Cloth Diapers & Washing

[BabyDavey]

I have almost always worn cloth diapers, but usually on an occasional basis. Recently I have started to wear them at night, as I find they work better and are all around more comfortable. One thing I have noticed, though, is that when I get up in the morning, they smell. Bad. (Almost like ammonia, if you need to know).

I know that there are a fair amount of experienced cloth diaper wearers on the board, and I am wondering if it is something I am doing wrong (washing, drying, etc.)

I have HE laundry equipment, I've tried different detergent and such. I've also started soaking them in a brine (vinegar and water) solution in-between wearing and washing. I always dry them post washing, so they don't sit around. One thing I thought it could be is the plastic (vinyl) pants that I have (as they are quite air-tight) but I'm not sure.

The one thing that kind of bothers me is that If I sleep in it gets worse. Perhaps it's something I'm eating, who knows. Maybe I'm not drinking enough...

Any advice would be appreciated.

Regards,

[redneck diaper boy]

Yes they will smell in the morning. The ammonia smell is nothing new.

Avoid drinking carbonated beverages before bed. Avoid tea as well.

Drink lots of water.

Avoid alcohol.

I have noticed that different prescription medication has an effect on the urine odor. Antibiotics will really effect diaper odor. I have compared notes with other people, with my condition, and they see the same thing. One person told me that their prescription medication destroyed plastic pants making them last only a few weeks.

Do not use cornstarch powder. The starch feeds the bacteria

Do not use air-tight plastic pants. This may be the heart of your problem. If you have to use air-tight pants, the diaper is not doing its job. Loose fitting overpants allow air to circulate.

I have a no frills Kennmore washer. It has a short pre-wash cycle. The prewash cycle gets 99 percent of the urine out. I use cold water here

I use "Tide" laundry soap and a scalding hot wash. I rince with cold water.

My diapers are stained. Some have a grey-brown tint to them but they have no odor. I live with the stain because nobody looks at my diapers but me or my wife.

Never use bleach on a cloth diaper. It will destroy the absorbancy.

I have almost always worn cloth diapers, but usually on an occasional basis. Recently I have started to wear them at night, as I find they work better and are all around more comfortable. One thing I have noticed, though, is that when I get up in the morning, they smell. Bad. (Almost like ammonia, if you need to know).

I know that there are a fair amount of experienced cloth diaper wearers on the board, and I am wondering if it is something I am doing wrong (washing, drying, etc.)

I have HE laundry equipment, I've tried different detergent and such. I've also started soaking them in a brine (vinegar and water) solution in-between wearing and washing. I always dry them post washing, so they don't sit around. One thing I thought it could be is the plastic (vinyl) pants that I have (as they are quite air-tight) but I'm not sure.

The one thing that kind of bothers me is that If I sleep in it gets worse. Perhaps it's something I'm eating, who knows. Maybe I'm not drinking enough...

Any advice would be appreciated.

Regards,

[BabyDavey]

Yes they will smell in the morning...

...Never use bleach on a cloth diaper. It will destroy the absorbancy.

Thanks for the reply, I had hoped you would. Your knowledge of cloth is vast! Like a cloth-diaper guru.

At least I'm not the only one (with the smell). It just seems that it more recently got worse. I don't take any meds, nor drink tea before bed (as it tends to keep me awake). Lately I rarely drink alcohol or carbonated beverages. (Though I do on occasion.) I was thinking I was drinking enough water, but I suppose I can up my amounts. What's the worst that can happen, I wet more?

I wondered if the pants could be a contributing factor. What do you normally recommend (I believe on another post that you said you get yours custom made?) Do you recommend any off-the-shelf plastic pants? My baby has the kushies type, which are a velcro on diaper cover. It looks like it would work well and allow air to circulate. I had wondered if I could buy or make one like that in my size. Perhaps it wouldn't be practical, though.

I'll look into the prewash and see what my washer will do. I probably should use a hot was cycle, but I am concerned about energy consumption. Perhaps it will be necessary evil.

I don't normally use bleach, but I have in the past on rare occasion. I sometimes use the 'green' bleach alternative (I think it's peroxide based, but I'm not sure.) I could care less about stains.

Thanks again on the reply, I'll try some of your suggestions out and see if it changes anything.

Regards,

[redneck diaper boy]

If you are wearing air tight plastic pants, you are asking for diaper rash.

I have seen so many pictures where people are wearing tight fitting plastic pants. This causes several problems. The tight pants do not allow air to circulate. The tight diaper and pants will hurt your testicles. (Yes a pain in the balls)

Wear a thick diaper and comfortable overpants. It is bad enough to be incontinent. The diapers should not hurt or be un-comfortable. Some people are in to pain. I am not. If the bulk bothers you, you may want to consider disposables. A thin rag does not a diaper make!

Comco and Fetware have excellent overpants. I prefer Fetware

I will attach a photo of the way I wear mine. Warning I am big and ugly.

Regarding the prewash, just use a short cold water cycle. I only use hot water in the wash cycle. Energy is too expensive.

Another thought. Do not use too much soap. Soap residue is bad news too

Remember you are an adult. What works for a small child may not be right for you.

I hope this helps

Thanks for the reply, I had hoped you would. Your knowledge of cloth is vast! Like a cloth-diaper guru.

At least I'm not the only one (with the smell). It just seems that it more recently got worse. I don't take any meds, nor drink tea before bed (as it tends to keep me awake). Lately I rarely drink alcohol or carbonated beverages. (Though I do on occasion.) I was thinking I was drinking enough water, but I suppose I can up my amounts. What's the worst that can happen, I wet more?

I wondered if the pants could be a contributing factor. What do you normally recommend (I believe on another post that you said you get yours custom made?) Do you recommend any off-the-shelf plastic pants? My baby has the kushies type, which are a velcro on diaper cover. It looks like it would work well and allow air to circulate. I had wondered if I could buy or make one like that in my size. Perhaps it wouldn't be practical, though.

I'll look into the prewash and see what my washer will do. I probably should use a hot was cycle, but I am concerned about energy consumption. Perhaps it will be necessary evil.

I don't normally use bleach, but I have in the past on rare occasion. I sometimes use the 'green' bleach alternative (I think it's peroxide based, but I'm not sure.) I could care less about stains.

Thanks again on the reply, I'll try some of your suggestions out and see if it changes anything.

Regards,

[Knuxie Fawks]

Tea, coffee, soda...many things that you eat can make urine smell stronger. Throughout the day, I just drink plenty of water. I've completely done away with soda. I'll have a cup of coffee every now and then, but only at work. Anything high in sugar (juices, soda, koolaid, capri sun) will cause urine to become acidic and be stronger... It's really just a matter of diet. For me, most times my urine is clear or nearly clear. If it's yellow or cloudy, then that's an indicator that you're not getting enough water. To note as I've run into this with a good friend of mine, soda contains water, but it is not water. Soda will dehydrate you. If you must have a soda, drink extra water.

[Bettypooh]

I hate to be disagreeable, but bleach in moderate quantities doesn't affect absorbency much if any at all. Liquid fabric softener does, so avoid that Human feces is the basis for Diptheria, Cholera, rashes, and a number of other nasty diseases. Bleach kills almost all bacteria which is why hospitals boil, bleach, or both If you only wet the bleach may not be necessary but I use it moderately anyway. The more you use the shorter the life of the fabric so it's up to you to decide where the best trade-off is for you. Bleach also helps eliminate odors because it kills bacteria. All that odors are is microscopic particulate matter floating in the air that reaches your nose. Bad non-manmade odors are usually bacterial in nature so bleaching keeps them from growing and becoming airborne Bleaching helps keep the odor of urine down, as does several hours of UV exposure in the sun which is why clothesline-dried clothes smell so much better UV rays are a non-chemical form of bleaching, and if I line-dried my clothes I'd skip the bleach. Detergents of today work so well in cold water that hot-water washing is unnecessary. In fact hot water washing short of boiling temperatures creates an enviroment where many bacteria thrive so odors may actually be increased instead of eliminated!

There's no magic involved in laundering diapers or anything else, and there's a lot of proven information available on the subject. Many of the old wive's tales were based in truth back then, but are in error today since the detergents have changed so much. The one thing that won't change is that the sooner you clean your soiled diapers, the better it is for them and you

Bettypooh

[BabyDavey]

If you are wearing air tight plastic pants, you are asking for diaper rash.

I have seen so many pictures where people are wearing tight fitting plastic pants. This causes several problems. The tight pants do not allow air to circulate. The tight diaper and pants will hurt your testicles. (Yes a pain in the balls)

Wear a thick diaper and comfortable overpants. It is bad enough to be incontinent. The diapers should not hurt or be un-comfortable. Some people are in to pain. I am not. If the bulk bothers you, you may want to consider disposables. A thin rag does not a diaper make!

Comco and Fetware have excellent overpants. I prefer Fetware

I will attach a photo of the way I wear mine. Warning I am big and ugly.

Regarding the prewash, just use a short cold water cycle. I only use hot water in the wash cycle. Energy is too expensive.

Another thought. Do not use too much soap. Soap residue is bad news too

Remember you are an adult. What works for a small child may not be right for you.

I hope this helps

Thanks again for the response. I tend to wear my (cloth) diapers loosely (and thick). I like the bulk and comfort of them that way. The over pants I currently have, while air tight, are not tight fitting. I'm not one for my gonads to be squashed up into me. Just not comfortable.

As far as my laundry equipment goes, as they are 'high efficiency', they use less water. I'm not sure if this has an effect it's ability to get all of the bad out of the clothing, but just in case I don't really mind soaking my stuff in a garbage pail prior to washing. Prior to washing, it get's most of the water out of the diapers anyways, and then goes through it's cycles. I'll switch to hot for the wash and see how that goes.

I've got about 3 kinds of detergent as well that I've been trying. One is a 'natural' one, another is zero (I think) and the third is Kirkland (costco brand). I'm limited to what I can use because the detergent has to be HE certified or something, but most of the major brands have their own versions. I mainly try to get the kinds that don't use colours and fragrances.

I am interested to know how you are wearing yours, as I didn't really think I was doing something wrong in that department.

Tea, coffee, soda...many things that you eat can make urine smell stronger. Throughout the day, I just drink plenty of water. I've completely done away with soda. I'll have a cup of coffee every now and then, but only at work. Anything high in sugar (juices, soda, koolaid, capri sun) will cause urine to become acidic and be stronger... It's really just a matter of diet. For me, most times my urine is clear or nearly clear. If it's yellow or cloudy, then that's an indicator that you're not getting enough water. To note as I've run into this with a good friend of mine, soda contains water, but it is not water. Soda will dehydrate you. If you must have a soda, drink extra water.

Thanks to you also. I normally only drink one cup of tea a day, always in the morning. I no longer drink coffee, as I found I was very susceptible to headaches if I miss a day or two, which were normally weekends, as I drank a lot of coffee at work but didn't at home. Soda I can normally do without. I prefer water. I go months between beer, but when I have it in my fridge, it doesn't last long. Mostly I drink water, but I'm probably not drinking enough. I'll watch that, too, and see if that helps.

I hate to be disagreeable, but bleach in moderate quantities doesn't affect absorbency much if any at all. Liquid fabric softener does, so avoid that Human feces is the basis for Diptheria, Cholera, rashes, and a number of other nasty diseases. Bleach kills almost all bacteria which is why hospitals boil, bleach, or both If you only wet the bleach may not be necessary but I use it moderately anyway. The more you use the shorter the life of the fabric so it's up to you to decide where the best trade-off is for you. Bleach also helps eliminate odors because it kills bacteria. All that odors are is microscopic particulate matter floating in the air that reaches your nose. Bad non-manmade odors are usually bacterial in nature so bleaching keeps them from growing and becoming airborne Bleaching helps keep the odor of urine down, as does several hours of UV exposure in the sun which is why clothesline-dried clothes smell so much better UV rays are a non-chemical form of bleaching, and if I line-dried my clothes I'd skip the bleach. Detergents of today work so well in cold water that hot-water washing is unnecessary. In fact hot water washing short of boiling temperatures creates an enviroment where many bacteria thrive so odors may actually be increased instead of eliminated!

There's no magic involved in laundering diapers or anything else, and there's a lot of proven information available on the subject. Many of the old wive's tales were based in truth back then, but are in error today since the detergents have changed so much. The one thing that won't change is that the sooner you clean your soiled diapers, the better it is for them and you

Bettypooh

Thank you for your response, as well. Half the trouble is sorting through the old wives' tales and finding the proven science. I believe I mentioned it before, but I've started pre-soaking in vinegar (which may be one of those old wives' tales, I can't remember).

I'm like Redneck Diaper Boy, I don't like to use bleach - for mostly the same reasons. I do though, on occasion, use a green bleach on sometimes a chlorine bleach. Lately, though, that doesn't seem to work. I have also noticed on a couple of occasions that I get the same problems if I wear disposables to bed with a pair of plastic pants over them which leads me to believe it might be the aforementioned air-tight plastic pants. I believe I will address that as my primary problem, with washing and drinking as secondary problems.

I love the idea of hanging them outside on the line, but I'm kind of a private person and don't really want to 'air my laundry' to the neighbors.

[Angela Bauer]

To start, let me state my family has washed at least one load of cloth diapers every day since my mother was born. I grew up wearing classic Curity 21x40 gauze diapers.

With respect to one of our newer and active members, it is actively unsafe to use any chlorine bleech on diapers wet with urine which has turned to ammonia. That combination will form dangerous gasses in the washing machine.

It is nearly a generation since hospitals in the USA used cloth diapers. Still, industrial and hospital washing machines are specially vented and the gasses are treated before release into the air outside.

Several things need to be remembered when washing and drying all cloth diapers. First is to understand the different cloth materials. My experience is washing cotton gauze, yet these principles apply to other fabrics.

Avoid allowing used diapers to go unwashed longer than 2 days.

If a diaper is messed with feces or blood, apply an appropriate stain remover and pre-soak, perhaps in borax solution, then immediate run the diapers in the washing machine.

DREFT is made for washing cloth diapers. It is a mixture of a gentle detergent and borax.

The best detergent for each of us is the one our skin likes. DREFT works for me but might not be best for someone else.

For our health, especially if we are incontinent, we need to drink enough plain water. The fact we wet suggests we have some kidney damage. Despite wetting more, we need our water and to avoid diuretics, be they food or pills.

Waterproof over pants or plastic panties should never be so tight as to bind. It is not tight elastic that forms the seal. That is a function of soft plastic clinging to the skin, especially at the legs. Extra plastic material should be tucked into the top of the cloth diaper. Soon the excess will cling to the skin and yet vent correctly.

Wash waterproof pants according to manufacturer's recommendations. The soft vinyl panties I prefer are made by Babykins who recommend washing in warm water using a tiny amount of mild liquid dishwashing detergent. Swish the panties by hand, then turn inside out and swish again. Gently wring dry by hand. Normally air dry at warm room temperature away from sunlight. Once a week place a bunch of these vinyl panties in an old pillow case so they can be tumbled in the same drier as a load of diapers, but only for the first 20 minutes. Remove the panties from the pillow case and hang to retain the correct shape away from sun on plastic hangers.

Gauze diapers can safely be dried on the line in bright sunlight and it is ideal if this can happen frequently. Normally gauze diapers should be dried using the hot setting of your drier, but feel them before the cycle ends. Usually gauze diapers dry quickly. Excessive tumbling does not make them better. Remove and fold gauze diapers as soon as the drying is done.

Fabric softners always reduce capacity.

New cloth diapers were factory treated with starch sizing to make sewing more efficient. It is absolutely vital to gently remove all the sizing prior to wearing new cloth diapers. My method is to place only new gauze diapers in the washer along with Ivory Snow as the detergent. Run with hot water. If the timing works out, add a batch of wet diapers and wash the combined load using DREFT. Dry all those diapers. If you are not running out, keep the dry new ones aside and run than again with the next batch of wet diapers. By then the new ones are all ready for a long time of service.

[riflemanjon]

please be carefull bleach and ammiona makes a deedly gas that will kill you. if mixed to much it will produce a green collored gas of ammiona cloride which is used to kill people in the old war days. if you have this happen get everybody out of the house and call the fire department. it takes ventting the whole house and the diulitting of the chemical by washing them i went on a run in 1994 to a house like this we had to go in haz-mat suits.

[anondl]

"Do not use cornstarch powder. The starch feeds the bacteria"

I sort of understand this but could you elaborate? I am a technician and am kinky to know how things work.

Anondl