Another Tide convert

abby8279

Surprise surprise...we found our perfect laundry detergent...Tide!  Thanks for the advice I heard millions of times.

Here's the long story:  So when I first started CDing I had no idea how important detergent was and I used some generic liquid on microfiber YIKES!  So when I had some major stink issues and then repelling I switched to RnG for their promise to get rid of "microfiber stink".  When that didn't work I convinced myself it was our HE FL.  Determined to make it work I switched to natural fiber prefolds and flats (threw out all my BB inserts *dumb idea*) and tweaked my wash routine.  Still not great.  Then I started reading this forum instead of my month club and saw RnG isn't that great.  I switched to Tide and had the worst perfumy stale dirty pee smell ever!  So then I thought "yeah right this all powerful Tide sucks too".  I did a strip and went through several more detergents, Nellies and Country save to name a couple.  Still not great.  Then the lightbulb went off.  Maybe the smell with Tide was soo bad because I had other build-up and the Tide just went over the top of it.  I did some more stripping and sunning and gave Tide another try.  Ding ding ding...we have a winner.  Deep breath.  We finally have our "perfect" routine.  I am soo thankful that I have this board to reference because I probably would have given up otherwise.  

Into+the+Kitty

Yay for finding a solution!

haileyq

Way to stay committed!

KTdidit

How many times did you have to strip before the smell went away? Did you use Dawn to strip or just hot water? I'm having problems with my MF inserts and need to fix it for the time being until I can figure out what type of inserts I want to try.

abby8279

@KTdidit I did several cycles b/c I did not know what I was dealing with.  I did one soak with washing soda b/c I know I have hard water.  I did one soak w/ Funk Rock ammonia bouncer.  And I did one wash with hot water and bleach to kill any yuckies and get rid of detergent build-up.  Followed by several rinses to make sure everything was out.  This is probably more than the average strip.  Most of the time only one of those is needed depending on what the issue is.  But I had tweaked my wash routine and detergents so much, I just wanted to squash all possible problems.  I did not use Dawn b/c I have not used any un-CD-safe creams or have repelling issues.

BreeShipman

So mine are starting to smell a little bit. I'm using arm and hammer clean burst. I saw it on one of the lists and I already had some. Am I getting buildup? Is this why every now and then a clean diaper smells like poo? I have some leaking problems I thought bc of the MF not being absorbent enough... Maybe I need a new wash routine. Thanks for posting!

abby8279

@BreeShipman I am definitely not very qualified to give the ideal routine on MF.  Like I said I hastily threw away all my MF and switched to all natural fibers.  But I can say that a clean diaper should NOT smell.  Furthermore there shouldn't be a very strong odor after they are peed in either.  I would need to know more about your routine/water/washer to suggest more.  But first things first I would suggest giving Tide a try.

BreeShipman

I've been doing a presoak wash and extra rinse but I have an HE water saver (which is about all they sell anymore!) washer so I can't really choose the load size. I read that putting it on bulky items should make it use more water... Do you use powder or is the liquid fine? Thanks for the help!

abby8279

@BreeShipman Make sure you are doing a rinse/drain/spin first. Otherwise you are washing your diapers in pee and poo water.  Some people do a quick wash without detergent first.  Just depends on the washer.  Either way the objective is to wash the waste away.  Then it's suggested to do a hot water heavy duty wash.  Followed by an extra rinse.  Read your washer instructions and see what cycle adds the most water.  In my research I have found that it's impossible to "trick" HE machines. IF you add bulky items it will add more water but then they will also soak up that water.  To compensate for lack of water it's better to add extra cycles and more time to get your diapers clean.  And wash smaller loads if possible.  And if you have MF you should definitely use powdered Tide.  Liquid will build up on the MF and cause stink and repelling.