Secondhand nappies I bought have just arrived and stink of wee, help!

[Norfolkbumpkin]

I bought some secondhand nappies which have just arrived in the post. I took them out of the packaging and was knocked back by the smell of wee. I had to rebag them and move them into the utility room as hubby walked into the lounge and said,' what is that stink, it smells like an old peoples' home!?' I have washed them in surecare with a presoak and they are now dry on the line, but still smell. How can I get rid of the smell, and should I mention it to the person who sold them to me? I am gutted as I scraped the money together to buy them and now I don't want to put them on dd as she will smell horrible although wearing a clean nappy.

Boilwash

2nd hand nappies that stink of wee. Is there something that is shocking about that ?

i would wash them on cold with no detergent a couple of times. then wash them again with no detergent on a normal wash with some white vinegar. It sounds like there is a buildup of washing powder residue on them.
it should work. The white vinegar is brilliant.

btw where do you live norfolkbumpkin...just being nosey

yuk... did you use one of the nappy sites classified pages? if so you should email the person who runs the site and see is it possible to preven this person selling again.

i agree with mrsleroy, a few washes with no detergant might be your best bet.

GPAC, the nappies i've bought secondhand have always been in fantastic condition so it is very unusual for a seller to have done this.

Peas, I have bought quite a few secondhand nappies, none of which have ever smelled of anything apart from laundry detergent perhaps. Mrs Gibbs, I live in South Norfolk near the broads.

We've used second hand nappies and they've never smelt. I would complain to the seller.

if you want to clean them rather than sending back, soak them in white vinegar and cold water (500ml bottle of vinegar and top up the nappy bucket with water) overnight. Then put the whole lot in the washer, do a prerinse on cold, wash hot with a full dose of bio detergent. rinse two times with warm or cold water to shift the detergent and the nappies should smell ok.

I would complain. It's outrageous to sell something like that without washing it properly. I have bought and sold nappies and have never had a stinky wee problem.

Well, I have followed needaholiday's washing instructions today on the nappies and the smell has totally gone. It has totally sorted them out and I am so relieved as they were just what I was looking for and really didn't want them to go back.

My nappies have been in constant use for well over a year and a half, and they never smell of wee. (Once they're washed, obviously.)

bohemianbint - some children just tend to produce stronger wees - esp when they reach toddlerhood.

Norfolkbumpkin - glad you got it sorted.

Also some types of microfibre nappies (such as Fluffles) are known to have a problem with retaining smell.

I asked Flame about this and she recommends stripping them which afaik involves v hot wash with no detergent.

my dds wees ally stank once they were toddlers, took lots of washing to completely remove the smell, ended up having to use bio powder every wash!

When my ds was born (2005) Norfolk CC were doing free Bambino Mios. Contact them and see if the scheme is still running.

norfolk cc are def not doing them now. they do a £30 cash back scheme still I think

i find that our nappies will smell after washing quite regularly and have to do the hot wash, cold wash etc once a month to keep them from smelling like wee wee cabbage bums!!