help me defunk my diapers!

*blue*flower*

My prefolds are fine, but after my baby pees in her fitteds or lil joeys they have a funky odor. What is going on? Please help me!

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Danie007

SecretAgentKate said:

what kind of "funky odor"?  like pee?  like wicked ammonia?  like someone left the barn door open?  

how old is your baby?

what's your wash routine?

This should be an auto reply to these questions. Help us help you.

tjkdlhb

prefolds generally wash easier than other types... Ditto SAK's questions... we need more info before we can help.

*blue*flower*

Maybe a barn yard smell. The pail always smells really strong ammonia when I take out the dirties. Baby is 4 weeks old and EBF.I wash every other day. I do a cold water rinse and spin then 1tablespoon of CD detergent in a hot water wash and extra rinse.

tjkdlhb

Which detergent do you use?

Do you have a top loader or an HE machine?

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Danie007

SecretAgentKate said:

Danie007 said:

SecretAgentKate said:

what kind of "funky odor"?  like pee?  like wicked ammonia?  like someone left the barn door open?  

how old is your baby?

what's your wash routine?

This should be an auto reply to these questions. Help us help you.

yes.  and i feel like we should also pass out drinks like whenever anyone asks about zulilly diapers  

I was given the go ahead for a small glass of red wine to help things calm down! Cheers! @SecretAgentKate

*blue*flower*

Sorry guys! I use Crunchy Clean CD detergent. I'm thinking of switching to Tide when I run out. Our machine is a HE front loader.

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Danie007

Ok, so are you are saying you are dealing with the barnyard smell when wet? The ammonia smell in the pail on wash day is not unusual. Are you experiencing the strong pee smell when LO wets the diaper?

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tjkdlhb

I haven't used that detergent either.  I'd definitely experiment with using a little more and/or a different type of detergent.
Also... are you adding water to your machine?  HE front loaders are notorious for having issues because there isn't enough water in the machine to get the diapers clean.

This is my wash routine:
1. Warm WASH/no detergent/ add a wet towel to trick the machine into using more water.
2. Hot long WASH/1 scoop of Tiny Bubbles/ re-wet the towel with a gallon of water into the drum.
3. Warm WASH/no detergent/ re-wetting the towel again

I also soak my overnight diapers in the sink, but since your LO is just a nb, you probably wouldn't have to do this yet.

And I still bring my diapers to my mom's once every month or so to wash them in her top loader.  I never had any issues getting my diapers clean when I had a top loader.

Danie007

If you have a fair amount of your current detergent left I would try using more. What type of water do you have? Also, try a warm rinse instead of a cold rinse at the beginning. Also, is the extra rinse part of your hot wash? Or, are you running a separate rinse at the end?

*blue*flower*

Thanks so much! I will try the warm rinse and more detergent and try the trick for fooling the HE washer. I really appreciate your help!

@Danie007, the extra rinse is added to the hot wash. I'll try adding a separate rinse and spin after the hot wash. Thanks!

nanabanana06

I have an HE FL and the towel trick does nothing. I also have to super rinse all my dipes to get them truly clean. My routine looks like this:

• rinse/drain/spin warm/warm
• delicates cycle on warm/warm w/ spin turned off (this adds way more weight than the towel)
• "Whitest Whites" cycle w/ 2 TBS Tide or 2 TBS Charlie's + 1 scoop Charlie's Booster (This cycle is a heavy duty hot wash with 2 rinses)
• express wash cold w/ extra rinse

It seems like a ton of steps, but I have hard water and an HE FL and this is the only way I've found that gets them good and clean. At this point my routine just needs some tweeking with detergent and water softener. If you have hard water then adding a water softener like Calgon might help. Since most people have hard water and if it's really bad the detergent is doing nothing but softening the water, not washing the diapers. GL!

Angela814

I use a warm prerinse (actually a warm/warm quick wash cycle) and around 2-3 tbsp Tide HE in my front loader. I'd try more detergent first. Do they smell before you throw them in the dryer (or hang dry)?

Mandmeesh

FWIW, I like crunchy clean detergent for clothes, but they did not get my dipes clean...and I wasn't about to use a lot of detergent. I was up to like the two line on a tide measuring cup. That's way too much.

*blue*flower*

Mandmeesh said:

FWIW, I like crunchy clean detergent for clothes, but they did not get my dipes clean...and I wasn't about to use a lot of detergent. I was up to like the two line on a tide measuring cup. That's way too much.

This is good to know! I think I will try something different. Thanks again everyone! And I'm sorry for not having all my information straight in my OP.