www.incontinentsupport.org

Guys and gals, with all of your experience with cloth diapers, I’m hoping you might come up with a solution to a problem I am having.

My wife has been supportive of my incontinence. However, when I wash cloth diapers, she is complaining about serious urine odor in the air and is not a happy camper . I agree that some odor is there, although I don’t perceive it as being quite so bad.

This is not diaper pail odor. I keep the diaper pail lid closed except for about 10 seconds to dump the load into the washer. In the diaper pail the used cloth diapers have been sprinkled with baking soda and some essential oils have been added to mask odor. The pail itself is not bad. I wash the diaper pail itself at each wash.

The problem occurs even with small loads of diapers, washed after only two days.

Also, this is not odors in the washing machine itself or in the diapers after they are washed. It just is odor that permeates several rooms downstairs nearest the laundry during the washing. Spraying some Febreze air deodorizer is not enough.

We are using a new LG HD top-loading washer. I set it for a pre-rinse with extra water and a very hot heavy duty wash cycle. I think the odor appears during the pre-rinse cycle when the urine is being soaked off of the diapers, before the actual wash cycle begins.

Would adding anything to the washer for the rinse cycle make a difference, i.e. vinegar?

On the Internet I don’t find anyone complaining about this same problem.

Any ideas?

--John

John, I hate to appear sexist, but I think women "smell better" than men. I have no experience with cloth diapers, as I've never used them nor had kids, but maybe storing the diapers in water in the covered diaper pail, storing fewer diapers at a time and washing them sooner would alleviate the odor problem. Does your laundry room have windows that open, and can you close the door for several minutes before the wash cycle begins?

W.

Although my washer does not have a pre-soak setting, it does have a setting for heavily soiled loads, which I use with hot water and Clorox. If you use baking soda to diminish odor, I would steer clear of Clorox, for fear of an untoward chemical reaction.

Wetters, you of course are correct about the advantages of using the "wet pail" method. Previously, I was doing just that and had zero odor problem. However, as my modified bathroom is upstairs, I have to carry all those heavy wet diapers down the stairs in a bucket to put them in the pail in the garage. At laundry time the diaper pail is too heavy for me to lift with my back problems. That is why I currently am using "dry pail."

Thankfully, the laundry room does have an opening window. Even when I wash diapers at the second day - only 3 diapers - there still is very noticeable urine odor. Is this unavoidable?

Patrick, the problem is not getting my diapers clean and fresh. It is just the environmental odor. My wife's sense of smell definitely is better than mine. It is not "sexist" to acknowledge a superior ability.

--John

John - I'm sorry about your back problems. Could you keep the covered pail next to an outdoor faucet at the back of your house, or would that be aesthetically undesirable? If it's not a problem, you could carry down your diapers in the bucket and put them in the wet pail outside. On wash day, wring out the diapers and place them in your carry bucket, dump the pail over to empty out the water, then rinse out the pail. Then carry your diapers to the laundry room for washing, rinse out your carry bucket and bring it upstairs to your bathroom.

W.

Wetters, yes, that is what I was doing when using the "wet pail" method. I can manage that, although it is a bit of a chore.

Would adding anything to the washer decrease the odor during the rinse cycle when the urine is being rinsed off of the diapers?

Would adding some bleach (diluted) help? I realize that using bleach too often will decrease the useful life of the cloth diapers.

--John

Not bleach. Try white vinegar instead. Add it directly in the tub for top load washers or in the fabric softener dispenser for front load washers.

I'd echo the use of white vinegar in a wet pail, also, after the wash cycle, I'll add more vinegar do.

Rarely any odor during or after the washing process.

My diaper pail has a lid which fits tightly. Perhaps that might assist you with odor management.

Hugh and Brian, thanks about the vinegar tip. I'll try it.

Patrick, I have a good lid that seals on the diaper pail. The odor is not coming from the pail.

I am beginning to wonder whether my new washing machine somehow vents the odors during the rinse cycle when the urine is being rinsed out of the diapers.

--John