update Moldy diapers (not as gross as you think)

1180 Views 8 Replies 3 Participants Last post by wawoof, Apr 20, 2006

welldone

Discussion Starter · Apr 1, 2006

For some reason, my stash (made up almost entirely of prefolds) has been developing curious blueish-black stains on them. All over them. I have some bleached, some unbleached, and some hemp.

I'm wondering I didn't wash frequently enough once or twice, and now I'm having this trouble? The blackishness seems to be slowly spreading on each dipe, and onto previously unaffected dipes. I continue to wash regularly with my usual routine: one soak + wash on cold with baking soda, and one hot wash/extra rinse with detergent and vinegar, then hot dry.

Anyone successfully eradicated mold from diapers before? I did a search, and it sounds like people have tried some of the following:

1.) Sunning, sunning, and sunning some more. I can't do this right now, as our little urban yard has very little sun and, at the moment, no clothesline.
2.) Hydrogen peroxide soak.
3.) Boiling dipes.
4.) Vinegar. This obviously has not worked for me yet.
5.) Tea tree oil.
6.) Bleach.

I've been avoiding #6 because I know bleach is hard on anything, and it's not very environmentally friendly. But honestly, folks, I don't have money for a new stash (even if it's just prefolds), so if I have to try bleach, I will.

Do I need to bleach my wet bags, too? Will that ruin them? My main wet bag is smelling a bit pee-ish lately, even after washing. And it's navy blue PUL polyester, so how would I know if it's moldy?

Thank you for indulging me, if you've read this far. I can't believe my diapers are moldy!

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wawoof

· #2 · Apr 1, 2006

Try a super hot wash (crank your water heater all the way up) with oxyclean or other oxygen bleach. It's not nearly as hard on fabrics or the envt as chlorine bleach is.

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welldone

Discussion Starter · #3 · Apr 1, 2006

Thanks, Amara. Good suggestion.

How will I know when the mold is killed? I read that mold will leave stains anyway. Hm.

*feeling guilty about baby wearing moldy diapers for all these weeks.*

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~Scapegoat~

· #4 · Apr 1, 2006

Wash them at least twice with Borax (just a bit) in warm water.

Clicky here

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wawoof

· #5 · Apr 1, 2006

I'm not sure how you'll know when the mold is killed. Oxyclean works best in hot water, so if you want to have the best chance of killing the mold and removing the stains, fill a sturdy bucket/pail with boiling water, add oxyclean (2 scoops per gallon of water), mix thoroughly to dissolve the oxyclean, add the diapers, stir a little to make sure they're soaked (being careful not to burn yourself - I found that a wooden broom handle worked well for this stirring), and leave soaking overnight. Then wash the diapers on superhot with oxyclean and extra rinse. Soaking overnight in boiling water and oxyclean has removed stains from my DSs white t-shirts that I thought for sure would never come clean. Good luck!

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welldone

Discussion Starter · #6 · Apr 1, 2006

I'm going to wash the dirties with my regular routine today, then follow up by doing the boiling water/Oxyclean soak thing. Should I do just the cloth, or the covers and wet bag, too? I'm thinking the wet bag really needs it. The covers seem fine.

Unfortunately, Ellie will have to continue wearing the rest of the moldy diapers until I get the first batch clean. At least it's clean mold?

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wawoof

· #7 · Apr 1, 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by welldone
I'm going to wash the dirties with my regular routine today, then follow up by doing the boiling water/Oxyclean soak thing.

Sounds like a good idea - however, you could go ahead and crank up your water heater and use a couple of scoops of oxyclean in your wash today, so Ellie has at least less moldy diapers to wear til you can do the soak...

Quote:

Originally Posted by welldone
Should I do just the cloth, or the covers and wet bag, too? I'm thinking the wet bag really needs it. The covers seem fine.

I know it's okay to use oxyclean on PUL - not sure about other cover/bag materials. Bummis nylon wetbags will bleed if washed on super hot, so I'd do them seperately if at all.

Quote:

Originally Posted by welldone
Unfortunately, Ellie will have to continue wearing the rest of the moldy diapers until I get the first batch clean. At least it's clean mold?

Awww, hugs to you and her, mama

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welldone

Discussion Starter · #8 · Apr 19, 2006

Oh. Wow. My diapers have never looked so good!

Following Amara's suggestions (see above), I got out our five gallon buckets and filled them loosely with diapers, then poured boiling water on, then added 3 - 5 scoops of OxiClean per bucket. (Do *not* add boiling water to oxyclean sitting in the bottom of the bucket, unless you want a foaming volcano. Not that I have any experience with that.) It took about three large stockpots to fill each bucket. So I boiled, mixed, boiled some more, stirred, swished, mixed...you get the idea.

I let them soak for seven hours. You wouldn't believe the color of the water--it was light poop brown! These were supposedly "clean" diapers. I expected some coloring from the removal of the mold, but not as much as I got. Makes me wonder how clean we actually get our diapers when we wash them.

Anyways, now, these diapers are clean as new! Only, they're better than new, because they're worn in and cushy soft. And the hemp doublers/prefolds are SO CLEAN! I had forgotten what new, clean hemp looks like! OxiClean is amazing.

Ellery's back in these dipes after a few weeks of sposies to clear up the rash she had (probably from the mold). I'll report back with her tush condition in a day or two.

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wawoof

· #9 · Apr 20, 2006

Yay!!! I'm so glad the oxyclean and boiling water worked for you. Oxyclean is really amazing stuff

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