reusables not performing like they used to...

[Anabellesmumanddad]

or is it my imagination?
They seem to 'fill' with wee and then smell quite quickly and we are struggling to keep our girl rash-free. Although we have our suspicions that they aren't using the rash cream at creche. Is there a way to 'deep clean' reusables? I usually wash hot with some nappy solution and detergent and usually they dry in the sun.
Any ideas? have others had this issue? The brand is Fuzzibunz

Nappy cream plus fleece (such as that which lines fuzzis) doesn't always go too well. The oil in the cream can block the fleece and decrease the absorbancy, it doesn't always come out - esp if you are hot washing (oil plus soap in hot water emulsifies on the nappy). What temp are you washing at?

What inserts do you use? Is it those which are smelling more or the nappy itelf?

I've been doing a cold rinse cycle with some bicarb of soda which has minimised the smell! I'm also trying out silk liners to get rid of ds2's teething nappy rash, they seem to be helping!

I used to wash them on cold, but my partner washes them on hot so I started doing that as well.
I use the inserts which came with the nappy and I 'think' it's the insterts which smell not the nappy itself, but I will check that out

Wash on cool I always did

Vinegar in the conditioner draw (just a tablespoon of white)

what nappies are they?

BBM are you suggesting that a cold wash would prevent the cream from bonding with the fleece?

Microfibre inserts hold smells very well indeed. Best way to get rid of it is to do a cold pre-wash before you do your normal wash. The hot water sets the urine smells in so you need to rinse them off in cold first.

I'm assuming hot is 60C not 90C 90C too hot, 60C fine, I wash at 40C without any problems.

If you want to continue with the rash cream you can try using a removable fleece liner inside your fuzzi. Just any old bit of fleece fabric cut to shape will do. My fleece liners are fine with metanium cream but if I got it on the fleece inside my pocket nappies then it was a PITA. At least you can dispose of the fleece liner if needs be rather than ruining the whole nappy.

Some say two lots of fleece together has a poor effect on wicking away moisture - not been a problem for me but maybe something to bear in mind.

To deep clean do 2 x cold rinses then wash with Bicarb instead of normal powder and use a glug of white vinegar in the fabric softener compartment (same amount as you would use softener in your normal non-nappy wash). If your washing machine drum smells too then might be a good opportunity to do a maintenance wash on that. Clean inide of machine and drawers then, ideally using bio powder, do a 90C wash with drum empty. You probably don't need to do a maintenance wash though but if you find your normal washing isn't as clean smelling as it used to be then that is how you do it. It's usually only needed if you have a washer drier and use gel tablets...god I have a vast knowledge of dull stuff (and I type ad nauseum when tired

x post - nope, the cold rinse gets the urine out. An extra hot wash will emulsify the cream and it won't come out.

A cold wash doesn't seem to set the cream into the fleece in my nappies (as the nappies get cold in the bucket usually anyway I guess ) I wash at 40C don't use cream as routine but had bad teething rash and had to use more often of late - no problems so far.

Our machine is pretty basic. It only has hot cold and I think medium temp settings. We use liners which are flushable things.
I am glad you have a vast knowledge of these things by the way.
I'll wash em all with vinegar and bicarb in cold. See how that does. Also good suggestion to not use cream all the time....
Hope you got some sleep!

well, 'vast' might be a bit of an overstatement on my part .

Let us know how you get on with the vinegar and bicarb.

Fuzzis have info on "stripping" nappies if they seem to be repelling urine:

Q: What does ?stripping? the diapers mean and should I be doing it?

A: We have (as have others) had many theories on what is called "stripping? diapers. We simply call it plain ole upkeep and something that should be done every now and then as a preventative measure in taking care of your diapers and prolonging their life. Although our diapers typically don?t have these problems, on occasion we do receive questions involving persistent stink. repelling fleece (or residue buildup on the fleece), fleece that stays wet or leaking diapers.

1. Get a good detergent like Allen's Naturally.
2. Run all of your diapers through a plain water hot wash.
3. Run all of your diapers through a hot wash with the full recommended amount of detergent.
4. If the problem is bad, repeat step three.
5. Run a cold rinse. If you have hard water you may want to add a water softener such as Baking Soda or Calgon Water Softener to soften your water and help release any left over detergent.
6. If you still see bubbles in your rinse run another cold rinse.
7. You can either sun your diapers or tumble on low.

A good way to tell if your repelling problem is fixed is to take a nasal aspirator and put an insert into the pocket. Fill the nasal aspirator with water and put it close to the fleece and "pee" on the diaper with the aspirator. If the water goes through, your repelling problem should be fixed.