I need help...cloth diaper funk (I have tried all that I know)

butterfly62682

We have been cloth diapering for 16 months now. I have never had any problems with my cloth diapers until recently. I have noticed that after DD wets her diaper it is really funky. It smells barnyard to me. (They smell and look clean out of the wash. It only smells funky if she pees in them).

I wash in Tide (and I have for the whole 16 months) up to the second line. The only thing that has changed with my routine over the last 6 months is that we moved. I got a water testing strip and it indicated that we have hard water.

I have stripped with blue dawn (it made no difference). Last week I ordered RLR and stripped with that. I did a three hour soak followed by a regular wash. I also ordered Calgon and used it on my first load today. 

I just went to check on DD and low and behold, what do I smell? Cloth diaper funk. She has been in this diaper for about 3 hours now. It is one of the diapers I got out of the wash today. 

What else can I do? Does it take a few washes when using Calgon before the funkies go away? Do I need to change detergents? Help... I am about ready to give up. 

nanabanana06

You may want to switch detergents, use calgon a few more times, and maybe strip your dipes again. Maybe even use the calgon when you strip them. I do a second hot wash after all my rinses with vinegar as well. I have no other suggestions other than that TBH.

butterfly62682

Everything that I have read says not to use vinegar with Hard Water because it can cause an overgrowth of bacteria. I might have that wrong though, so I haven't tried it.

I think I might try a blue dawn strip using the Calgon tomorrow. What is funny is that some of my diapers are funky but others are not. I usually do about 3 days worth of diapers together. So maybe 18 diapers at a time. Could this be a problem, too. I have a HE toploader but can fill my tank all the way full when washing, so water is not a problem. 

nanabanana06

butterfly62682:

Everything that I have read says not to use vinegar with Hard Water because it can cause an overgrowth of bacteria. I might have that wrong though, so I haven't tried it.

I think I might try a blue dawn strip using the Calgon tomorrow. What is funny is that some of my diapers are funky but others are not. I usually do about 3 days worth of diapers together. So maybe 18 diapers at a time. Could this be a problem, too. I have a HE toploader but can fill my tank all the way full when washing, so water is not a problem. 

Hmmm, that is weird. Maybe try it with less diapers and do the towel trick to trick your machine into giving more water. I have to do the towel thing in my HE machine. You may also want to up the detergent as well.

Brads Girl

I have super hard water and tide made our diapers stink!  I use crunchy clean super blend and double the amt with no issues now. You def don't want to use vinegar with hard water. I was also able to give up the Calgon when I switched to crunchy clean

hispenguin

Definitely don't use vinegar with your wash. We tried that and it made our smell issues so much worse. If an RLR strip and a wash with Calgon hasn't solved your problem then I would switch detergents.

We used RnG hard rock, and ended up with huge smell issues. We've been using Tiny Bubbles for about 6ish months now with no issues at all. Another thing you could try is a hard water strip. Wash the diapers in hot water with no detergent until you have no bubbles, and the water in the machine is clear even when agitating, if it's cloudy, there is still build up.

Edit: In my experience I've found Dawn has done absolutely nothing for stink issues. The only thing that has worked has been RLR, and I have even added a kettle of boiling water to the machine during the RLR cycle as well.

kerryschock

I would use rockin green in hard rock and do a few soaks with that.

lwsnake

Are you on well water? Because our well water has no chlorination like city water would, it gave us funky smells I think.  I usually add just capful of bleach once or twice a month to all the loads of diapers I do that week.  You can try to do some of your clean diapers in a load with just an 1/8 cup of bleach and see if that helps.  I would only do inserts or prefolds, not the shells to start.

kpaivel

Nana_Osaki06:

Hmmm, that is weird. Maybe try it with less diapers and do the towel trick to trick your machine into giving more water. I have to do the towel thing in my HE machine. You may also want to up the detergent as well.

What's the Towel Trick? Never heard of it, but I have a HE washer so I'm interested!

hispenguin

kpaivel:

Nana_Osaki06:

Hmmm, that is weird. Maybe try it with less diapers and do the towel trick to trick your machine into giving more water. I have to do the towel thing in my HE machine. You may also want to up the detergent as well.

What's the Towel Trick? Never heard of it, but I have a HE washer so I'm interested!

You add a wet towel to your diaper laundry in your HE machine. The increase in weight fools your washer into adding more water.