www.incontinentsupport.org

I have a pretty good system on washing my cloth diapers but i am still learning.
I am follwoing the out line pretty close that is listed on the primer and just wanted to hear what others are doing for their process.
What I do is I have a small storage tub I use as a pail. I put about 5 to 6 inches of water in it with about 3/4 cups of vinegar in the water. As I add wet diapers I will spray each one with some Pine Sol to keep down the smell. Once I get about 5 in the pail I will start the washing process.
I will space them out in the washer and pour in any left over water from the pail and do a prewash. Then when that is done I will reset the washer to a full load and again leave the water level to large load and then I add the soap and PUL covers and start that. Finally when it is done, I will take out the PUL covers and then run the rinse cycle again to get off any left over soap. When all that is done I will hang up the PUL covers, to air dry and throw the diapers in the dryer to dry for about 30 minutes to get MOSTLY dry and if weather allows, I will hang them in the sun to finish drying.
This is working really well for about 4 day time diapers and 1 night time diaper to keep smells away. However, something I am noticing is if I happen to have two night diapers and three day diapers, the night ones seem to have a bit of an odor after they get wet again. I also have a few that are thicker night diapers that this is even worse.
What I am having to experiment with now is working on figuring out The right mix of diaper type and the number to make sure I am getting things as clean as I can.

Has anyone else had to go to these lengths to make sure things stayed clean?

I set my washer for Heavy Duty, add a Tide pod, or two if one or more of my diapers have fecal soiling, use hot water, detergent and Clorox, and use a second rinse if necessary. If necessary, I use a pre-wash spray, usually a clorine concentrate. I hand wash my polyurethane and polyurethane laminate over pants by hand and hang them indoors, out of the sun. Occasionally, after a rough night, my bed pad will need to be laundered; because it is plastic backed, I do it on gentle cycle.

I'm a bedwetters only, so all my diapers are night diapers. I also keep a plastic bin in the washroom as a diaper pail. I have 6 diapers (my wife and I made them). Two are flannel, 4 are terry cloth. The flannel proved not to be absorbent enough, so if I use them, I use both at once. Generally I use only the terry and then wash when all 4 are wet. I also have terry pads I use with them, so those get washed simultaneously.

Normal wash routine is all diapers and soakers go in the washer, about a cup of vinegar goes directly in the washer, another half cup goes in the bleach dispenser so it gets added to the rinse automatically. I also add a full capful of detergent. I set the water to hot, and load size to large, then use the regular clothes setting (the most aggressive on my washer). Everything gets tumble dried on hot, and then the diapers get hung on a drying rack afterward (they're usually still damp). Out of the dryer they are usually just slightly musty smelling. As soon as they get wet, they smell like barn.

Occasionally I strip the diapers. It cures the odor problem entirely, but it comes back after 2 to 3 uses. Striping starts off by turning the water heater up to max. I first wash the batch of diapers normally, to get them acceptably clean. Second, I rewash with a small (less than a tablespoon) quantity of dawn dish detergent. Original dawn is a petroleum distillate, and it breaks down oils more effectively than any other detergent I've found. Because some nitrogenous waste products are lipid soluble, is important to remove skin oils and dietary fats that might be sticking to the fibers of the cotton. Third, I rewash a third time, to remove any residual dawn (the dawn is super sudsy), and add a cup of chlorine bleach to the rinse dispenser. Finally I dry normally, and turn the water heater back down.

I still struggle with the ammonia odor after a couple uses, and the striping procedure is too labor and water intensive to use frequently.

Thanks guys for letting us know want works for you. MSUSpartin, I really like your stystem for stripping. Hearing how the Dawn works and why was very helpful. I wonder if you add the vinegar to your pail instead would help get the ammonia smell felt with better? I would think letting them sit for 4 or 5 days in the pail is giving the uria in your pee a lot of time to change to ammonia and really bond with the fibers of the cloth. If you ever try soaking in your pail with a vinegar mix, please let us know if that changes anything.

Patrick,
I have been lucky that I have not needed to use Clorox in my washing regimens because I have read that shortens the life of the diapers but I don't have bowel incontinence and can for sure see why you would have too.
Also you added a great point about not drying your pants/covers in the sun. EVERYTHING I have read says that is a big no no. When I get mine washed, I'll hang them up in a large walk in closet share I keep all my other cloth supplies.

Thanks again guy. This was very helpful.

Rope

I'm going to try adding water and vinegar to the pail starting today. I just washed yesterday, so this morning was an empty pail. As soon as my wife gets up to watch my son I'm going to change out of last night's diaper and add some water and vinegar to the bin.

After I read your comment on the other thread, I did some research and confirmed that ammonia readily forms ionic compounds (mostly nitrogenous salts, like you said) and because ionic molecules are polar, they dissolve in water. I have no idea why acetic acid is a good substrate/catalyst for that reaction, but if it works then it doesn't matter why as far as I'm concerned.

I tried the water and vinegar in the bin approach for the last two wear/wash cycles.

I can say that I think it's helped a bit. Not as much order out of the dryer, and not as much ammonia smell as soon as they get wet, but not gone entirely. Perhaps after I strip them again, this might help prevent buildup?

My problem may still be that my diapers (my wife and I made them from terry cloth towels) are too thick. I was thinking about the construction, and realizing that where the center padding meets the front padding I added, they are 5 layers thick, and sewn together. I think it's hard for the washer to clean them out entirely. If I ever make more in the future, I'm probably try to make something more like pocket diapers.

I think there is such a thing as diapers that are too heavy to wash succesfully. Although, especially for nocturnal use, the heavier diapers seem more protective and comfortable, the same protection can be had by doubling up lighter diapers, which get cleaner in the wash.

I've considered thanking then apart with a seam ripper and trying to remake them with fewer layers, but I'm too lazy.

Dawn dish soap, who knew? Read on Facebook, may be a much easier way to strip cloth diapers then the HOT water routine and bleach...
Wow Who Knew????

STRIPPING CLOTH DIAPERS
Add a squirt or two of original Dawn dish soap to your washer and run a hot wash, then rinse until there are no more bubbles. Dawn is a degreasing agent and helps stripping by removing oily residue. Be sure to rinse, rinse, rinse until the water runs clear.

I have not tried it yet, but it is on the shopping list of things to get. The list of uses for Dawn is pretty amazing! Puffy

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Puffy
BC, Canada
Fighting the "Bladder Battle" since 1995

I know bleach is supposed to shorten the life of cloth diapers but I do not find that a problem since my cloth diapers last years. Bleach and hot water eliminates all odor. I bleach the diapers about every third time I wash them, and after washing once I turn on cycle again to wash with no soap or bleach. Never any odor and soft and clean. Yes, the thick night diapers do take longer to dry. I add time to dryer or if I have time let dry on clothes line in basement. The night diapers are worn till I get in the shower in the morning and placed on the shower floor as I wash. After showering I ring them out and all odor is gone. We make using cloth diapers sound very work intensive but I do not find it that way. Papa