Stink...where do I start?

Littledeer84

So I have only been cding for a month and I'm afraid my diaps already stink! Not sure where to start to fix them. We use workhorses and prefolds with covers. I have been washing EOD, warm wash with no detergent, warm wash with tide, extra rinse. I think I might have been going to light on the detergent... Only about halfway to the 1 line. Now I fill to the 1 line.
They come out smelling like nothing, or very lightly of tide. But when DD wets them, some smell really barnyard-y. Any advice for a newb? I know my water is hard, if that is a consideration.

CLLDLL

Your routine sounds pretty good to me.  Using Tide should combat your hard water since it has a softener in it. 

Once you discovered the stink and upped your Tide amount, did you strip or do a bleach wash to get your diapers clean before upping the Tide?

My guess is you have bacteria trapped in there that didn't get out, so upping the Tide isn't helping.  Maybe try a running a normal wash with 1/8 to 1/4 cup bleach in the bleach dispenser of your machine.  Then follow up with 3-5 rinses.  If that works, then stick with your new Tide amount for a week or two to see if the stink returns before changing anything else. 

Brandiewine11

^^wss

freezorburn

Yes, hard water is a consideration. It can help to know how hard -- does your local water authority provide this info on their web page? Or can you test the water coming out of your taps?

If you are on the extremely hard side, it might help to add some tide (or your water softener of choice) to your initial warm wash (paging @tjkdlhb).

Also, you really need to be doing your main wash cycle, the one with detergent, with HOT water. Around 120 degrees F is optimal. Use the longest cycle that your machine has.

Brandiewine11

freezorburn said:

Yes, hard water is a consideration. It can help to know how hard -- does your local water authority provide this info on their web page? Or can you test the water coming out of your taps?

If you are on the extremely hard side, it might help to add some tide (or your water softener of choice) to your initial warm wash (paging @tjkdlhb).

Also, you really need to be doing your main wash cycle, the one with detergent, with HOT water. Around 120 degrees F is optimal. Use the longest cycle that your machine has.

Yes, totally missed that. 

Littledeer84

OK, thanks ladies. I have not stripped, only tried upping tide. So when I bleach, if I don't have a bleach dispenser, I should fill the drum with water and then dump in bleach before the diapers, right? Should I use tide also when I run the bleach cycle?

Littledeer84

Oh yeah, and according to the city website, our water has 13 grains per gallon, which they say is considered hard. I don't know how that converts to mg/liter.

freezorburn

That's roughly 220ppm. You should be able to make do without extra softener. @Mapleme, how much Tide are you using?

TJ1979

You'll want to run the bleach cycle on clean diapers.  So normal wash routine first, then bleach, then extra rinses.

freezorburn

I would just try doing your wash routine using hot water, then if you are still having issues try the bleach as CLLDLL described.

I'm not sure of a good way to add bleach w/o a dispenser. You do want to find a way to dilute it before it comes into contact with your diapers, I know that much.

Unknown

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tjkdlhb

I do a warm normal wash with line 1 Tide (to soften the water and to help wash out any pee, so that you're not washing in pee-water)  then a heavy duty HOT wash with line 3 tide.  I don't do an extra rinse, only the one that goes along with the wash.  My water is hard... but I'm waiting on another test strip to determine how hard exactly.