chlorine bleach, still afraid of holes or bleaching out that natural color that I love so well.

 

[veganmamma]

<div style="margin:20px;margin-top:5px;">
<div class="smallfont" style="margin-bottom:2px;">Quote:</div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="6" cellspacing="0" width="99%"><tr><td class="alt2" style="border:1px inset;">Just a sidenote, when I used a diaper service my diapers never had that smell, even overnight! I am sure the service used bleach. Maybe that's the secret?</td>
</tr></table></div>
The diaper service I used did use bleach, but they also removed the bleach residue with Anti-Chlor. We used them mixed with our own dipes for about 2 months. (<a href="http://www.tinytots.com" target="_blank">www.tinytots.com</a>)<br><br>
Lauren

 

[rockymtnmama]

It's a miracle! All night in his firefly sleeptight (previously one of our stinkiest) and no skunky ammonia smell! It just smells like wet cloth. WOW! I would not feel comfortable using bleach on a regular basis, but if it only takes once a month to get results like this, I'm sold.<br><br>
To all who are trying the color-safe bleach, I thought that those types of bleaches aren't really bleach, just added some sort of whitening agent to make clothes "look" brighter. Not sure how this would eliminate odors? I have used a colorsafe bleach on my diapers before and didn't notice a difference in the smell. I'm curious to see what others find out!