They stink! Help!!!

Okay, there may come a time where your CDs do start to stink.  I don't mean that they were pooped in or your baby sat in pee for an hour, so they stink.  I mean that they just came out of the washing machine and they stink or they smell bad as soon as your little one pees.  What do you do?

First, there are two types of stink: ammonia stink and "barnyard" stink.  These are usually caused by opposite problems with detergent, but it's going to take some trial and error to clear the problem up.

Ammonia stink happens as a by product of urine.  You'll know this stink well if you keep a closed diaper pail.  After a day, the diapers' smell might knock you over.  Leave it open and that won't happen.  But why would you smell it as soon as your baby pees?  Odds are, you're using too much soap and the buildup is trapping urine in the diaper.  Try cutting the amount of detergent you're using in half.  You don't need a lot of soap when washing diapers.  

Barnyard stink is what you get when your diapers aren't getting clean enough.  I don't know how to describe it except to say that you'll know it when you smell it.  Your diapers may look clean, but they're not. Remember that the diapers have several layers that can trap urine, feces and bacteria.  Stains do not equal dirty diapers.  You can have clean diapers that are stained.  If you're having barnyard stink, you're going to have to change your wash routine somehow.  Start by adding more soap to your wash load.  If that doesn't work, then use hot water in your wash cycle if you're not already doing that.  You might need to change your detergent because not every detergent is compatible with every location's water supply.  There is also the possibility that you're overloading the washing machine so that the diapers aren't agitating properly, so try washing with less diapers.  You may have to wash more often or split your load in half.  (I need to remember to do this one myself!)

So, what should you do if you try to change your wash routine in one or more of these ways and it's not working enough or at all?  You can strip your diapers.  Stripping your diapers is the process of removing all of the built up yuck from them and getting them back to a near new state.  There are several ways to strip.  The good thing about that is that if one way doesn't work, just try another!

1. Using hot water to strip diapers is one of the easiest ways to strip.  Wash your diapers in hot water with no detergent.  You might start to see bubbles in the water if you had detergent buildup causing your diaper issues.  You should wash, wash, wash until you don't see any more bubbles in the machine.

2. Wash your CDs with a squirt of Dawn original blue dishwashing liquid.  Add 1 squirt to your wash cycle, wash in hot water and keep rinsing until you don't see any more bubbles.  Now, the size of your squirt may depend on the size of your machine.  If I add a full squirt to my tiny washing machine, I'll have bubbles all over my kitchen!  If I need to strip, I am only going to use half a tbsp or less.

3. RLR is a laundry detergent additive that many people use to strip their diapers.  I've heard rave reviews about it.  I'll be adding my own review when I get some.  RLR was developed to clean buildup and stains out of clothes, leaving behind nothing but clean clothes, so it works well on CDs.  Add the RLR to your hot water cycle and rinse until there are no more bubbles.

4. Chlorine bleach is a last resort for cloth diapers, but it does work.  I've used bleach when I was having stink issues and the bleach cleared everything up.  Some CD manufacturers actually recommend using 1/4 cup of bleach every month in order to keep your diapers sanitized.  That's what I added to my wash load.  Make sure that you never pour bleach on your diapers, even the white ones.  If your machine doesn't have a bleach dispenser, then add the bleach when your machine is full.  I went a step further and diluted the bleach in hot water and then added it so that I wouldn't risk damaging my pockets and covers.  Oh, and don't forget to rinse everything until the bubbles are gone.

There are other laundry additives that you can use to strip your diapers.  I've seen recommendations of Bac-Out, OxyClean, vinegar, baking soda, Sports-Wash, etc.  The most important thing to remember is (are you seeing a theme here?) rinse everything thoroughly.  Bubbles in the washer will tell you if there's detergent buildup left.  You're trying to get rid of anything that shouldn't be on your diapers and anything less than a complete rinsing will leave you having to strip again.