Getting rid of urine smell i cloth diapers?

[NotTheAverageMan]

Hi
I have been using cloth diapers for nighttime for approx. a month, and now my wife complains that they are starting to smell although I rinse them each morning before putting them in the pail.

they are washed at 90 degress with soap only, in the beginning that was enought to get rid of the smell, but not any longer.

Any advice on this?

[Paul Martin]

When I started with cloth diapers a long time ago, I tried to do what most suggestions said about what NOT to use while washing your cloth diapers. But those methods did not help with the smell as you wet them at night. They smell well enough after I wash and dry them, but they really smelled bad as I used them. So here is what I did.
First of all, bleach I the best thing to kill the smell. I just use a quarter cup with every load. Hot water is next. Don't use the warm cycle. and last, I use a fabric softener with every load. I don't know if this helps with odor, but I want to wear a soft cloth diaper, not a scratchy one. But bleach is the best bet. AND my diapers lasted a long time. Try that and see if it helps, it should.....Paul Martin

[Puffy Pants]

I have been using them for a couple years now, and the odor is certainly an issue for me as well. I read that fabric softener is the last thing you want to use on them, as it makes them less absorbant then they would be without using it, I have never used it and mine are still soft, far from scratchy anyhow. You could try vinigar instead of bleach too, that is another option for odor problems. A change of laundry soap might help too, I use Borax now and they are better then they were before using it. Stripping them is the most effective way to clean them, it's the build-up of soap and such in them that causes the odor problems. A quick Google search on stripping cloth diapers should provide some answers for what is involved, Puffy