Stink issues with new washer

[Pink Petals]

So I have a fancy new front loading washer and dryer (LG brand). I bought them new, because we were having mold issues in our old washer. Good news is that we have had no more mold since the change. Bad news is my diapers just aren't coming clean in the new washer.

At first, it was a combination ammonia/ poop smell, but since stripping the diapers, the ammonia smell is gone. But my diapers are still coming out of the wash with an awful poop smell and staining that is way worse than in my old washer.

Here is my routine:
-spray diaper immediately after a poop
-cold rinse
-hot wash on heavy duty setting with 1 tbsp Rockin Green powder detergent
-double cold rinse
-line dry in sun or dry in dryer on medium-high

I am really frustrated after spending so much money on a new washer and dryer. What am I doing wrong?

Oh and my dipes are Blueberry Simplex and Tot Bot v3 and v4.

 

[sheldonsmommy]

Have you tried using more detergent? Sounds like they're just not getting clean

I've also heard of people throwing a wet towel in with the diapers on the wash cycle so it tricks the washer into using more water. I've heard that front loaders are almost too efficient when it comes to cloth diapers, but everyone in the UK seems to have one, so there must be a way around it.

 

[Pink Petals]

I thought maybe I wasn't using enough detergnt until I saw that there were still suds in the diapers during the last rinse. Plus the ammonia smell?! Does 1 tbsp seem to little? I don't know.

I could try the towel, although I thought I already was tricking the washer by doing a pre-rinse, which gets them wet before starting the wash cycle.

Too efficient is right! There needs to be a cloth diaper setting!

 

[sheldonsmommy]

The ammonia smell is the worst! Like a punch in the face. It's the urea getting stuck in there and gets reactivated once lo pees in them. To get rid of it I did a soak in washing soda and hot water.

Could they have been agitation bubbles rather than suds? Agitation bubbles go away really fast once agitation stops and suds will stick around, is there a way to tell with the front loader?

If it were me, I'd probably start with more detergent, I don't know what Rockin green's recommendations are, but 2 tbsp still sounds reasonable, even if it's necessary to add a rinse if it gets the diapers clean.

Hopefully someone else has some tricks for you, you've already had such a tough go!

 

[Pink Petals]

Thanks. Maybe it was agitation. I will try more detergent and see how it goes!

 

[JenX]

Sometimes the heavy duty setting can work against you as some washers use less water on this setting to increase friction (I think that is right, Rachel_C can probably shed more light on it). So you may be better off with a normal cycle, but selecting heavy soil so the wash cycle is longer.

 

[Rachel_C]

If you did a good strip on them, I think it sounds like too little detergent too. It can be tricky to tell the difference between detergent bubbles and agitation bubbles... perhaps try pausing the rinse and seeing if they disappear. I think detergent bubbles will hang around as they're sudsy/foamy whereas ones that are just from the movement will probably pop very quickly. I wouldn't have thought Rockin Green would create much foam though.

Have you tried a different detergent? Sometimes a different detergent will work better with your machine.

The other possibility is that the strip didn't work and (assuming you used that method) the detergent build up actually got worse due to the full dose of detergent not being rinsed out properly and being added to what was already there. Build up can smell of ammonia sometimes but IME it's more of a funky musty almost poo smell so it could be that.

Either way, I'd do a full strip again (I'd use a full dose of regular detergent not Rockin Green) and then start again. Use the recommended dose for your water/machine type of Rocking Green or if you switch to a non-cloth detergent I'd start with 1/4 dose but you could do 1/3 or 1/2 and then watch for bubbles and see if they smell of detergent. If there's none and they smell clean, that sounds good. If they still smell dirty/pooey, rewash with more detergent and check again.