High Efficiency Washing Machine

polkadot19

Hi Everyone, looking for advice on washing my diapers because I am getting frustrated!

I have a front loading HE washer (brand is Kenmore).  We use a mix of Charlie Banana and Bum Genius diapers. I wash diapers every third day. My son is seven months old and eats solid foods so we now use disposable liners to flush away the solid waste.

I know that it is important to use lots of water to wash diapers effectively, and the job of my HE washing machine is to use as little water as necessary. So I've been trying to find a good routine to 'trick' the washer and get the diapers clean but it seems like nothing works!

Currently I run a cold express wash with no detergent, then another cold express wash with no spin to get the diapers full of water and heavy, next I do a hot heavy duty wash with Country Save detergent with an extra rinse.  I set the soil level to heavy on all cycles.

I've tried adding a towel for more weight. I've tried doing a vinegar wash to remove smells. I've tried adding extra water in the washer.  Nothing seems to make a difference.  The diapers look clean but they still have a smell to them.  It's not an ammonia smell, it's just kind of a dirty shoes or sock smell.

I'm getting so frustrated and am seriously considering selling my stash and using disposables.  Any ideas for other things I can try?  I'm thinking maybe a detergent switch could make a difference?  Thanks!

nanabanana06

Have you tried a different detergent? It could not be your washer at all. I have an HE machine and I've struggled too. Now my routine is long and weird, but it works for us and my water type. The tricks I can give you is to switch do doing warm rinses, this helps rinse the pee and poop out better. Also, try a different detergent. Something like Tide Powder or Nellie's. More times than not stink like this is detergent, not the washer. If you have hard water try doing an RLR strip and start adding Calgon to your wash.

abby8279

I have a Kenmore HE FL as well.  I re-adjusted my routine many times and have tried many detergents.  In the process I had soo much stink and frustration that I actually threw out the majority of my stuff and quit for a while.  Since then I researched HOURS on washing and stripping.  I am back to CDing with zero stink and loving it.  So here is my advice: I can tell you what I do and maybe that might help you.  Also I can reassure you that you CAN figure it out and please don't give up!!  Many people have successfully CDed w/ HE FL machines.

First, upon my research I found I cannot "trick" my machine into adding more water (I can't speak for all machines).  It is a very long detailed explanation- it has to do with the pressure switch which determines water amount.  The ways I was trying to go about getting the machine to add more water was actually making things worse.  The basics you need for washing are: water, agitation, time, and detergent.  If you are lacking in one of those things you have to add more of another.  For a HE that may be more time (cycles) or more agitation (prewash) or trying a different detergent.

Second, I switched to all natural fibers.  They are easier to clean and don't get the build-up as easy.

Third, and most importantly I switched to Tide.

I also do a few other things to help the cleaning process along- I wash EOD, I soak ON diapers, and rinse & wring out any diapers that are super saturated.

Here is my routine: rinse/drain/spin warm water with Calgon (I have hard water)

heavy duty cycle on hot w/ added options prewash and extra rinse w/ 3 Tbsp Tide (3/4 of the way to line 1)

freezorburn

Country Save is a good detergent. Have you tried adjusting the amount? Increasing even by 1/4 of a scoop could make a difference.

But agree with PPs re hard water. Also, there is anecdotal evidence that vinegar with hard water can exacerbate stink issues for some people. So you may just need to strip/disinfect your diapers and rinse them out really well, before making any adjustments to your routine.

polkadot19

Thank you so much for your replies! I really don't want to quit, I just didn't think it would be so hard to find a good way to wash diapers!

I just read my city's water report and it looks like we have moderately hard water (5.2 grains/gal).  I haven't done any research on Calgon, but would that be something good to try even if our water isn't super hard?

It's nice to hear from someone that has the same or at least similar washing machine as me- gives me hope! I've thought about switching to Tide to see if that helps, but I have been fiddling with my wash routine by changing one thing at a time so I haven't gotten that far yet.

I think I might need to strip my diapers and start over.  I haven't done any research on stripping diapers... I'm sure that's a whole other post in itself, but any quick tips for doing microfiber inserts?

nanabanana06

Honestly, I just clean the dipes, then take a half pack of RLR and sprinkle it on. Then run it again, but stop it after it fills. Then leave it there for an hour or two. Then wash, wash, wash, wash. I would probably even do 1/4 bleach in one of the washes to kill any bacteria in them. Then after that I'd do the warm pre rinses and try Tide.

km_md

We have hard water and I find that like PPs have said, natural fibres are so much easier to get clean.

I switched my initial cold rinse to a warm quick wash and switched my detergent to Nellies and I've had no stink issues since.

Heirloom28

I have had the best luck using Tide. When I have used other detergents I get stink issues within a few weeks.

In my HE machine I do a warm water rinse/spin. Then my washer's longest wash cycle with hot water and Tide. I use 1/4 cup of tide in each load.

Good luck!