How do I remove the odor from my cloth diapers?
Do your diapers stink after washing them? This article will discuss a few reasons freshly laundered diapers can smell and a few ways to help get rid of that smell and get your baby’s bottom smelling fresher in no time!
Clean, freshly washed diapers can smell for a number of reasons: vinegar in the rinse, soaking in excessively soiled water, too much baking soda in the detergent, hot rinses, rolled or bunched diapers, and too much detergent.
Depending on the water your home uses (soft or hard), vinegar can usually exacerbate the problem or alleviate it. It usually depends on the particular composition of your water and how it reacts with the vinegar. If you use vinegar, 1/4 cup is all you need to add a full load in the rinse cycle. If you are laundering polyester diaper covers, it is not recommended to use vinegar because the acidity of the vinegar increases the odor in the polyester. Vinegar is one of those things that you have to try and see if it works for you.
If you’re using a wet pail soaker system to rip up dirty diapers, you may be soaking the dirty, stinky smell right into the diapers! Make sure that when you have a poopy diaper, you rinse it well and discard all the solids. I would also recommend a pre-rinse before washing. This way you are not washing your diapers with dirty water.
If you have too much baking soda or detergent in your detergent, this cold will be a problem if you have hard water. In addition to blocking odor, it can also cause a painful and irritating rash on your cuddly baby’s bottom.
If you’re using a warm rinse, this can help set in stains and odors. I use a cold wash, a warm wash, and then a cold rinse.
If you throw nappies in the pail or wet bag without unrolling them before washing, they may bunch up and not unroll completely in the wash. This will prevent the water and detergent from reaching the entire diaper, thus not cleaning it thoroughly.
When washing cloth diapers, it is recommended to use 1/4 the amount of detergent you normally use. Also, do not use fabric softeners or detergents that contain fabric softeners, as this will cause your diapers to lose their absorbency. Too much detergent in diapers can actually retain odor. If you still see bubbles in the water during rinsing, you have too much detergent. Stripping once a week is recommended to help remove detergent buildup. You can wash your dirt until the water runs clear with no bubbles, no drying in between.
A product called Rockin’ Green really helps with detergent buildup. You can read more about Rockin’ Green here: How Rockin’ Green Helps Get Rid of Stink!