Stinky pockets

[nomnom]

How do you get the poop smell out of your pocket diapers?

I have hard city water. Wash routine: cold prewash, warm/hot wash with max recommended detergent, double rinse.

[freezorburn]

Apr 26, 2017 23:39:54 GMT -5 nomnom said:

How do you get the poop smell out of your pocket diapers?

I have hard city water. Wash routine: cold prewash, warm/hot wash with max recommended detergent, double rinse.

Try doing a warm prewash, and definitely use hot water with your main wash.

How hard is the water you are talking about? There's hard (adjusting detergent amount may help) and then there is very hard (over 250ppm? -- adding a water softener might help)

[brandiewine11]

In addition to what Freezor said, is your pre-wash a seperate step or built into your main cycle? If you're not doing a separate step, switch to a quick wash cycle. The "prewash" cycle option doesn't always agitate and rinse/spin/drain enough to get all the pee & poop out before the main wash.

[pbandj714]

I agree with doing a warm prewash or preferably warm quick wash as your prewash. then hot for the main wash.

I've had it happen on a couple of occasions where a pocket shell will come out of the wash with the faintest of poop smells still on it. (I sniff every diaper coming out of the wash, yes, odd, I know.) I set it out in the sun and the smell is always completely gone.

[nomnom]

Apr 27, 2017 7:19:58 GMT -5 @milano said:

Do they smell like poop right out of the dryer? Or just after they've been peed in?

Out of the dryer.

[nomnom]

Apr 27, 2017 7:48:04 GMT -5 brandiewine11 said:

In addition to what Freezor said, is your pre-wash a seperate step or built into your main cycle? If you're not doing a separate step, switch to a quick wash cycle. The "prewash" cycle option doesn't always agitate and rinse/spin/drain enough to get all the pee & poop out before the main wash.

I've been using the "prewash" thing on the washer, then resetting it for a full wash with double rinse. I'll try a short regular wash cycle.

ETA: Difference between prewash and short regular wash is that prewash doesn't have a rinse cycle afterwards, so a short wash cycle would also rinse the diapers one more time.

[brandiewine11]

Apr 27, 2017 8:02:04 GMT -5 nomnom said:

Apr 27, 2017 7:48:04 GMT -5 brandiewine11 said:

In addition to what Freezor said, is your pre-wash a seperate step or built into your main cycle? If you're not doing a separate step, switch to a quick wash cycle. The "prewash" cycle option doesn't always agitate and rinse/spin/drain enough to get all the pee & poop out before the main wash.

I've been using the "prewash" thing on the washer, then resetting it for a full wash with double rinse. I'll try a short regular wash cycle.

ETA: Difference between prewash and short regular wash is that prewash doesn't have a rinse cycle afterwards, so a short wash cycle would also rinse the diapers one more time.

That could be the cause of your issue right there. The purpose of the first/prewash is to remove all the pee and poop so the main wash and detergent can clean the fibers of the diapers. If it's not adequately rinsing and spinning out the dirty water, you are just washing in pee/poop water (even if it drains). 

You may want/need to do a bleach wash just to get rid of any bacteria, etc that are lingering and causing stink and to reset the diapers. Add 1/4 cup of bleach to your bleach dispenser during the wash cycle or dilute in the drum before adding diapers. Wash. Do a few extra rinses until the bleach smell is mostly gone. 

[nomnom]

Is there any kind of soaking that is safe for PUL?

[freezorburn]

Apr 27, 2017 10:24:30 GMT -5 nomnom said:

Is there any kind of soaking that is safe for PUL?

What are you trying to solve by soaking PUL? It's a water repellent fabric.

Try the different machine settings that we have suggested. They will cost you zero extra time and there is a high likelihood they will solve your issue.

[nomnom]

freezorburn MH used old-style cloth (flats with plastic covers) on his older kids and they soaked the diapers in a borax solution. I ask because he asked. The PUL would get soaked along with the fleece liner that has the stink issue.

[brandiewine11]

Apr 27, 2017 10:47:29 GMT -5 nomnom said:

freezorburn MH used old-style cloth (flats with plastic covers) on his older kids and they soaked the diapers in a borax solution. I ask because he asked. The PUL would get soaked along with the fleece liner that has the stink issue.

He's probably talking about a wet pail. That is no longer recommended. It's not going to help anything anyway.

Just tweak your wash routine and it should solve the issue.

But definitely check your water hardness level too. If changing that prewash doesn't fix it you may need a different detergent, more detergent, or a softener to compensate. 

[piccyami]

nomnom, There's no need to soak. A bleach wash would kill any bacteria, but changing your wash routine may be good enough without resorting to bleach.

[piccyami]

Also +1 to Brandie's suggestion of next steps. We recently had an issue with our detergent. Tide just wasn't cutting it anymore as we transitioned to solids.

And load size is huge, too. Do you have all 4 of yours in cloth now? I know our washer is full every two days with two in cloth. Do you have enough room for things to agitate?

[nomnom]

Apr 27, 2017 11:09:49 GMT -5 brandiewine11 said:

Apr 27, 2017 10:47:29 GMT -5 nomnom said:

freezorburn MH used old-style cloth (flats with plastic covers) on his older kids and they soaked the diapers in a borax solution. I ask because he asked. The PUL would get soaked along with the fleece liner that has the stink issue.

He's probably talking about a wet pail. That is no longer recommended. It's not going to help anything anyway.

Just tweak your wash routine and it should solve the issue.

But definitely check your water hardness level too. If changing that prewash doesn't fix it you may need a different detergent, more detergent, or a softener to compensate. 

Wet pail is exactly it. It took some convincing to get him to use a wet bag.

As far as detergent, I've tried All Free & Clear, normal Tide, and Tide Free & Clear. I really hate scented detergent. Maybe I'll try adding borax (cheaper than calgon).

[nomnom]

Apr 27, 2017 11:13:25 GMT -5 piccyami said:

Also +1 to Brandie's suggestion of next steps. We recently had an issue with our detergent. Tide just wasn't cutting it anymore as we transitioned to solids.

And load size is huge, too. Do you have all 4 of yours in cloth now? I know our washer is full every two days with two in cloth. Do you have enough room for things to agitate?

I wash daily. So far only the toddlers are in cloth because the babies' legs are a bit to skinny for the smallest one-size setting. They're close, though. Also, we have a big, old-style top-load washer. There should be enough space.

What detergent did you switch to, or did you use a laundry additive?

[dancingsphinx22]

I have hard water, too. All Free and Clear sucked for me. Once I switched to Persil, it solved all my stink problems. It does have a scent, though.

I just use the tiniest amount. Maybe a table spoon size. I know it sounds crazy! It suds up really well in my super hard water, and I don't have stains or stink, so I believe it's working.

My wash routine: 1. Speed wash (or quick rinse) on warm. 2. Heavy wash (longest wash setting I have) on hot. 3. Then a second speed wash on hot for an extra rinse, and to check for suds.

[freezorburn]

Charlie's with booster might be a good option for you. But, try using what you have first.

[TJ]

Yeah, when you say "max recommended detergent" what exactly does that mean? And what detergent are you using right now?

I would bet you have detergent buildup.

[piccyami]

Apr 27, 2017 11:26:09 GMT -5 nomnom said:

Apr 27, 2017 11:13:25 GMT -5 piccyami said:

Also +1 to Brandie's suggestion of next steps. We recently had an issue with our detergent. Tide just wasn't cutting it anymore as we transitioned to solids.

And load size is huge, too. Do you have all 4 of yours in cloth now? I know our washer is full every two days with two in cloth. Do you have enough room for things to agitate?

I wash daily. So far only the toddlers are in cloth because the babies' legs are a bit to skinny for the smallest one-size setting. They're close, though. Also, we have a big, old-style top-load washer. There should be enough space.

What detergent did you switch to, or did you use a laundry additive?

I went from Tide to Persil. I just couldn't get the Tide to rinse out without an extra quick wash at the end after my regular wash. We have moderately hard water (river water) and I'm using less than half the amount I was using with Tide.

[nomnom]

Apr 27, 2017 12:29:21 GMT -5 TJ said:

Yeah, when you say "max recommended detergent" what exactly does that mean? And what detergent are you using right now?

I would bet you have detergent buildup.

The bottle's recommended amount for a large or heavily soiled load. I've seen some places recommend lots of detergent and some recommend a tablespoon. It's very frustrating searching for a good wash routine online.

[TJ]

Apr 27, 2017 13:23:39 GMT -5 nomnom said:

Apr 27, 2017 12:29:21 GMT -5 TJ said:

Yeah, when you say "max recommended detergent" what exactly does that mean? And what detergent are you using right now?

I would bet you have detergent buildup.

The bottle's recommended amount for a large or heavily soiled load. I've seen some places recommend lots of detergent and some recommend a tablespoon. It's very frustrating searching for a good wash routine online.

Bottle? As in, you're using liquid detergent? That doesn't seem to be a good choice for the majority of people. I would switch to a powdered detergent. And also do some hot water washes with no detergent, and check for suds.

[TJ]

I know it's really hard to find a good routine. The best rule is that you should use as little detergent as you can get away with using, and still have clean diapers. Around here, we generally say line 1 of original powdered tide is a good starting point. Tide recently changed its formulation and done people are having trouble now. The majority of those people seem to have found success switching to persil, and using 1/2 the amount of persil as they did of tide.

I know there are other sites out there that suggest using 3-5 times the amount of detergent that I just suggested. It seems like you tried that. And it didn't work. If nothing else, you will use 1/3 to 1/5 less detergent by trying our way. And who knows... maybe it might actually work.

[Stringy]

You have 4 kids under 2!!



And I'd love to see the cost savings once the babies get in cloth! Like woah.

[nomnom]

TJ Testing different methods right now.

Stringy I estimated that disposables would cost about $200/month.

[nomnom]

Apr 27, 2017 14:37:43 GMT -5 TJ said:

I know it's really hard to find a good routine. The best rule is that you should use as little detergent as you can get away with using, and still have clean diapers. Around here, we generally say line 1 of original powdered tide is a good starting point. Tide recently changed its formulation and done people are having trouble now. The majority of those people seem to have found success switching to persil, and using 1/2 the amount of persil as they did of tide.

I know there are other sites out there that suggest using 3-5 times the amount of detergent that I just suggested. It seems like you tried that. And it didn't work. If nothing else, you will use 1/3 to 1/5 less detergent by trying our way. And who knows... maybe it might actually work.

Powdered persil or is liquid of that brand sufficient? The nearest *possible* source of powdered is 30 minutes or an Amazon order away.

So far, no suds in water, tried borax, oxyclean, washing soda...

[TJ]

Apr 28, 2017 12:49:56 GMT -5 nomnom said:

Apr 27, 2017 14:37:43 GMT -5 TJ said:

I know it's really hard to find a good routine. The best rule is that you should use as little detergent as you can get away with using, and still have clean diapers. Around here, we generally say line 1 of original powdered tide is a good starting point. Tide recently changed its formulation and done people are having trouble now. The majority of those people seem to have found success switching to persil, and using 1/2 the amount of persil as they did of tide.

I know there are other sites out there that suggest using 3-5 times the amount of detergent that I just suggested. It seems like you tried that. And it didn't work. If nothing else, you will use 1/3 to 1/5 less detergent by trying our way. And who knows... maybe it might actually work.

Powdered persil or is liquid of that brand sufficient? The nearest *possible* source of powdered is 30 minutes or an Amazon order away.

So far, no suds in water, tried borax, oxyclean, washing soda...

Still powdered.

[piccyami]

Apr 28, 2017 12:49:56 GMT -5 nomnom said:

Apr 27, 2017 14:37:43 GMT -5 TJ said:

I know it's really hard to find a good routine. The best rule is that you should use as little detergent as you can get away with using, and still have clean diapers. Around here, we generally say line 1 of original powdered tide is a good starting point. Tide recently changed its formulation and done people are having trouble now. The majority of those people seem to have found success switching to persil, and using 1/2 the amount of persil as they did of tide.

I know there are other sites out there that suggest using 3-5 times the amount of detergent that I just suggested. It seems like you tried that. And it didn't work. If nothing else, you will use 1/3 to 1/5 less detergent by trying our way. And who knows... maybe it might actually work.

Powdered persil or is liquid of that brand sufficient? The nearest *possible* source of powdered is 30 minutes or an Amazon order away.

So far, no suds in water, tried borax, oxyclean, washing soda...

Target and Walmart both carry it online. Would ordering it be a possibility?

[nomnom]

Apr 28, 2017 13:33:54 GMT -5 piccyami said:

Apr 28, 2017 12:49:56 GMT -5 nomnom said:

Powdered persil or is liquid of that brand sufficient? The nearest *possible* source of powdered is 30 minutes or an Amazon order away.

So far, no suds in water, tried borax, oxyclean, washing soda...

Target and Walmart both carry it online. Would ordering it be a possibility?

I'm ordering it through Target since it seems to be out of stock online at Walmart (either way I can return it to the store if I don't use it). I'll probably try powdered Tide since I can get it locally.

Side rant: Why are so many detergents scented and dyed? Both just seem unnecessary.

[piccyami]

Apr 28, 2017 13:47:40 GMT -5 nomnom said:

Apr 28, 2017 13:33:54 GMT -5 piccyami said:

Target and Walmart both carry it online. Would ordering it be a possibility?

I'm ordering it through Target since it seems to be out of stock online at Walmart (either way I can return it to the store if I don't use it). I'll probably try powdered Tide since I can get it locally.

Side rant: Why are so many detergents scented and dyed? Both just seem unnecessary.

I bought at Kroger when I bought my bottle of persil.  I wish something came without the artificial scents.  The dye is generally to make your whites look whiter.