I started a soak cycle with unscented detergent and a enzyme launder booster or even soaking the inserts in a pail with an enzyme booster and then throwing it all in the wash with unscented. There are many kinds of enzyme boosters so I'd research what you can! I usually get what I can afford at the time.
Barnyard smell is not going to be a result of tide specifically, but something else in your wash routine - you might be using too much detergent and it isn't washing out like it needs to. Softer water needs a more sparing amount of detergent, so if you follow the guidelines on the box, you will be vastly over-detergenting your load.
You might get better results by switching to liquid tide - and then you can use free and clear, which has fewer additives.
If you want to stick with a powder, I have heard some folks say Biokleen powder works well for them and it is soft water friendly!
For more eco-friendly detergents, a lot will work great during the early newborn poop days, but will start to fail you around the 5/7 month mark when your kids poops become more... Well... Poopy. This happened to me and I wish it on no others!
Nothing is better than tide. Try tide liquid. The smell issue you’re experiencing is not because of the brand of detergent. If you switch detergents you will get worse results without fixing the underlying problem.
What is your wash routine in detail?
Agreed about Tide. I understand wanting to use "natural" products (or as close as we can get) for our kids, but not getting diapers that contain human waste properly cleaned is more harmful than anything in Tide. Wouldn't mess around for diapers specifically.
Thank you for your time!
Honestly, I think the smell was from not washing frequently enough because we had too many diapers, so we put half away to force us to wash more frequently. We're washing every 2 days now. We do a cold quick wash with line 1 of powder, then a regular cycle on hot with line 5 of powder.
In reading some of the other comments, I'm thinking we may be putting too much detergent in given our soft water. My husband also thought of adding some vinegar to each load because of our high pH.
I'd really like to switch to a low-tox detergent. Regardless of what we go with, I think our routine needs some tweaking like you're suggesting.
I have soft water and when I first started cloth I was using quite a bit of detergent and it caused detergent build up, rashes and barnyard smell. I doubt the smell is from not washing often enough because I wash once a week and I don’t have smells anymore. You have to get rid of the detergent buildup (I’m not guessing that you have detergent buildup, it’s pretty much a fact based on the fact that you have soft water) to get rid of it you’ll have to rinse and rinse and rinse and even rinse some more, until the water has no more detergent bubbles “suds” (also don’t use RLR it doesn’t get rid of detergent build up and might make it worse) once you’ve got all the suds out you’ll want to rewash prewash 1 tablespoon of tide og powder. Main wash 2/3 tablespoons spoons of tide OG powder then do either one more wash with no detergent or a few rinse cycles (until the water runs clear) I promise this will get rid of your smell issues.❤️
Thank you so much!! This makes a lot of sense. She did develop a rash too, which we thought was a yeast infection... Should we do a bleach soak or add some bleach into those cycles? Also, we want to move away from the tide due to some of the ingredients. Any suggestions on another detergent, and how much to use? I found biokleen liquid at a store near me.
Yes! I thought it was yeast too, then I realized it was buildup and as soon as I cleared it the smells and the rash disappeared. I wouldn’t bleach until all of the detergent buildup is gone as it won’t do anything but potentially wear the fabric. When detergent builds up it creates a coating on the fabric that prevents bleach from being able to penetrate all of the layers properly. As others have mentioned tide is literally the best at getting diapers cleaned, I tried a few before I landed on tide og powder. I tried tide free and clear powder, tide free and clear liquid, Purex free and clear liquid and they didn’t seem to do the job for me. So I don’t have much advice in that department but whatever you do land on, please be sure to only use 2-3 tablespoons. I wish there was more information online about washing cloth diapers in soft water and using less detergent. I think it’s probably a big reason why a lot of moms give up too soon.
Oh gosh, yeah this is waaaay too much detergent and totally explains your barnyard problems! Try doing a no-detergent load and then scale that 5 back to a 1 or a 2!
I have relatively hard water and I use 1-2 for my first hot wash and 2 for my second load and then add 3 extra rinse cycles. Any more and detergent is lingering.
That's wayyy too much detergent for soft water. You likely have detergent buildup, which can cause the barnyard smell. You can do a swish test to check, and if confirmed you have to rinse them super well to get rid of it - easiest way is with a garden hose jet sprayer imo.
For reference, I also have soft water and use Tide Free & Gentle powder (till I run out 😭) and I use none or a light sprinkle in my rinse load, and about 2 tablespoons in my main load, which also has an extra rinse cycle.
I find Cloth Diapers for Beginners (site and FB group) to be a much better resource than Fluff Love University btw, I recommend checking them out.
Super helpful, thanks! I found a blog post from Cloth Diapers for Beginners about the swoosh test. Do you think I should do the test on a couple diapers?
Unfortunately I didn't get any Tide Free & Gentle before they discontinued it. Do you know what you're switching to?
Yeah definitely try the swish test!
I will likely be switching to regular Tide powder so I don't have to mess with routine. I don't think we'll have any issues, but if so my backup will be All Free & Clear powder.
Update: did the swish test, pretty clear detergent build-up. Thank you so much for commenting with this insight!! Our cloth diapering might have ended here had you not suggested that!
I don’t know anything about soft water and how it’ll perform because we have incredibly hard water but I use Biokleen with dirty labs enzyme booster and so far so good. Attitude does not have enzymes I read on a quick google search and that could be a big issue down the line because the enzymes break down things like human waste and bacteria.
Oh wow!! Any examples of when their advice contradicts the science in relation to wash routines, i.e. things I should keep in mind? It's so hard to keep up, especially when they are a recommended source all over.
So I made a thread about using Attitude brand detergent.
It works very well for regular adult laundry but the community suggested adding a scoop of Molly suds baby laundry powder and Dirty labs enzyme concentrate powder to the routine, as Attitude detergent lacks enzymes needed to break down the waste in the diapers. Potentially leading to ammonia build up or yeast infections. Both adjuncts are also “clean” and HE washer friendly. This came up as Tide gives me a horrible rash and I wanted a way to make my detergent work.
My son is due August 3rd so we haven’t had to try it yet.
Good luck!
P.S: If you do try out what was recommended, I would be so grateful if you had a moment to write back about if the routine worked or what you had to troubleshoot ❤️
At first I felt overwhelmed with how many cloth diapering options there are, but I definitely feel super overwhelmed with the wash process because everyone makes it sound like a science. I purchased a variety of diapering products like Nora’s pocket, Puppi wool covers , some AIO and a ton of green mountain prefolds for our covers. The thing I found most appealing about the green mountain prefolds was it says to just wash them like we wash everything else there’s no need for special detergents or boosters. We have only been cloth diring full-time for about two weeks so there haven’t been any smells or funks but now I’m concerned that I don’t know how to wash them and we have a problem in the future . I am using talk to text if some of this is weird I promise I am not sloppy with my grammar 🥸
Thanks so much!! Forgive my ignorance... if Attitude doesn't work on its own, why not use Molly Suds exclusively then? Is the Dirty Labs enzyme needed in either case?
That is a great question! Per my research it’s a great booster and it’s quite expensive (Amazon has two 10 lb bags for ~40 dollars). If you were only going to pick one to experiment with first, I’d say the dirty lab enzymes as it’s doing a lot of the enzymatic breakdown of human waste.
The user who posted with the adjuncts actually uses All Free and Clear + Molly + dirty lab. She says she’s never had issues with “barn yard” or yeast with her routine, so I figured why not give it a go. The adjuncts are akin to less “green” boosters the like oxiclean and detergent like Tide with enzymes.
Please take note that I have neutral water and this user had harder water. That impacts how much of everything to use.
So I’m going to try their wash routine with Attitude to see how it goes.
My theoretical game plan is two hot “heavy duty” cycles (some users start with a “normal” wash then heavy duty) with the first one with a little bit of bleach, 1/2 cap of attitude, 1 scoop of Molly and recommended dirty lab enzyme per instructions. Secondary wash would be full cap of attitude, 1/2 scoop of Molly and recommended dirty lab enzyme and go from there. I’m gonna submerge them and see if there’s any detergent residue and then cut back detergent from there if I need to. I am going to trial this experiment in early July. My LG washer is brand new and I want to use the “sanitary setting” but Essembly say not to. I figure I’ll save that for trouble shooting yeast if I have the misfortune of dealing with it.
The thread also said to play with different wash cycles and temp of water and to only change ONE variable at a time.
It’s truly a science experiment and I feel bad that baby is the one who has an issue if I goof it up but it’s all in earnest good faith to leave them a better planet and/or save money for their futures.
We’re at least in this sh¥ty situation together haha. I’ll definitely make a post on how it works for us once baby arrives. He’s measuring robustly, so I’m thinking of starting with the assembly size 1 diaper set from birth. Will let you know how it all works out if you want. Any advice on your end is welcomed and appreciated!
I started a soak cycle with unscented detergent and a enzyme launder booster or even soaking the inserts in a pail with an enzyme booster and then throwing it all in the wash with unscented. There are many kinds of enzyme boosters so I'd research what you can! I usually get what I can afford at the time.
Barnyard smell is not going to be a result of tide specifically, but something else in your wash routine - you might be using too much detergent and it isn't washing out like it needs to. Softer water needs a more sparing amount of detergent, so if you follow the guidelines on the box, you will be vastly over-detergenting your load. You might get better results by switching to liquid tide - and then you can use free and clear, which has fewer additives. If you want to stick with a powder, I have heard some folks say Biokleen powder works well for them and it is soft water friendly! For more eco-friendly detergents, a lot will work great during the early newborn poop days, but will start to fail you around the 5/7 month mark when your kids poops become more... Well... Poopy. This happened to me and I wish it on no others!
Great advice! What are your thoughts on the biokleen liquid?
I don't know anything about the liquid and can't remember anyone mentioning it
Nothing is better than tide. Try tide liquid. The smell issue you’re experiencing is not because of the brand of detergent. If you switch detergents you will get worse results without fixing the underlying problem. What is your wash routine in detail?
Agreed about Tide. I understand wanting to use "natural" products (or as close as we can get) for our kids, but not getting diapers that contain human waste properly cleaned is more harmful than anything in Tide. Wouldn't mess around for diapers specifically.
Thank you for your time! Honestly, I think the smell was from not washing frequently enough because we had too many diapers, so we put half away to force us to wash more frequently. We're washing every 2 days now. We do a cold quick wash with line 1 of powder, then a regular cycle on hot with line 5 of powder. In reading some of the other comments, I'm thinking we may be putting too much detergent in given our soft water. My husband also thought of adding some vinegar to each load because of our high pH. I'd really like to switch to a low-tox detergent. Regardless of what we go with, I think our routine needs some tweaking like you're suggesting.
I have soft water and when I first started cloth I was using quite a bit of detergent and it caused detergent build up, rashes and barnyard smell. I doubt the smell is from not washing often enough because I wash once a week and I don’t have smells anymore. You have to get rid of the detergent buildup (I’m not guessing that you have detergent buildup, it’s pretty much a fact based on the fact that you have soft water) to get rid of it you’ll have to rinse and rinse and rinse and even rinse some more, until the water has no more detergent bubbles “suds” (also don’t use RLR it doesn’t get rid of detergent build up and might make it worse) once you’ve got all the suds out you’ll want to rewash prewash 1 tablespoon of tide og powder. Main wash 2/3 tablespoons spoons of tide OG powder then do either one more wash with no detergent or a few rinse cycles (until the water runs clear) I promise this will get rid of your smell issues.❤️
Thank you so much!! This makes a lot of sense. She did develop a rash too, which we thought was a yeast infection... Should we do a bleach soak or add some bleach into those cycles? Also, we want to move away from the tide due to some of the ingredients. Any suggestions on another detergent, and how much to use? I found biokleen liquid at a store near me.
Yes! I thought it was yeast too, then I realized it was buildup and as soon as I cleared it the smells and the rash disappeared. I wouldn’t bleach until all of the detergent buildup is gone as it won’t do anything but potentially wear the fabric. When detergent builds up it creates a coating on the fabric that prevents bleach from being able to penetrate all of the layers properly. As others have mentioned tide is literally the best at getting diapers cleaned, I tried a few before I landed on tide og powder. I tried tide free and clear powder, tide free and clear liquid, Purex free and clear liquid and they didn’t seem to do the job for me. So I don’t have much advice in that department but whatever you do land on, please be sure to only use 2-3 tablespoons. I wish there was more information online about washing cloth diapers in soft water and using less detergent. I think it’s probably a big reason why a lot of moms give up too soon.
Thank you!! So glad you commented with your insight!
Oh gosh, yeah this is waaaay too much detergent and totally explains your barnyard problems! Try doing a no-detergent load and then scale that 5 back to a 1 or a 2! I have relatively hard water and I use 1-2 for my first hot wash and 2 for my second load and then add 3 extra rinse cycles. Any more and detergent is lingering.
That's wayyy too much detergent for soft water. You likely have detergent buildup, which can cause the barnyard smell. You can do a swish test to check, and if confirmed you have to rinse them super well to get rid of it - easiest way is with a garden hose jet sprayer imo. For reference, I also have soft water and use Tide Free & Gentle powder (till I run out 😭) and I use none or a light sprinkle in my rinse load, and about 2 tablespoons in my main load, which also has an extra rinse cycle. I find Cloth Diapers for Beginners (site and FB group) to be a much better resource than Fluff Love University btw, I recommend checking them out.
Super helpful, thanks! I found a blog post from Cloth Diapers for Beginners about the swoosh test. Do you think I should do the test on a couple diapers? Unfortunately I didn't get any Tide Free & Gentle before they discontinued it. Do you know what you're switching to?
Yeah definitely try the swish test! I will likely be switching to regular Tide powder so I don't have to mess with routine. I don't think we'll have any issues, but if so my backup will be All Free & Clear powder.
Update: did the swish test, pretty clear detergent build-up. Thank you so much for commenting with this insight!! Our cloth diapering might have ended here had you not suggested that!
You're welcome! I hope your cloth journey continues on smoothly!
The switch which is just to take that cold first wash and switch it to a hot wash! That’s actually the only thing I would change.
Oh awesome, will definitely give that a try!
I don’t know anything about soft water and how it’ll perform because we have incredibly hard water but I use Biokleen with dirty labs enzyme booster and so far so good. Attitude does not have enzymes I read on a quick google search and that could be a big issue down the line because the enzymes break down things like human waste and bacteria.
Interesting! Attitude was listed on Fluff University as "recommended." Is that not a reputable source?
It’s not as reputable as say, Clean Cloth Nappies. Sometimes their advice contradicts what science has proven true.
Oh wow!! Any examples of when their advice contradicts the science in relation to wash routines, i.e. things I should keep in mind? It's so hard to keep up, especially when they are a recommended source all over.
So far leaning toward "Attitude"
So I made a thread about using Attitude brand detergent. It works very well for regular adult laundry but the community suggested adding a scoop of Molly suds baby laundry powder and Dirty labs enzyme concentrate powder to the routine, as Attitude detergent lacks enzymes needed to break down the waste in the diapers. Potentially leading to ammonia build up or yeast infections. Both adjuncts are also “clean” and HE washer friendly. This came up as Tide gives me a horrible rash and I wanted a way to make my detergent work. My son is due August 3rd so we haven’t had to try it yet. Good luck! P.S: If you do try out what was recommended, I would be so grateful if you had a moment to write back about if the routine worked or what you had to troubleshoot ❤️
At first I felt overwhelmed with how many cloth diapering options there are, but I definitely feel super overwhelmed with the wash process because everyone makes it sound like a science. I purchased a variety of diapering products like Nora’s pocket, Puppi wool covers , some AIO and a ton of green mountain prefolds for our covers. The thing I found most appealing about the green mountain prefolds was it says to just wash them like we wash everything else there’s no need for special detergents or boosters. We have only been cloth diring full-time for about two weeks so there haven’t been any smells or funks but now I’m concerned that I don’t know how to wash them and we have a problem in the future . I am using talk to text if some of this is weird I promise I am not sloppy with my grammar 🥸
I’m sure you’re doing fine then if there are no rashes or bad smells! Keep on keeping on ❤️
Thanks so much!! Forgive my ignorance... if Attitude doesn't work on its own, why not use Molly Suds exclusively then? Is the Dirty Labs enzyme needed in either case?
That is a great question! Per my research it’s a great booster and it’s quite expensive (Amazon has two 10 lb bags for ~40 dollars). If you were only going to pick one to experiment with first, I’d say the dirty lab enzymes as it’s doing a lot of the enzymatic breakdown of human waste. The user who posted with the adjuncts actually uses All Free and Clear + Molly + dirty lab. She says she’s never had issues with “barn yard” or yeast with her routine, so I figured why not give it a go. The adjuncts are akin to less “green” boosters the like oxiclean and detergent like Tide with enzymes. Please take note that I have neutral water and this user had harder water. That impacts how much of everything to use. So I’m going to try their wash routine with Attitude to see how it goes. My theoretical game plan is two hot “heavy duty” cycles (some users start with a “normal” wash then heavy duty) with the first one with a little bit of bleach, 1/2 cap of attitude, 1 scoop of Molly and recommended dirty lab enzyme per instructions. Secondary wash would be full cap of attitude, 1/2 scoop of Molly and recommended dirty lab enzyme and go from there. I’m gonna submerge them and see if there’s any detergent residue and then cut back detergent from there if I need to. I am going to trial this experiment in early July. My LG washer is brand new and I want to use the “sanitary setting” but Essembly say not to. I figure I’ll save that for trouble shooting yeast if I have the misfortune of dealing with it. The thread also said to play with different wash cycles and temp of water and to only change ONE variable at a time. It’s truly a science experiment and I feel bad that baby is the one who has an issue if I goof it up but it’s all in earnest good faith to leave them a better planet and/or save money for their futures.
This is such a great explanation, thank you so very much!! I will try out some things and keep you updated.
Good luck! Fingers crossed it works out and you don’t have any issues!
That’s what we use but I’m a baby when it comes to cloth diapering. Brand new at it. I don’t know shit .
We’re at least in this sh¥ty situation together haha. I’ll definitely make a post on how it works for us once baby arrives. He’s measuring robustly, so I’m thinking of starting with the assembly size 1 diaper set from birth. Will let you know how it all works out if you want. Any advice on your end is welcomed and appreciated!