Black mold spots and other CD woes. Help.

ktpaladino · September 2014

I have a case of the cloth diapering blues today. I feel like my diapers are getting really gross and need some tips on how to deep clean and bring them back to life. The first of my problems is that I noticed little black spots on the diapers when I was putting them away today. I'm pretty sure it's mold from the fact that I had to fully rinse a few diapers and put them in the wet bag fully saturated since my daughter just started solids and I had to pre rinse some of the pasty poops by hand. I rung it out as best I could and it only sat in the bag for 2 days, but still seems to have created a mold issue that spread on to the other diapers that were not even rinsed. It doesn't come off even when I scratch it with my fingernail. I spray with Bac Out too BTW. My second problem is stink. My stash is mainly Alvas and Stay Dry GroVia and I know that stink issues are more common with the synthetic materials. It's like half ammonia, half barnyard smell, I guess? I'm not really sure what "barnyard" smell is exactly, but my dipes are just really stinky as soon as they are peed on. I'm also entering the land of spraying and dreading it. What sprayer should I buy? How do I avoid the mold now that I will be spraying and soaking the diapers more thoroughly before they go in the wet bag? What's the best way to get rid of my issues.... A few hot water strips and some Mighty Bubbles to get rid of the build up? Should I get some bleach involved? Bleach with CDing scares me.

RachelCA29 · September 2014

If you have mold I would bleach. 1/4 cup is all you need and that won't hurt your colours. Then rinse, rinse, rinse to ensure all the bleach is gone. That should also help if you have any detergent build up.
If you have barnyard stink it usually means you need more detergent in your diaper loads, they aren't getting clean if they stink like that. But if it's amonia then that is an amonia build up issue, I'm not sure if hot water rinses would help that, you might need something stronger for that - I've never dealt with amonia before.
Which detergent are you using now? What's your wash routine?

TJ1979 · September 2014

How are you storing your sprayed diapers between wash days? I live in a super humid climate and have never had mold.

ktpaladino · September 2014

I store them in an unzipped wet bag. They are piled on top of one another pretty tightly but they do get some air. My wash routine is as follows (which I've been doing to try to keep ammonia at bay):

Rapid wash on warm for initial rinse
Hot wash cycle with extra rinse
A scoop of Tiny Bubbles (up to the line on the scoop)
Mighty Bubbles once a month to help build up

ktpaladino · September 2014

So how do you do bleach in a front loader machine? Put the bleach in the compartment next to the detergent? So a round of bleach followed by hot water rinses, followed by my usual CD cycle with some deep cleaning detergent? Is the only way to keep mold at bay washing every day? Ughhhh...that makes me want to give up.

ktpaladino · September 2014

And I haven't started spraying yet. I don't know what sprayer to buy. Any suggestions? I've been hand rinsing in the sink, but I think the pasty poops are about to get worse and it's time to buy the sprayer.

TJ1979 · September 2014

I also store mine in an unzipped wetbag. We even zip it up and put it in the laundry room when it's full. FWIW I would bleach them after your regular wash, not before. And no, I don't think you need to bleach every time, but definitely bleach this time to kill the mold. Maybe you need a different detergent?
I have the BG sprayer, and like it. Don't get too frustrated yet. The poop gets better.

RachelCA29 · September 2014

TJ1979 said:

I also store mine in an unzipped wetbag. We even zip it up and put it in the laundry room when it's full. FWIW I would bleach them after your regular wash, not before. And no, I don't think you need to bleach every time, but definitely bleach this time to kill the mold. Maybe you need a different detergent?
I have the BG sprayer, and like it. Don't get too frustrated yet. The poop gets better.

This. If you see mold I would just bleach now to kill it and get rid of any musty mold smell. You don't have to bleach each wash. The smell you have that you aren't sure if it's barnyard or ammoniais probably related to the mold (I had that once when my fitted diapers didn't get dry enough on the line and were still damp in the centre for a few days.

ktpaladino · September 2014

Any other diaper sprayer recommendations guys?

RouensDream · September 2014

I would bleach them once to get the mildew stains out. Be sure to rinse them a few times to get it all out. Also, washing every other day should be good enough. I highly recommend a diaper sprayer, it is a necessity IMO. I used the bum genius sprayer and never had issues.

TJ1979 · September 2014

ktpaladino said:
Any other diaper sprayer recommendations guys?

This gets asked frequently if you want to search the board.

JEPES1348 · September 2014

TJ1979 said:

Any other diaper sprayer recommendations guys?
This gets asked frequently if you want to search the board.

We use the BG sprayer too.

ktpaladino · September 2014

OK I'm about to do diaper laundry...here goes the bleach. I have never used bleach in laundry period. I'm very nervous! 1/4 a cup?

ktpaladino · September 2014

Someone said bleach was bad with ammonia...and my dipes are definitely smelling very ammonia-y today. Should I do a rapid wash first and then bleach?

ktpaladino · September 2014

Also I can put an AIO in with bleach? It's not going to bleach the color on the outside of the diaper? My imagine stay dry AIO probably got hit the worst with the mold. Also one of the Alva pockets has a lot of spots...that's a print on the outside obviously.

TJ1979 · September 2014

Yes, wash first, then bleach.

Yes you can put an AIO in. Just make sure the bleach dilutes in water first, like if you use the bleach dispenser in your washer.

Yes, 1/4 cup.

ktpaladino · September 2014

The stinky smell is not related to the mold. It has been around for about two months now and is slowly getting progressively worse. The mold just popped up this last cycle when I had to fully rinse a pasty poo in the sink. I am still nervous about dealing with mold in the future when I start spraying. I really rang the diaper out good and I never let the dipes sit longer than 2 days. Maybe sprayed dipes I can put somewhere else rather than the wet bag?

RouensDream · September 2014

I agree with using a pail liner in an open trash can or laundry hamper. That is the method I used and it really helped.

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Black mold spots and other CD woes. Help.

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