Troubleshooting Coin Op CD laundry routine

abeasy

Hey all! I used the search and saw that there were similar questions to this, but of course I had some more specific questions that weren't addressed, so here goes: We use BumGenius Elementals (AIO) for our 8 month old. We have 18 diapers - just over two days worth. Detergent-wise, I use a homemade borax/washing soda/fels naphtha combo. We just moved and our new apartment has a coin op machine. No matter what I've tried so far, the diapers still smell like pee when they come out of the washer. Once they're dry, they smell fine. This has to mean they're not completely clean, right? The washers only have a few preset cycles to choose from (so no way to set extra rinses or change the amount of time in a cycle). I've been doing a "bright colors" cycle (cold water, fast spin) with no detergent as a makeshift rinse cycle, followed by a "whites" cycle (hot water, fast spin) with 1/4 cup of detergent. Then I dry on the delicates cycle in the dryer. Each wash/dry cycle is $1.50, so I'm spending 4.50 every two days on diaper washing. Hanging outside to dry isn't an option most of the year since I live in rainy Seattle. My son has a pretty bad diaper rash at the moment (diarrhea the last couple days) and I'm afraid the not totally clean diapers are making it worse. So what can I tweak to fix it (and not spend a million dollars doing so)? Thanks!

freezorburn

Can you up the temperature of your initial cycle to warm?

You might try tweaking your detergent recipe, if you know how to. I know absolutely nothing about that, but there are a few people here who use/have used homemade detergents that might be able to make recommendations. Or, try a different detergent. Country Save is readily available at supermarkets in Seattle and I had good results with it when I lived there.

RachelCA29

I would suggest your first thing to try is a warm initial rinse, instead of cold. That helped me eliminate stink issues I had (smelled fine when dry, stunk when wet). A different detergent may also help getting them cleaner (I use Country Save). Also, because you can't get an extra rinse at the end you *might* have a bit of detergent build up that is contributing to the rash.

abeasy

Thanks for the suggestions - it's a good place to start! I think I'll try the temperature changes first.

At our last place (where we had a regular W/D), the homemade detergent worked great, and it's cheap, so I'm a little bummed at the thought of switching...but if I have to, I will. Hadn't heard of Country Save, so I'll check that one out if I have to switch.

I don't think a portable washer is in the cards for us. Our apartment is old, and the electrical is wonky and I'm afraid something like that would trip the breakers...not to mention there's no real place to put it.

Is there a way to tell if you have a detergent build up? I hear conflicting things about stripping diapers (whether it's even necessary, how to do it, etc) - any suggestions on that?

Unknown

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freezorburn

IIRC, Country Save is not terribly expensive and a little goes a long way in Seattle's lovely soft water.

freezorburn

Detergent buildup is usually suspected if you smell ammonia when your LO pees. If you do a hot water wash on clean diapers and see suds or cloudy/grey water, you might have detergent buildup. Or there could be buildup in the machine.

countrycotton

I use homemade detergent on my diapers.but it's a little different Han most here as we are on very hard well water. It equal parts washing soda/baking soda/ borax/oxi free/ tide.