[Mami]

I've been using my mama pads for about 4-5 months and the last 2 cycles I've had I noticed that they tend to have this 'fishy' smell even when I change them very frequently. So I did some hot washes and even threw in a glug of bleach because the smell wouldn't go away even after several washes. I thought the bleach took care of it, but after using them again and a regular wash they stink again

My wash routine is: dry pail and wash with my dd's diapers every day, first a cold prewash then a hot wash and 2 more cold rinses. My daughters dipes don't have stink... Anyone have any advice? Is there a better way to wash the pads? What about hydrogen peroxide? Does it help with stink? I would prefer not to use the bleach if I can avoid it... I don't care about stains just don't like the stink, that was part of the reason I switched to cloth, I couldn't stand the disposable pad smell. Thanks for any hints you may have for me

 

[Mami]

Yes, they're fishy before I use them, like they're not coming clean properly... I forgot to say that we have very hard water and we used to have stink with the diapers but I worked the wash routine out so they don't get stink anymore. I don't think it could be an infection, I'd know

and there's no smell otherwise... also I just had a gyn appt. and everything was ok. I'll try the soak with bs and vin though. Thanks

 

[Mami]

Ok, I'll try the bs soak tonight, do I wash them with detergent in the morning after the soak? Also, if they don't smell in the morning should I even bother with the vinegar? I've heard of it giving probs with hard water before too. What do you think my regular maintenance should be from here on out? Thanks so much for your help

 

[Mami]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chasmyn Also if you have hard water you can get a box of water softener and put a scoop in with every load - it makes a huge difference.

Ooh! Is that just something you can pick up at the grocery store? What would I call it...? Box of water softener...?

 

[Mami]

Thanks so much for all your help mamas

Well, I did the bs soak overnight, then a rinse in the morning and they still sort of smelled so I decided to put them thru a wash with a bunch of detergent(rather than the little bit I usually use with the dipes) and then a couple rinses. That seems to have taken care of the smell, for now at least. I wasn't able to use them again because I stopped bleeding the day I did all that... figures... so I won't know until next month. I guess if it didn't work I'll try the vinegar. I'm still not sure what I'll do for maintenance from here on out... for sure I'll start rinsing the pads asap after use or maybe devise a little bucket for soaking(with what though...?...sportwash?... or maybe the ecover stuff...? or I could try bs...). I'll also get the calgon and start using it on all my laundry. I've heard of people with hard water using sportwash successfully on their dipes, so maybe I should give that a shot... I hesitate to change too much at one time since you never know what's actually working so I think I'll do one thing at a time.

Thanks again mamas