Household Helpers: Stripping Cloth Diapers & De-stinking

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my cloth diapers!  So far, all we have in our house are Kissaluvs Marvels and Pocket Trainers.  Aren’t they gorgeous?

The thing about cloth diapers is… they change… The super soft fleece insides pill up, and for good reason.  The pilling actually wicks the moisture away from the kiddos and towards the microfiber stuffers.  Unfortunately, with most detergents, buildup occurs on the fabric, which prevents it from doing it’s job.  I’m not kidding… from what I’ve read, it can get to the point where the fleece is waterproof… and the diapers just flat out leak!!

I also learned something about microfiber.  They are incredibly absorbant, which is why they work so well in diapers… but they also retain smells more than cotton or bamboo or natural fibers would.  This can be an issue.  My gorgeous diapers started to smell a little… off.  They weren’t horrendous, don’t get me wrong.  I’ve only had them for a month, and until my next 3 arrive, I only really have 8 diapers and 3 trainers, so they are being used and washed CONSTANTLY. The longest any of them ever sit dirty is overnight (nighttime pees) and they get washed promptly.  The stink is mostly ammonia… which can also apparently stick to the detergent residue.  Ewww…

So, today I researched and researched and “stripped” my diapers.  I read MANY MANY MANY instructionals about how it should be done.  The thing is… they all varied.  They all suggested different types of detergents, no detergents, baking soda, vinegar, bleach, dish detergent… some folks even run their diapers through their dishwashers.  You read that correctly.  /:oO  I just wanted the funk smell out.  Hanging diapers to dry in the sun sounds easy and all… but it’s 90 degrees and crazy humid and buggy.  I don’t know if they would dry so much as roast, and I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to keep the pests away.  So I’m reluctant to hang anything out to dry right now.

Here’s what I did.

For the record, all of my diapers are All-In-Ones.  This means that I can’t simply remove the microfiber and throw it in a bleach wash.  They are all partly PUL – a polyester / plastic / waterproof material that WILL melt… so they can’t be dried on High either.

So… I took all of my diapers, turned them inside out, rinsed them under cold water in the bathtub and filled the bathtub about a half inch to an inch with warm water and heavily applied Blue Dawn Dishsoap.  I scrubbed.  I read that using a hard bristle brush was a good idea… but it isn’t.  I assure you.  So…I scrubbed by hand.  It’s not as gross as you may be thinking… there is no poop or anything.. these are mostly clean or lightly peed diapers… I scrubbed the microfiber and the fleece sections and rinsed as well as possible to get the water running clear.  This took some time.

Then, I rubbed baking soda onto the microfiber inserts, and they almost immediately got pasty, which was the goal.  I rubbed the baking soda in well, and let it sit for a few minutes.  Then I rinsed all of the diapers again, wrung them out carefully (don’t want to damage the PUL) and then threw them all into the wash.

I put the washer on a high water setting, with high heat and extra cleanwater rinse.  I put in a half load of the kids & my clothing – nothing that has zippers or anything scratchy).  I didn’t add any soap.  My theory was that there was probably enough residual dawn and baking soda to take care of the whole load.  I think I was right.

I transfered the whole load to the dryer and set it on air dry for a LONG time.  Since there were other things in the load, I needed everything to have time to dry, but I didn’t want to cook it out… I wanted to dry them.  I checked in on them a little while ago… they smell great!!!!  I’m so relieved.  I’ve been looking forward to making some diapers myself, but not out of necessity due to stink… Hooray!!!