Diapers Q&A - can't get rid of ammonia with my babies cloth diapers!?

can't get rid of ammonia with my babies cloth diapers!?

I thought it was the fact that he was sitting in pee over night that gave it time to turn to ammonia. ( he's day potty trained and we just started cloth at night 3 weeks ago ) Well I just put a diaper on him and he peed...A few minutes later I catch a strong whiff of ammonia. It ALREADY smells really strong! I'm gonna have to put a disposable on him again until we get this figured out. I really want to figure out what I'm doing wrong cause I'm due in 5 weeks and wanted to cloth diaper this baby. I've tried 3 different soaps ( purex,all, and arm and hammer) I'm only using like a tbsp and running it through 3 cycles! ( no soap - soap - no soap) I have a front load washer. I also tried a small squirt of blue dawn and just water. I even tried 1/8 cup bleach. ( I tried all of these things seperatly not together) nothing is working and it's ticking me off! Someone please tell me how to fix this ammonia problem! I ran them through 3 extra hot cycles plain water cycles ( back to back ) last week...there was no suds. Still ammonia!

Public Comments

Put a cup of white vinegar in the wash cycle. That should do it!
heres how I do mine: prewash cycle to rinse away any residue, wash cycle with a small amount of liquid soap ( I use 7th generation), 1/2 c of baking soda and 1/2 c of borax, 1 c vinegar in the rinse cycle, then a second rinse. I air dry my covers and dry diapers on high heat.
Most likely, it's detergent residue. Wash them in plain hot water (no soap) and keep washing them in hot water, until there are NO suds. (This could take 4 or 5 cycles.) You should be good to go after that. Also, check your diapers as they're rinsing every time you wash them. If you see suds, run another rinse. Front-loaders are great, but they make it harder to get diapers fully rinsed, especially if you're using pocket diapers. And, finally, I like Charlie's Soap. It rinses a little better than anything else I've tried -- but I still have to run an extra rinse or two, even though I only use a quarter the recommended amount.
The smell is caused by detergent build up. Try adding baking soda and white vinegar to the first part of the wash. http://www.simplewondersdiapers.com/Diaper-care.htm
Put a cup of white vinegar in the wash cycle. That should do it! - it rele works.
Baking soda + white vinegar should do the trick !!
Use vinegar. BTW, it also works for armpit stains.
I have this problem with my newborn. I highly suggest a better detergent. I love Allen's Naturally detergent (I think you can get it at cottonbabies.com). I hated Charlie's detergent. I know many manufacturers recommend it, but we always had smelly problems and rashes when I used it. If you have hard water, you might want to try a water softener like Calgon. I also recommend stripping the diapers using the manufacturer's recommended method because you probably have detergent build-up.
Next wash add some baking soda in with your detergent and vinegar in your rinse. Baking soda will help neutralise odors and the vinegar will balance the pH change created by the baking soda and it acts as a natural fabric softener. Definitely consider new detergents! I highly recommend Country Save detergent. It is low cost. Available in stores (you don't have to order it online and wait for it and pay shipping!). It rinses incredibly clean from clothes. It can be used in top loading and front loading (HE) machines. It is earth-friendly! Also, what cycles are you using on your HE machines? It makes a HUGE difference. HE machines do not use enough water to really get diapers clean and rinsed properly. Using the "delicates" cycle can help get more water in for your two rinse cycles (before and after the wash). You should also be running a hot wash cycle (we have a Maytag and use the "Super Wash" cycle for this step) in between and adding another rinse cycle to the end! The "pre-wash" and "rinse and spin" cycles on HE machines are not adequate for the extra rinses of diapers, you need to be running full wash cycles to rinse properly. It will take a lot of trial and error to figure out the best settings and cycles for your machine and your diapers. It is definitely worth trying since you have another baby on the way!