washing prefolds - need quick answer

[bec28]

I am ready to throw out my prefolds and buy new ones to start over I'm so sick of them. They stink so badly of ammonia and I've tried everything I can think of to get rid of it and nothing has worked for more then a few washings.

I think part of the problem is my washer. It's not a full size one, it's a small apartment size one. We also have very hard water. So, I am here at my MIL's house for today and tomorrow and I brought all my prefolds, hoping to take care of this issue. She has softer water and a nice big washer :)

This is what I've tried at my house that hasn't worked. Boiling, bleaching, sunning, Rockin Green hard water detergent, regular detergent, baby oxyclean, borax, adding extra water to the washer, washing in hot, washing in cold. I think that's it :) The first time I boiled them, it lasted for a few months. Then, when I did it again, it only lasted for a few weeks. The last time I did, I think it lasted for one washing.

My typical routine is a cold pre-wash. Wash in cold with detergent (right now I'm using free and clear arm and hammer) and then two rinses.

Hopefully that's not too much info :) I just wanted to include everything because I don't know when I'll be able to get back on today.

What would you suggest doing to the diapers today to try to get rid of the stink? Thanks!

[happylizzz]

:popcorn since we live in the same town with the same hard water issues.

[Waterlogged]

Run them in hot, throw in 1/4 cup of bleach, let them soak for several hours. Then rinse, rinse, rinse with hot. Keep using hot water. In fact, at home you should use hot water.

[ShiriChayim]

When I was dealing with that I would soak overnight in hot water with 1/2 cup vinegar and a few drops of TTO in the water. Then I would add the same vinegar and TTO into the wash cycle of the prefolds.

[bec28]

Thanks :) I ended up using bleach. We didn't have TTO. I'll try to remember to come back and update in a few weeks and let you know how they are holding up.

[Waterlogged]

And when you wash at home, use hot. Always.

[bec28]

I'll try that again. I had read a thread on here a while back with mamas who had hard water having better luck getting rid of stink washing in cold so I decided to try it. I'm not sure if they are worse smelling or not, but I definitely like the idea of washing with hot better :)

[Waterlogged]

You might look into getting some Rockin Green "Hard Rock" diaper detergent.

[cro]

:hug We have hard water too, and washing on hot was a necessity.
Another thing to consider if things are stinking up sooner than usual is the quality of your water. There were a few times when i noticed my diapers (and my dishes in the dishwasher) suddenly weren't as clean as they should be. When I called up my city's water dept, they informed me that we were temporarily getting our water from another source. Basically, the water had to travel farther and had more time to collect more minerals. (I then waited a few days before stripping my CDs.) I'm still fascinated that I never would've noticed the change in the water if I weren't CDing.

[happylizzz]

You might look into getting some Rockin Green "Hard Rock" diaper detergent.

I have some of this if you just want to try it on a few loads.

[melliethepooh]

Have you tried baking soda in your loads to soften the water? Or maybe borax, though I haven't tried that.

I strip with Dawn every so often and that does the trick, plus vinegar in the fabric softener slot every so often.
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[bec28]

I did have rockin green that I used. They smelled better then they do now and I just found out I can buy it in town so I'll have to get some again when we get back home.

Thanks for the offer though Liz :)

[Starfox]

I've hear of people using RLR Laundry Treatment to strip the diapers. I haven't used it, but I'm going to order some.

We do a cold cycle no detergent, hot wash with some RNG then an extra rinse.

[cyndib]

Maybe RNG Funk Rock?

[blondie]

I'm a big fan of RnG and Lulu's in the fluff. I found that "commercial" detergents made my dipes funky, but the ones that are CD friendly do a really good job!

[Aerynne]

I am also a fan of the vinegar soak. I wash the diapers but leave them in the washer, then turn the hot water heater as hot as it will go, fill the tub with water and literally a quart of vinegar and soak overnight. It solves the problem perfectly every time.

[ShangriLewis]

Blue dawn. Add a good size squirt and wash on hot till the bubbles dissapear. use it once a month. Be careful because it can reaaly bubble up:giggle

I do a cold rinse and a hot wash. If I am caught up on laundry I let them soak all day while I fill up the load.

[2sunshines]

How are your diapers now? Did the bleach wash at your parents help?

[bec28]

I'm washing them for the first time since I bleached then at my IL's today, so we'll see how they do after that :) I'm just on my way now to buy some rockin green to use on them. I'm anxious to see how they smell after several washings.

[MiriamRose]

I really don't like the water here. I've never had so many problems with my cloth as I have since we moved here! What seems to help is doing a really good strip every month or so, and then rising on warm, doing a hot soak with RnG hard rock for 30-60 minutes every other wash, and then a hot wash with hard rock. This at least keeps it under control. Also, I really have to wash at least every other day or the diapers sit and soak in that pee and it just gets awful.

[pirandellian]

Make sure your first rinse in cold has a ton of water. when i had ammonia issues, once I had stripped them and made sure I was always using the most water I haven't had another issue.

And instead of doing just a prewash or rinse cycle, i do a full cycle.

Since you have a smaller washer, you might want to do two full cycles first, in cold no detergent. Then hot with detergent with a cold rinse.

[bec28]

Thanks for those ideas :) I'm hoping I'm wrong but I think they are starting to stink again :( I'm doing a cold pre wash, hot wash with extra boiling water added and rockin green and sometimes borax. Then two rinses on warm since I don't have a hot rinse.

I'll have to try adding water to the pre wash and maybe do a full cycle or two instead like you said.

[greendelight]

I would wash clean dipes in hot water with a squirt of blue (original) Dawn. Then rinse, rinse, rinse.

[Waterlogged]

I never used the rinse cycle - I did full cycles for every step, IIRC.

[pirandellian]

Yeah, full cylces.

You really want to do it because if you think about it, they are designed to hold liquid. If you only rinse them first you are mostly going to be rinsing them in what's already in them (urine). And it won't rinse very well.

Full, cold wash first. Use as much water as you can. I might even do this a few times if I were you to make sure you are rinsing that urine out of there.

Then hot cycle with detergent. I'd probably use some funk rock now, then hard rock.

Then, for now, another full cold cycle. After you get them back to normal, you could probably just do a cold rinse.

[milkmommy]

How are things now? I personal HATE HATE RnG not only did it leave my diaper stinking and stained like crazy but it gave Magie horrendous rashes, I really wanted it to work but it was hands down the worst.. I use Dropps FnC and love it I do have to run two cycles because of our hard water but my diapers are stain free odor free and best Maggie isn't in constant rashes.
However I do know RnG is successful for some so wondered if it was stil holding up for you.

[bec28]

I've been meaning to come back to this and keep forgetting :)

Rachel, thanks for the idea to do 2 full cold cycles first. I really think that has helped the most! I'm also adding water and using rockin green and then two warm rinses. Things seem to be so much better. No stink! Yay :)

[ShangriLewis]

That is awesome!

[pirandellian]

oh yay! I'm so glad they're doing better!

[erh384]

when I was down there and had an apt sized washer I actually used my washer as a wet pail- wet dipes went straight into the washer filled with water & liquid charlies soap, then I ran a rinse and a hot wash- never had a problem with it. hth