ammonia

mrs.mastro

DS got a bad rash on his inner thighs (where the diaper goes around) a couple of weeks ago.  There was no rash under the diaper though (i.e. his private area).  The diaper smelled like ammonia, so I did an overnight soak with Rockin Green Ammonia Bouncer and washed and rinsed all of my diapers really well.  They seem super clean and fresh now.  But when he wets them, I still smell ammonia.  Does this mean the diapers still have residue?  Or does pee just smell like ammonia?  I change them very often, so I know they are not wet very long.  He hasn't gotten any rash anywhere since then though.  Any thoughts?  I am paranoid about him getting another bad rash!

TJ1979

Could still be ammonia.  What is your wash routine?  What detergent do you use?

CLLDLL

What she asked.

Also are you sure it's ammonia?  The reason I ask is that when I was about 2 months into CD'ing I got a subtle chemical/fishy/wetdog smell when DS peed.  I thought for sure it was ammonia because it only showed up right when he peed. After weeks of trying different ammonia fighting techniques, someone on here suggested trying an RLR soak and a different detergent.  That did the trick.  In hindsight, I think what I really had was barnyard build-up because my detergent sucked with my water type.  The one time we had ammonia it was crazy potent, knock-your-socks off chemical smell right when he peed.

mrs.mastro

I use Seventh Generation detergent.  I know there are better detergents (I was using Allen's), but I needed to buy that in a pinch and we are moving across the country in 6 weeks, so I don't want a huge new jug of detergent to have to move.  

I do 2 cold rinses, hot heavy duty wash, 2 cold rinses.  It is an HE machine.  I don't have an option for a hot rinse.  It definitely smells like ammonia to me.  My sister has had a nasty smell with her diapers that I think was detergent buildup, and I'm not getting that same smell.

freezorburn

I'm too tired to think about detergent right now, but does your washer give you the option of a short cycle where you can select the temperature? The diapers don't care if your control panel says "rinse." But using warm water for your initial rinse and possibly your final ones might help.

Also, what type of water do you have?

TJ1979

I'm still inclined to think it's due to the detergent.  If you do a wash with no detergent, are there  bubbles suds?

mrs.mastro

I don't see any suds in the final cold rinse that I do.  Our water comes from the mountains and we don't have a water softener.  I am going to try doing a hot quick-cycle for my rinses.  Maybe I will just order Allen's again too.  

Thanks ladies!