[TangoMama]

I am new to CD'ing (started 5 weeks ago when DS was born) and thought I was doing great up until last week. I have been using Kissaluv 0s and prefolds with wool covers, Bummis SWW and Thirsties DUO wraps.<br><br>
I have a HE FL and my wash routine was cold rinse, hot wash w/ 1 scoop Charlie's, extra cold rinse. The diapers seemed fine until last week when they started smelling of ammonia when DS peed and when I put them out in the sun to get rid of some stains, they smelled funky.<br><br>
At first I thought it was due to detergent build up, but I rinsed them all day long, one rinse after another, and there were no suds and it didn't get any better.<br><br>
So I contacted the store I bought the diapers from and she said it seemed the problem was that I wasn't using OxiClean with every wash along with the Charlie's. She also told me have very hard water in our town.<br><br>
But to get the diapers back to being clean she recommended soaking everything in a 5 gallon bucket with 3 scoops of OxiClean overnight. I did this once and it didn't get rid of the stinks. So I did it again, which got rid of the ammonia smell, the diapers still have a detergent-like smell (not exactly like OxiClean and not like Charlie's either) in the wash machine and after he pees. It's obviously not as offensive as stinky and ammonia-y diapers, but it worries me. It hasn't caused any rashes, but I don't want any excess chemicals on his skin - I'd rather they didn't really smell like anything at all.<br><br>
As an aside, the OxiClean also bleached the unbleached KL0s and prefolds from the usual light beige to white, and it seems like the KL0s are more stretchy along the side near the snaps - like it affected the fabric a little, both of which bug me.<br><br>
After each overnight soak, I rinsed them 3 times in warm, then did a normal wash in hot/cold with one scoop of Charlie's, then a cold rinse and then 3 more warm rinses. There were no more suds. Then dried on hot. They smelled perfectly neutral coming out of the dryer.<br><br>
Now I've used them all once and washed them again with 1 scoop of Charlie's and used the same scoop for the OxiClean (so it's about 1/8 cup), and they still have that smell when he pees.<br><br>
Anyone experience this? Advice please on how to get it out?<br><br>
TIA!

 

[Katie T]

I would try adding more water to your front loader or soaking then in the Charlies. I use charlies and have hard water and for some reason a soak really helps with smell. I do a soak everytime I wash diapers.<br><br>
I had a fl and fought smell issues with my dipes for 2 yrs when I sold it and got a tl and have had no more issues.<br><br>
Good luck

 

[meg_shannon]

The key to getting stuff clean is to work with the pH of the water.<br><br>
If your diapers smell like ammonia (due to the urea in the pee breaking down) try adding vinegar to a pre-wash cycle. The vinegar is acidic and will counteract the basic ammonia.<br><br>
Test the pH of your water with a litmus strip. You can easily find them with pool supplies and any home improvement store should carry them.<br><br>
Check and see what pH Charlie's soap works best at. I don't use Charlie's (or know what it's composed of) so I can't help you there, try calling them. Most detergents work better at a higher (more basic) pH. If you need a higher pH, try adding baking soda or washing soda (the baking soda "gentler" and will raise the pH less than the washing soda).<br><br>
I have used borax successfully to disinfect my prefolds in a prewash, though I always do one extra cycle on hot with no detergent when I use borax. I don't have a machine that can do warm/hot rinses. The warmer water will more effectively remove any residues (detergent/additives dissolve more easily in warmer water).<br><br>
I wouldn't soak anything with elastic for as long as you did. Elastics are a synthetic polymer chain. When you expose elastic to such strong chemicals for such a long time you will weaken it.<br><br>
Does your machine use enough water? A low water HE machine might not use enough, you may have to "trick it." I'm not sure how (depends on the model), but I've known mamas who have had do this to get enough water to properly clean their diapers.<br><br>
I'm far from a cloth diapering expert, but that's my $.02 as a chemist.

 

[CherryBombMama]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>meg_shannon</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/15772664"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
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I'm far from a cloth diapering expert, but that's my $.02 as a chemist.</div>
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great line <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/thumb.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="thumbs up">

 

[TangoMama]

Thanks for your replies. I managed to get them rinsed and clean smelling by adding more water to my machine and rinsing them about 10 times!<br><br>
And I'll definitely look into the pH of our water, Ms Scientist! We have a kit for our pool so as soon as I have a free moment, I'll test it.