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If you cloth diaper...
Please share your wash routine with me! Specifically, what detergent do you use? Do you include anything for hard water and is our water considered hard enough to warrant that step? I am trying to get rid of a stink issue and have tried multiple washes to get soap out and did a "sanitary" cycle in an effort to strip them but there is still a mild stink in some of the inserts. We use BG pockets and have some AFFF hemp inserts for overnight (but I think the microfiber is the culprit). Thanks for any help!
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Re: If you cloth diaper...
the microfiber is 100% the culprit. I have other mf inserts that don't get stinky, but the BG ones are awful. I now stuff my BGs with cotton prefolds--problem solved!
If/when #2 comes along I'm going to start over with all hemp and/or cotton inserts.
I strip, but not that often and I am VERY sure to get all the soap out (I scoop out the suds with a cup a few times!)
My routine:
presoak cold water
wash hot with Mountain Green (only because I picked up 3 bottles on clearance at Kroger a while back. I don't think they sell it now. Before that I used All f&c) some baking soda and 3-4 drops of tea tree oil. Extra rinse with vinegar in a downy ball reserved for that use. Make sure you're not using too much detergent.
What Megan said. I'm selling all my BG3.0s and switching to natural fibers for this new one because I was so tired of ammonia smell. I love how well the BGs work, but for me, not worth the hassle of the stink. Especially with overnight toddler pee.
Wash routine was All Free & Clear, Small & Mighty
A hot rinse
cold wash/rinse with soap
hot wash/rinse with no soap
j+k+m+e | running with needles
To strip I do several hot, no-soap washes and then add vinegar to the last rinse cycle. I use a homemade detergent for all of our laundry, about 1/4 of what I'd use for normal clothes. I do a cold wash (no soap, full cycle but the shortest one on the machine), a normal hot wash + detergent, and an extra cold rinse where I make sure there are no suds/bubbles in the water.
I've heard mixed reviews on Rockin Green as an everyday detergent but an overnight soak in it is supposed to be pretty much magical for CD problems.
I have no problem with the microfiber inserts in FuzziBunz, but I'm not a BG fan.
An occasional bleaching won't hurt the microfiber one bit and will certainly take care of the stink.
My wash routine is this:
They are much bulkier, especially since they're full-sized infant prefolds, but if you're have smaller ones it wouldn't be so bad. She's also been wearing them at their largest size for a long time. I just trifold them. What I should do is dig out all my newborn prefolds and use those instead. They're just buried in a box somewhere, and I loaned some out.
I use mostly BG 3.0s (and the rest FBs w/microfiber inserts) and I have no smell issues. My routine:
Cold pre-wash (no soap), hot wash/cold rinse, extra rinse. I use Arm & Hammer Sensitive Skin liquid and just the tiniest bit. If I get any hint of a smell I use regular ol' Tide powder for 1 load and then back to Arm & Hammer. (I do that probably every month and a half?) I really haven't had any ammonia smell or staining at all.
I also machine dry - I don't know if that makes a difference at all, but maybe worth mentioning.
Amber
TTC since March '06
MFI, LPD, possible PCOS
3 chem pgs * m/c identical twins at 9w 10.06
IVF w/ICSI #2 - beta - 187! (9dp5dt), beta - 367! (11dp5dt)
IVF w/ICSI #3 - it's a girl!
My IF Blog: Between the Lines
My Parenting Blog: Letters From Your Mama
j+k+m+e | running with needles
I haven't noticed any smell in the hemp; just the microfiber. And we have had both types of smell, unfortunately. Mostly the ammonia. Maybe I need to be much more diligent about taking a perfect measure on the detergent ( I eyeball it and try to catch the rinse to look for bubbles).
We have a front loader too, so I don't know if that makes a difference in regards to whether or not I should do things differently. Maybe I should also switch detergent! I have been using Allen's Naturally (I bought at Nurtured Family when I got a few dipes initially).
One thing I've learned from reading the Abby's Lane newsletter is that, especially if you're having smell issues, you need to be using at least as much detergent as the load "calls for", and possibly more. Especially with HE/Front Loaders. The extra rinse cycle should take care of any excess.
I didn't really like Allen's. It worked for a bit, then the smell came right back.
And like Kelley said, make sure you're using enough detergent, for sure. (If you don't get it, the newsletter from Abby's Lane is awesome, especially for dealing with stink issues.)
Do you get the smell after a naptime diaper or just after an overnight diaper?
j+k+m+e | running with needles
I use Purex F&C and I'm using my BGs on kid 2 without any big problems, but FBs are our nighttime diapers for small and medium sizes.
I do a wash with Oxy every so often and sometimes I add vinegar to the first rinse (not with the oxy, at different times). I do a cold rinse, hot wash with detergent and maybe vinegar in a downy ball, extra hot rinse. Hot water is better for getting out residual soap than cold water is.
If it's that weird funk smell I'd go ahead and use a 1/4 cup of bleach.
For the toddler pee / overnight ammonia stink I just started using about a cup of vinegar in the wash and it worked as well as anything else I tried (when I got to this point with DD, she was wearing hemp fitted diapers at night, no microfiber at all)