Cloth nappies smelling of cabbages???

[clairemow]

I read the thread about them smelling of wee, but my DS2's seem to smell of cabbages, and it often smells like he's done a poo. Why? how do I stop it???

Thanks!

I know what you mean - esp if you leave them in a waterproof bag in the car overnight! I would use some mio fresh or similar in the machine or a few drops of something nice e.g. lavender or tea tree oil in the bucket.

That sounds suspiciously like a washing powder build-up. I remember before we used eco-balls, we used to think ds has pooed when he had only peed and that all stopped after the eco-balls.
It might be worth 'stripping' the nappies, by washing them at 60 degrees without powder as many times as it takes for the soap bubbles to disappear from the water - it can take a few washes.
After that you could reduce the amount of washing powder you use drastically or try eco-balls or soapnuts at 60 degrees and a final rinse of white vinegar to kill bacteria.
Hope that helps a bit.

Thanks for the tips. Will try both...

Maisie, have you found the eco balls really good then? Do they get mud and food out of everything? I suppose if they clean poo out of nappies they must be great!!!

I guess if you're washing the nappies every other day (I've only got 10 so do a wash every night) they would get a lot of powder in them. And that would explain why sometimes they smell and sometimes not. Maybe it depends how much other stuff goes in too - I just bung them in with any other washing that needs doing.

I had the same prob, and seem to have pretty much sorted it out by:

Adding a cold pre-wash cycle and extra rinse (apparently a hot wash can 'set' the smell into the nappies - not sure if that's scientific fact though!)
Using much less washing powder
Adding a bit of bicarb to the wash (I think this particularly helped).

Oh and you need to use white vinegar to rinse off the build-up.
It'll help clean your washing machine too.
That and Soda crystals. Works a treat!!