My cloth diapers are already funky???

[hot tea]

My son is only six days old and his diapers are starting to smell a little swampy. How do I get rid of the smell? What am I doing wrong????

 

[Rachel_C]

How are you washing them at the moment?

ETA - Temp, detergent, wash cycle, rinses etc

 

[hot tea]

Cold rinse no detergent, hot/cold cycle with detergent right after.

 

[fluffpuffin]

What detergent do you use and how much of it? It's best not to use fabric softener in your wash as that clogs the fibres and holds on to smells. Also only use 1/4 of the regular detergent dose.

 

[hot tea]

I am using Country Save. It is recommended for diapers, so I know it isn't that. I used very little and they started to smell, so I put more in and they still smell. I am in a fouplex with shared washers so I can't control what others put in theirs though. Do you think washing machines can have build up in them?

 

[Rachel_C]

Yes, washing machines can get build up in them but I'm not sure what you could do about it if they're shared. Who looks after them?

Are you doing extra rinses after the wash? Pretty much everybody needs at least one extra rinse - the extra rinse at the end is more important than the rinse at the beginning.

 

[hot tea]

I don't think anyone looks after them. They just sit upstairs and anyone can use them who lives in the four suites.

I have never done an extra rinse at the end. It should be detergent free, right?

 

[hot tea]

So I should be doing one cold rinse, hot cycle/rinse, then extra cold rinse?

 

[fluffpuffin]

I do 2 extra rinses at the end. it's to rinse off the detergent, so nothing added to the wash there. your nappies should smell of nothing coming out of the machine.

 

[hot tea]

Huuuh.... I will try extra rinses then! Will that help with smell, or should I strip them now?

 

[Rachel_C]

Yes do at least one extra rinse at the end (some machines have an 'extra rinse' button which is handy) - you need to keep rinsing until no detergent bubbles come out in the water (check that before the final spin starts as you won't see bubbles then normally). If the nappies are already smelling, do a strip wash now then start again with fresh nappies.