Cloth Nappy Tree Forum

Hi ladies and co..

My sister is new to cloth. I sent her my ones I used for my DD and she has strip washed, after I strip washed, and says that the nappies do not smell at all once dried.

The problem she is having is that as soon as her DD wets, the nappies smell so badly that she wants to be sick. She has tried a dishwasher tablet and rinsing like mad but the smell persists! She really wants to continue using the cloth as she can't afford to buy disps all the time but is heart broken because of the smell. Any ideas on what I can suggest she does?

I remember having a nappy that did that with my DD. I had to chuck it in the and and it was an LLS.. So sad.

She is determined though and does not want to give up! Her washing machine does not do a hot wash, so anything she washes with hot water is done by hand and then rinsed like mad in the machine.

Thanks in advance!

All I can think is that there is a build up in them but if they have been strip washed I don't know what it could be. Hmm hopefully someone else has some better advice

beck wrote:All I can think is that there is a build up in them but if they have been strip washed I don't know what it could be. Hmm hopefully someone else has some better advice

I've had some PM's with some great advice and my sister will be trying the vinegar one tomorrow. Thanks for the reply but keep them coming if there is more advice!

I'd be interested in more advice too! I tried vinegar on eye-wateringly stinky pre-loved bamboozles and it worked brilliantly but wondering what maintenance stuff you can do to stop having to buy vat loads of vinegar?

The 'smells fine until pees' is classic build up so more strip washing needed! Has she gone back to basics and tried a load with full powder detergent then rinse, rinse, rinse until it has no bubbbles? Vinegar can help in bad cases but isn't great for elastic to keep doing strong soaks in it, I have also soaked a bad nappy in 1/3 vinegar for a couple of hours I think it was.

What is her washing routine (cycle, rinses etc)? What detergent and how much is she using? This is where we need to look carefully as it is potentially something simple that needs changing. Perhaps get her to jump on to answer all the questions! @LJmum

Bumboleo wrote:I'd be interested in more advice too! I tried vinegar on eye-wateringly stinky pre-loved bamboozles and it worked brilliantly but wondering what maintenance stuff you can do to stop having to buy vat loads of vinegar?

@Bumboleo I will ask you the same questions as above about your washing routine?

I tend to use vinegar at every wash, I put a splash in the fabric softener area with a few drops of tea tree oil. This way it is used in the final rinse and it is a fantastic natural urine neutraliser and the tea tree is a natural sanitiser. Some nappy makers are saying not to use it as there is potential degradation to elastic / pul however I've been doing it with nappies that are now nearly 10 years old (actually I think I have at least one that is older than that!) and I have had very few issues with elastic over that time but please be aware that that is a potential issue and make your own choices.

The other big mistakes that tend to happen are using too much detergent: 1/4 - 1/2 a dose depending on your water hardness is about right and using the wrong detergent, liquid is terrible IMHO for nappies as it leaves a residue and I think the 'non-bio' stuff that you have in the UK (this is only a UK thing the rest of us manage without!!) also can cause problems from feed back I've had on here. A lot of girls on here tend to switch to normal powder.

I hope that helps girls and please keep asking if you have more questions!

I agree with Tory it is usually a simpler answer than you think

When I first started cloth nappies (like 7 years ago ) I got smelly nappies - tried everything until someone said "are you sure your using enough detergent?" I was always really keen on not using too much that I had not thought that it could be too little It solved the problem and I really only get smells now with microfiber and a stripwash with vinegar takes care of that easily

Hi everyone,

Thanks for all the great advice.

Has she gone back to basics and tried a load with full powder detergent then rinse, rinse, rinse until it has no bubbbles?

Yes. My little collection of cloth nappies are the most washed, least used things in the house. My washing routine doesn't really exist yet as I've not had the chance to use cloth consistently and have washed differently each time as new advice is offered. I use normal washing powder - the brand depends on what's on special at the time, usually around a quarter to a half a scoop for 4 nappies and their inserts.

To be honest I've become quite disheartened with this whole shindig so my mom in law took it upon herself to make the nappies work for me. She spoke to a local (did I mention I live in South Africa?) authority on cloth who advised a grapefruit seed oil soak and then various steps of soaking and rinsing and washing and more rinsing rinsing rinsing. Currently the nappies are on the line in the sun so I'll have to let you know if it's worked this time. If not we'll try vinegar next...

In faith that something will eventually work,

Roxi
Hope's mom (@LJmum's sister)

Hi Roxi and welcome to the forum.

If you are only washing 4 nappies at a time it may be quite easy to over load on the detergent as I usually do a full load (15 or more nappies).

Hopeful Mom wrote:grapefruit seed oil soak

I have never heard of this it really seems a bit odd as oil would clog up the fibres of the nappy

Let us know how you are going and we'll try to help as much as we can

I stand corrected, had a closer look and it's not oil - it's powder in capsules that she emptied into water to soak the nappies in. It contains grapefruit extract, citrus bioflanonoids and grape seed extract.

Hope has a cloth on now so I'll report back on how it goes!