Hi Ladies. It has been a long time since I have posted and been on but now that fall is here I am hoping to get online more!

Anyway, we just went through a diaper renovation and changed diaper types. However, I am STILL struggling with odors IN my diapers! My brand new ones! I have read that it may be my soap!

Have any of you used Charlies Soap - what do you think of it?

How do I get my brand new diapers smelling nice again?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

melanie

A lot of times the detergent will build up and actually HOLD in the odors. Have you tried a few washes withOUT any soap at all?
Try a wash like that..run a full cycle, just don't add any soap. Then run a vinegar wash. Just a 1/4 cup or whatever you would use in a rinse cycle, only throw it in at the start. Double rinse, as usual. And see if that helps.

Sorry, don't know a thing about Charlie's Soap

Have you tried a vinegar rinse? Whenever my diapers start stinkin' i just throw some white vinegar (maybe 1/3 of a cup) in the wash and they are fine.

Here are some pros and cons to vinegar. But, I find it works for me.
http://www.diaperpin.com/clothdiapers/article_vinegar.asp

Unfortunately, I have tried the vinegar rinse but maybe I need to do the wash without soap thing first! I just finished washing them yesterday but I'll run them through again and try that!

I hear that Charlie Soap won't leave a residue and washes completely clean! I was hoping someone here might use it and could testify to it!

I just use regular 'free' detergents. I've used All, Purex, Arm & Hammer, Meijer Naturals and Tide.
Purex was 'semi-acceptable' for me. Used it for quite a while as it was cheap. HATED All. Arm & Hammer, not impressive at all. Meijer Naturals was sufficient, only used one bottle. Now we've moved and there's no Meijer down here.
Tide wins hands down!

I have heard Arm & Hammer has been known to leave a residue build up after a while. Even with double rinses and vinegar rinses from time to time. The others just didn't clean sufficiently for me. They looked and smelled dirty still.

But if you use a small amount of detergent and do a double rinse, you shouldn't have to worry much about residue and build up. I just do a plain wash and vinegar rinse once every few months (whenever I think about it, honestly, could be 6 months LOL) and things seem to do fine.

Tara do you wet pail or dry pail your diapers?

I have been putting them in the washer with water...maybe that is my problem? I just hate the stink smell especially when DS wets them and they just REAK! I LOVE cloth but this is my biggest complaint with them so I really want to figure it out before baby 3 arrives!

Dry.
Swishing the clingy messy ones. Squish out as much water as I can then into a dry pail. Diapers generally washed every 3rd day.

I am with Tara: dry pail & TIDE! lol...


we use a 5 gallon plastic bucket for a diaper pail. The lid stays tight and odors don't escape. If the odors upon opening bother you, you could get a tiny terry pillow and put some tea tree oil on it - that would probably overpower any stench. or you could sprinkle some baking soda in the bottom or something.

Well, this is what I did:

Washed complete cycle with NOTHING. Still smelled.:confused:
Washed again with first cycle nothing, second cycle vinegar. Smelled better but still smelled. :(
Filled washer put 4 scoops of Oxi Clean in water - agitated and let set for several hours. Rinsed and ran one more complete cycle with NOTHING. Smell gone.:)

Put in dryer. Smells a little but still MUCH better. :rolleyes:

I'll try the less soap and complete dry pail method and see how it goes.

Thanks Melanie

It may take a few washes to get stink out. Good to hear you've noticed an improvement. Don't be afraid to repeat the plain and vinegar wash again. :)

you could also try adding 5 - 10 drops of tea tree oil to the wash water. (i always put that in mine to be sure the dipes are disinfected. i think the jason's brand smells the nicest.)

I've always had stink issues with my diapers to the point that I didn't want to cloth diaper any more. Ugh....

Well, after trying a bunch of detergents, I finally came across Arm & Hammer ESSENTIALS. It's in a small green bottle. Not real small but smaller than the regular detergent bottles. It is made from plant based soaps and is all natural. I am telling you, this is the best stuff!! I've not had one stink issue since.

My routine is:

Dry pail
Cold rinse
Hot wash w/ detergent
Cold rinse

That's it and I'm loving it!! No stinkies!! Yippee!!

Lori