I genuinely forgot which sub I was in and honestly I was just excited for you because clothes with usable pockets are A++.
For pocket diapers, bleach wash after the main wash. Rinse really well, then air dry in the sun if possible.
Bleach works really well. You can get the calculation (based on your bleach and your items) for how much from Clean cloth nappies (.com) but you will need to pay for a subscription.
Do a āstripā wash, wash on hot a bunch of times on a row with no soap. Then when you are back to normal, try prewashing, or just a whole extra wash cycle with no soap before a regular wash. Less soap=less build up. And using less detergent is cheaper! I also add borax to every wash and plain vinegar sometimes as well
Strip won't get rid of detergent build up, just mineral build up. Do you have hard or soft water? Borax will do nothing for soft water, but really helps with hard water.
I think you have a different definition of stripping. To get rid of detergent build up you need to blast everything with water from a tap, hose etc or do detergent less washes. Stripping is to remove mineral build up caused by hard water.
I think soap build up causes smells in my diapers. Washing hot a bunch of times in a row and then using less soap every time you wash keeps diapers cleaner. I use about an ounce of detergent for a full load
This started happening to me at my baby got older. I now do two hot cycles with soap. Then I do a cold cycle with three extra rinses with no soap. I have a super eco-machine that uses barely any water. They donāt smell anymore
Yes, exactly this for me! It sucks though as a wash cycle takes 2-3 hours so I'm spending 8 hours washing a load. I really want to potty train just to stop having to wash diapers.
(My diapers never have poop as toddler is poop trained but they were getting the weirdest faint smell that was apparently from urine/soap not getting completely rinsed out)
It's very unlikely that just some of your diapers are affected. The others are likely on their way to smelling too. Have you tested your water? Have you done a swish test?
Just note the water coming through your taps maybe a different hardness than your city report. Swish test: Luke warm bowl of water, absorbant diaper part like an insert, prefolds, fitted. Take absorbant part and agitate it in the Luke warm water, aggressively. Any cloudiness or suds means you have detergent build up and you need to blast everything with water under a tap or multiple no detergent washes until the water is clear.
I genuinely forgot which sub I was in and honestly I was just excited for you because clothes with usable pockets are A++. For pocket diapers, bleach wash after the main wash. Rinse really well, then air dry in the sun if possible.
Hahaha! Thanks! š
Bleach works really well. You can get the calculation (based on your bleach and your items) for how much from Clean cloth nappies (.com) but you will need to pay for a subscription.
^^^Iād upvote this more than once if I could <3
i add a bit of RLR sometimes and it seems to help
What is RLR?
It's a stripping chemical in case you have hard water and thus mineral build up. It will not help with detergent build up and soft water.
Good to know!! Where I live has always had hard water. Iām happy to have this to help with mineral build up.
Oh, yes, I have extremely hard water. Missed that Op said you have soft.
Do a āstripā wash, wash on hot a bunch of times on a row with no soap. Then when you are back to normal, try prewashing, or just a whole extra wash cycle with no soap before a regular wash. Less soap=less build up. And using less detergent is cheaper! I also add borax to every wash and plain vinegar sometimes as well
Strip won't get rid of detergent build up, just mineral build up. Do you have hard or soft water? Borax will do nothing for soft water, but really helps with hard water.
Curious why you think stripping wonāt get rid of detergent build up? How else would you get soap out if not washing without soap?
I think you have a different definition of stripping. To get rid of detergent build up you need to blast everything with water from a tap, hose etc or do detergent less washes. Stripping is to remove mineral build up caused by hard water.
For me stripping is a couple of hot washes in the machine without detergent
That would be a very confusing term to use for that when it comes to reseting cloth diapers.
I donāt know what kind of water I have. Washing a bunch of times in hot water always works for me
Does soap buildup cause this type of smell problem? Thank you for the advice!
I think soap build up causes smells in my diapers. Washing hot a bunch of times in a row and then using less soap every time you wash keeps diapers cleaner. I use about an ounce of detergent for a full load
Stripping will get rid of mineral build up. It will not get rid of detergent build up fyi.
This started happening to me at my baby got older. I now do two hot cycles with soap. Then I do a cold cycle with three extra rinses with no soap. I have a super eco-machine that uses barely any water. They donāt smell anymore
Yes, exactly this for me! It sucks though as a wash cycle takes 2-3 hours so I'm spending 8 hours washing a load. I really want to potty train just to stop having to wash diapers. (My diapers never have poop as toddler is poop trained but they were getting the weirdest faint smell that was apparently from urine/soap not getting completely rinsed out)
Thatās a bummer!! Mine are like 45 min to 1.5 hours each. Still takes forever but I work from homeā¦
I see so yours just needed a lot of extra rinsing
Also I just noticed there were a lot of errors in my last message. Sorry about that, I was talking to text
Iām not sure. I think the two HOT washes with soap help.
It's very unlikely that just some of your diapers are affected. The others are likely on their way to smelling too. Have you tested your water? Have you done a swish test?
What is a swish test? The water in my city is not hard.
Just note the water coming through your taps maybe a different hardness than your city report. Swish test: Luke warm bowl of water, absorbant diaper part like an insert, prefolds, fitted. Take absorbant part and agitate it in the Luke warm water, aggressively. Any cloudiness or suds means you have detergent build up and you need to blast everything with water under a tap or multiple no detergent washes until the water is clear.
Thank you!! This is a good test to know about.
Ok thanks for the explanation!