Real smell problems

[happymuppet]

ALL of Marty's nappies are smelly! And I have tried everything I can think of. I'll tell you what I do and tell me what I can change. I have searched this forum a thousand (nearly!) times and can't find an answer...I think DH is almost at the point of giving up.

All nappies get a rinse and then in the bucket. (That bit is new, used to just be dirty nappies - always ALWAYS rinse off every last bit of poo)
They've always had a cold prerinse in the washing machine (F&P top loader)
Warm (50C) wash and cold rinse (no hot rinse option)
1/2 scoop of Ecostore (just changed to this from Greencare Liquid about four weeks ago)
Vinegar, or tea tree oil, or lemon myrtle (alternating) in the rinse cycle
Hung on the airer (and then moved outside and into the sun for as much time as possible, although not every load gets time outside as we have pretty bad weather in winter)


What is going wrong? As soon as Marty wees the nappy REEKS, so much so that other ppl have commented. I must admit, I had him in disposables over the weekend as we were away from home (and it rained on my nappies ) and I happily put up with the sposie smell because it was nowhere near as bad as when normally in cloth).

Could it have something to do with hard water? Our water contains a lot of calcium and other crap. That's the last thing I can think of!

[*Tracee*]

I'd be tempted to give them a hot wash Cindy.
60 degrees
and then sun, sun and more sun. If they need to stay outside for a few days so be it.

[MGlatte]

This isn't going to help you, but could it just be really smelly wee? Caelan, at times, has really smelly wee. I (and anyone nearby) can smell it as soon as he wees and it doesn't matter what fabric is on his bottom or how the nappies have been washed.

I have started washing his nappies in the late afternoon and hanging them out on the line overnight and all the next day. I haven't noticed the smell since I've been doing this. But I'm not sure whether I've solved the problem or if he is just not doing smelly wees at the moment.

[happymuppet]

My stupid HWS only goes to 50 max and there is no way I can ramp it up! Any ideas? Would a big pot of boiling water added to a 50C wash make it 60C?

That's definitely an idea MGlatte, I'm working on getting Marty to drink water (sick of making him diluted cordial all the time, so diluted it's hardly even cordial) but he just won't! That's probably not helping but that's a recent issue.

[~*Bron*~]

josie's wee changed from horrible to normal after i removed dairy and soy from our diets (so was an allergy symptom for her).

you could change him as soon as he wees? sure was a good way for me to know she'd weed personally i think the smell is preferable to the health risks of single use nappies

[bilbylove]

try a washload with half a cup of bicarb soda (instead of washing powder) and a half cup of vinegar (where fabric conditioner goes)

that's what i read people use to conquer smelly nappies.

i've noticed my bub goes thru stages when her urine is stronger than other times.

[MichelleP]

Experiment with the amount of detergent, sometimes smell can be from too little OR too much detergent.

[happymuppet]

Rightyo, bumping this to get new ideas.

I've tried these options, and have had marginal (read:tiny amount) of success with a full scoop of Ecostore :O for each load.

It was SO bad today I smelt him before he'd turned the corner out of the passage and into the lounge room :$ and it's DEFINITELY the nappies, not the wee as I used two 'too small' nappies that had been washed ages and ages ago and even the one that we thought smelt pretty bad back then smelt perfectly fine! It's a terrible terrible smell, as soon as wee hits the nappy it smells like something rotten (DH says rotting meat....) Really really bad.

DH is really at his wits end about it and I must admit, I'm almost there too! Should I take them all to the laundromat to give them an extra hot wash (seeing as I can only 50C from my HWS?)

Also, anyone heard of Lectric Soda? I saw it in the laundry aisle the other day and apparently it softens water....wasn't keen to try it until I knew it would be safe. WDYT?

[Pobie]

I have the same issues, and I dont know what to do either. Its mainly his NN's. DS did one wee in it tonight and DH and I both thought that he had pooed it was that bad.

I do a cold pre-rince, then another pre-rince on warm followed by a huge wash cycle with heaps of rinces at the end. I air the nappies and sun them and still . . . smelly

I do think its a build up of smelly wee though cause it mainly his night nappies. I only wash every 3rd day or so so I think the fact that the nappies sit there for so long is doing some damage.

Can you perhaps boil them? Would that ruin the elastic? I dont know.

Other than that I would just keep sunning them. We dont get alot of sun here so I am hanging for some warmer weather to air all my nappies.

[marymac]

I had a nappy smell problem. I stripwashed my whole stash and have stopped using detergent completely. Just machine wash in water only. Problem solved. My nappies don't have so much as a whiff of odour any more.

Ditch the detergent. The detergent build up is where the smells live.