I think I'm officially giving up CD

MAK06

I successfully CD my son without issues until we started to have ammonia stink towards end.  He was PT'd except night so we just went to sposies for night because I had tried what felt like everything and they still stunk after a night time of pee.

I did RLR treatment and felt like I got rid of it for my daughter so I can CD her.  Using my son's BG Elemental diapers on her and bought new blueberry diapers (so we definitely wouldn't have stink issue) and she was wearing blueberry overnight.

 She's literally worn the blueberry diaper THREE TIMES and it has ammonia stink.  I wash every other day.  How is this even possible?! And now I'm noticing the BG starting to have a slight odor after 2-3 hours.  Just did RLR treatment 2 weeks ago!!!!!

Short of buying a new stash I'm at a loss.  I was using rockin green which I will switch to tide now but I doubt that'll solve it  

blondolphn

What kind of inserts are you using? Ie microfiber, bamboo, hemp?

Aurora_Borealis

FWIW, it's normal for an overnight diaper to smell of ammonia in the morning.  It is not normal for it to smell of ammonia out of the wash or as soon as it's peed in, though.

There are a couple of mamas on here who've had stink issues with RnG, though, so a different detergent may help. 

Also, have a look at this for some other suggestions to get the stink under control:

https://www.cloththatcounts.com/?p=997

annathyst

Aurora_Borealis:

Also, have a look at this for some other suggestions to get the stink under control:

https://www.cloththatcounts.com/?p=997

This. 

Also check out this post by cotton babies, this is what I did and it worked wonders:

https://www.cottonbabies.com/blog/2013/07/cloth-diaper-basics-can-i-use-bleach.html

Sorry if it's not clicky, I'm not that skilled. 

MAK06

blondolphn:

What kind of inserts are you using? Ie microfiber, bamboo, hemp?

They're microfiber!  

I'm such a CD rookie I feel compared to this board full of knowledge!  I was so spoiled by the BG that worked awesome and they were simple!  And just the blueberry ON.  Ugh! 

MAK06

annathyst:

Aurora_Borealis:

Also, have a look at this for some other suggestions to get the stink under control:

https://www.cloththatcounts.com/?p=997

This. 

Also check out this post by cotton babies, this is what I did and it worked wonders:

https://www.cottonbabies.com/blog/2013/07/cloth-diaper-basics-can-i-use-bleach.html

Sorry if it's not clicky, I'm not that skilled. 

Thank you so much for the links ladies!  I really appreciate it and will try to check them out!  

I didn't realize it's normal to have ammonia smell in am ... I just smelled it and wanted to cry my eyes out.  It actually burnt my son!  I am terrified of it doing that to a gentle baby bottom; kwim?!

robyn2201

You have received some good advice. I would really look at the websites linked above and consider changing your wash routine. Try Tide and the occasional use of Bleach. Then go from there. GL!

Aurora_Borealis

MAK06:

I didn't realize it's normal to have ammonia smell in am ... I just smelled it and wanted to cry my eyes out.  It actually burnt my son!  I am terrified of it doing that to a gentle baby bottom; kwim?!

Yikes - that part isn't normal! Hopefully you'll find a new wash routine that will help!

MAK06

sweettalkin417:

You have received some good advice. I would really look at the websites linked above and consider changing your wash routine. Try Tide and the occasional use of Bleach. Then go from there. GL!

 Thank you all!  So incredibly frustrated but I'll do this afternoon's cycle with tide and check out all the websites for tips!  

How much tide should I use?  Follow the instruction on box? 

TJ1979

MAK06:

sweettalkin417:

You have received some good advice. I would really look at the websites linked above and consider changing your wash routine. Try Tide and the occasional use of Bleach. Then go from there. GL!

 Thank you all!  So incredibly frustrated but I'll do this afternoon's cycle with tide and check out all the websites for tips!  

How much tide should I use?  Follow the instruction on box? 

I use up to the 1 line for a full load of dipes.

MAK06

Aurora_Borealis:

MAK06:

I didn't realize it's normal to have ammonia smell in am ... I just smelled it and wanted to cry my eyes out.  It actually burnt my son!  I am terrified of it doing that to a gentle baby bottom; kwim?!

Yikes - that part isn't normal! Hopefully you'll find a new wash routine that will help!

It was awful! Cleared fast because I knew ammonia did it from the overnight diaper but still it was bad!

MAK06

TJ1979:

MAK06:

sweettalkin417:

You have received some good advice. I would really look at the websites linked above and consider changing your wash routine. Try Tide and the occasional use of Bleach. Then go from there. GL!

 Thank you all!  So incredibly frustrated but I'll do this afternoon's cycle with tide and check out all the websites for tips!  

How much tide should I use?  Follow the instruction on box? 

I use up to the 1 line for a full load of dipes.

Thank you!!

babymama619

Just read this site the other day. Maybe it will help you. It had several solutions for the amonia problem even when just peed on.

https://www.zanyzebra.com/strippingclothdiapers.shtml

zaraceligon

you should not give up,,after trying to find a solution and see what's best for you. the main reason why diapers smell of ammonia in the morning is because dehydration,is perfectly normal for that urine to have the smell.all LO are sleeping during the night,,so they don't drink water while they are sleeping. in my opinion trying differen soap will be best and try to boil all the inserts to remove the smell of the urine  as well any build up. 

good luck. 

MrsAB1316

Before you go switching detergent again, get a water testing strip.  You need to find out exactly what kind of water you're dealing with.  If you have soft water and are using too much detergent for that kind of water, you're going to have buildup no matter what you're using.  If you have hard water and aren't using the correct detergent for breaking up the hard water minerals, you'll have buildup.   Once you find out what type of water you have, then you can figure out what detergent/wash routine you need to move forward with. 

I had the same issues with stink.  It turns out, I thought I had hard water, but I have soft water and I was using too much detergent and it wasn't all rinsing out.  

3Dewdrops

I purchased used microfiber inserts that I learned after using once had ammonia stink.  I boiled the inserts for about 10-15 minutes each and then froze them for several days. ha.  Probably overkill but I tried a couple different wash/soak combos without success. The boiling freezing worked just fine.  I'm guessing boiling alone is probably enough.

MAK06

Chickypoo2468:

Aurora_Borealis:

FWIW, it's normal for an overnight diaper to smell of ammonia in the morning.nbsp; It is not normal for it to smell of ammonia out of the wash or as soon as it's peed in, though. There are a couple of mamas on here who've had stink issues with RnG, though, so a different detergent may help.nbsp;Also, have a look at this for some other suggestions to get the stink under control:https://www.cloththatcounts.com/?p=997

I have to disagree. Ammonia is not normal. A strong pee smell is, or maybe occasional ammonia, especially with toddlers. But actual ammonia, no. Lots of people do have issues with RnG, so hopefully switching helps. You need to know WHY your diapers stink tho. It could be bc they aren't clean enough or bc of buildup. If a diaper burned your son then it's probably buildup. What is your wash routine? Can you make your water hotter? Are you doing a prerinse? An extra rinse after washing? Can you change your first rinse to warm or add more water to your washer? Are you using too much detergent? When I used tide it was bc my ON dipes weren't getting clean. I used halfway to the first line, which got them clean, but eventually I had slight buildup issues. Just make sure you're not using too much and that you look for bubbles.

First; thank you all for the encouragement not to give up!  I don't want to use gross sposies but I was kind of at my witts end until I got some great advice here.   

 When we first noticed the stink with my son it was after 1+ year of CD without any difficulties.  I can't remember exactly what my was routine was then but after using the RLR treatment recently (and doing a million rinse cycles till I saw no bubbles) I've been doing: cold rinse, hot wash with detergent, then two rinses!

I'll have to check with my DH how hot exactly it is.  I've been doing the loads as large loads for the most amount of water.  This is correct; right?  Hate to waste water if not needed.

No clue how to tell if using to much detergent but I follow the direction on RNG; two scoops for soft water.  We have hard water; but a water softener.

I will definitely inspect for bubbles! 

MAK06

MrsAB1316:

Before you go switching detergent again, get a water testing strip.  You need to find out exactly what kind of water you're dealing with.  If you have soft water and are using too much detergent for that kind of water, you're going to have buildup no matter what you're using.  If you have hard water and aren't using the correct detergent for breaking up the hard water minerals, you'll have buildup.   Once you find out what type of water you have, then you can figure out what detergent/wash routine you need to move forward with. 

I had the same issues with stink.  It turns out, I thought I had hard water, but I have soft water and I was using too much detergent and it wasn't all rinsing out.  

Oops - well I had switched before I read this (just one wasH).  We have hard water but have a water softener that we use.  I wonder if I'm just using too much.  Seems funny it would buildup again so quickly after the RLR treatment which should've taken care of the problem; no? 

mandy522

Although I agree that you need to figure out why you are getting ammonia, you may also want to replace your microfiber inserts. Some people will tell you they need to be replaced every year or two anyway (although certainly others use them forever without any problems). You can often find free or very cheap lots of MF inserts on sites like diaperswappers - I never used any of the extra MF inserts that came with my diapers because when I needed the extra absorbency I used bamboo or hemp doublers, so I had a bag full to give away.

MrsAB1316

MAK06:

MrsAB1316:

Before you go switching detergent again, get a water testing strip.  You need to find out exactly what kind of water you're dealing with.  If you have soft water and are using too much detergent for that kind of water, you're going to have buildup no matter what you're using.  If you have hard water and aren't using the correct detergent for breaking up the hard water minerals, you'll have buildup.   Once you find out what type of water you have, then you can figure out what detergent/wash routine you need to move forward with. 

I had the same issues with stink.  It turns out, I thought I had hard water, but I have soft water and I was using too much detergent and it wasn't all rinsing out.  

Oops - well I had switched before I read this (just one wasH).  We have hard water but have a water softener that we use.  I wonder if I'm just using too much.  Seems funny it would buildup again so quickly after the RLR treatment which should've taken care of the problem; no? 

We have the same water type. Hard well water but we have a softener system and it makes it really soft.   I was using 2T of RNG classic rock, but it's too much.  Then, I tried 1T of RNG and it wasn't enough.  So, what I've started doing, until I run out of  Classic and get the Soft Rock, is I do a cold rinse-Hot Heavy duty wash with 1T/2nd heavy duty wash with 1T and then a cold Heavy duty wash. It's  a lot of water, but it's working for now.   

RNG Soft rock or Eco Sprouts are supposedly good for soft water.   

Though, I do highly recommend getting a test strip and making sure your water is actually getting soft.   

ETA:  also, I did a full all day stripping process and within a week, the buildup was back.  Doesn't take long to get detergent build up when you're washing as often as you do with CDs.