This question gets asked a lot.
There are many causes of cloth diaper stink, but they all have a root cause, bacteria and uric acid. When you diapers have build up on them it makes it more difficult to clean your cloth diapers. Build up can be caused by too little detergent, hard water, fabric softeners, and quite often just too many layers of fabric.
How to prevent problems
First use a good laundry detergent and use 1/4-1/2 the amount recommended. I love Seventh Generation's. Its an old wives tale that you should only use 2 TBS of detergent in your wash. You need adequate detergent. Soap cleans by acting as an emulsifier. Basically, soap allows oil and water to mix so that grime can be removed during rinsing. Surfactants lower the surface tension of water, essentially making it 'wetter' so that it is less likely to stick to itself and more likely to interact with dirt.
Your laundry detergents have hydrophobic or water-hating molecular chains and hydrophilic or water-loving components. The hydrophobic hydrocarbons are repelled by water, but are attracted to dirt. The hydrophilic end of the same molecule means that one end of the molecule will be attracted to water, while the other side is binding to the dirt. So don't skimp on your detergents.
Adding extras. Theres lots of little extras that people recommend adding to your diapers to help them get cleaner. The best ones are..
#1 Bleach! Don't be scared of using a bit of bleach with your diapers. A cap full for an HE washer to 1/4 cup to a top loader every now and again won't hurt your diapers and will help kill the bacteria(avoid using on printed or dyed diapers)
#2 Baking Soda and Tea Tree oil. Mix a few drops per every cup of baking soda and add 1/4-1/2 cup per load of diapers to help freshen them.
#3 Water softener. If you have hard water using a water softener try using 1/4 cup of Calgon or even table salt to soften your water and help your detergent work better.
#4 Avoid using diapers with thick inserts such as microfiber. Microfiber grabs what ever comes in contact with it, but when you have 3-6 layers of the stuff it makes it really hard to clean and these inserts hold on to the bacteria.
But my cloth diapers already stink!
No worries you can fix them!
Any type of urine from mammals, whether it is human or pet urine, contains uric acid crystals, which can only be removed by using an enzyme based cleaning product. Traditional products involving soap and strong chemicals aren’t able to work because they do not break down the uric acid crystals. The only permanent method of removing urine odor and stains is by using products specifically designed to bind with and destroy the uric acid. This is exactly how enzyme based cleaners work.
The enzyme products that really work are those that have the correct combination of enzymes and other ingredients to destroy the uric acid crystals and at the same time eliminate the bacteria surrounding the urine which causes the odor. The enzymes are applied to the stain in a liquid form and take the same path that the urine would have taken originally.
You may need to strip your diapers before trying this. RLR or a strip in dish soap will get the job done.
Now we need to get rid of the Uric Acid and bacteria. What you are going to need to do is get an enzyme cleaner, BacOut or even one of the pet cleaners that they sell for pet messes at the pet store. Soak your diaper over night in this. If you can't find this you may have good luck with a soak in 1/2 cup each rubbing alcohol, vinegar, and a few drops of liquid dish soap.
Here's a great link on how to make your own Enzyme cleaner http://happyhomemaker88.com/2009/05/02/recipe-for-homemade-citrus-enzyme-a-natural-cheap-effective-all-purpose-cleaner/
To kill the bacteria soak in 1/2 and 1/2 water and Hydrogen Peroxide. If you still have organic matter like bacteria, left in your diapers you will see your diapers foam. Its less chemicals and should do the trick. don't be temped to to soak in lots of bleach it will ruin your diapers if you use to much or soak too long.
Hope this helps you all! Add your tips and tricks to this thread so we can have an easy master thread for everyone!
There are many causes of cloth diaper stink, but they all have a root cause, bacteria and uric acid. When you diapers have build up on them it makes it more difficult to clean your cloth diapers. Build up can be caused by too little detergent, hard water, fabric softeners, and quite often just too many layers of fabric.
How to prevent problems
First use a good laundry detergent and use 1/4-1/2 the amount recommended. I love Seventh Generation's. Its an old wives tale that you should only use 2 TBS of detergent in your wash. You need adequate detergent. Soap cleans by acting as an emulsifier. Basically, soap allows oil and water to mix so that grime can be removed during rinsing. Surfactants lower the surface tension of water, essentially making it 'wetter' so that it is less likely to stick to itself and more likely to interact with dirt.
Your laundry detergents have hydrophobic or water-hating molecular chains and hydrophilic or water-loving components. The hydrophobic hydrocarbons are repelled by water, but are attracted to dirt. The hydrophilic end of the same molecule means that one end of the molecule will be attracted to water, while the other side is binding to the dirt. So don't skimp on your detergents.
Adding extras. Theres lots of little extras that people recommend adding to your diapers to help them get cleaner. The best ones are..
#1 Bleach! Don't be scared of using a bit of bleach with your diapers. A cap full for an HE washer to 1/4 cup to a top loader every now and again won't hurt your diapers and will help kill the bacteria(avoid using on printed or dyed diapers)
#2 Baking Soda and Tea Tree oil. Mix a few drops per every cup of baking soda and add 1/4-1/2 cup per load of diapers to help freshen them.
#3 Water softener. If you have hard water using a water softener try using 1/4 cup of Calgon or even table salt to soften your water and help your detergent work better.
#4 Avoid using diapers with thick inserts such as microfiber. Microfiber grabs what ever comes in contact with it, but when you have 3-6 layers of the stuff it makes it really hard to clean and these inserts hold on to the bacteria.
But my cloth diapers already stink!
No worries you can fix them!
Any type of urine from mammals, whether it is human or pet urine, contains uric acid crystals, which can only be removed by using an enzyme based cleaning product. Traditional products involving soap and strong chemicals aren’t able to work because they do not break down the uric acid crystals. The only permanent method of removing urine odor and stains is by using products specifically designed to bind with and destroy the uric acid. This is exactly how enzyme based cleaners work.
The enzyme products that really work are those that have the correct combination of enzymes and other ingredients to destroy the uric acid crystals and at the same time eliminate the bacteria surrounding the urine which causes the odor. The enzymes are applied to the stain in a liquid form and take the same path that the urine would have taken originally.
You may need to strip your diapers before trying this. RLR or a strip in dish soap will get the job done.
Now we need to get rid of the Uric Acid and bacteria. What you are going to need to do is get an enzyme cleaner, BacOut or even one of the pet cleaners that they sell for pet messes at the pet store. Soak your diaper over night in this. If you can't find this you may have good luck with a soak in 1/2 cup each rubbing alcohol, vinegar, and a few drops of liquid dish soap.
Here's a great link on how to make your own Enzyme cleaner http://happyhomemaker88.com/2009/05/02/recipe-for-homemade-citrus-enzyme-a-natural-cheap-effective-all-purpose-cleaner/
To kill the bacteria soak in 1/2 and 1/2 water and Hydrogen Peroxide. If you still have organic matter like bacteria, left in your diapers you will see your diapers foam. Its less chemicals and should do the trick. don't be temped to to soak in lots of bleach it will ruin your diapers if you use to much or soak too long.
Hope this helps you all! Add your tips and tricks to this thread so we can have an easy master thread for everyone!
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