How can I stop my reusables smelling?

[kayjayel]

I fear 3 yrs of my stinky DS has ruined them! They're on the 4th child (were second hand, then my DS, now on 3 mth old DD) and are great (motherese) but all it takes is one wee from her and they just stink. I'm sure its not just her being specially stinky. But its getting embarrassing - I have to change her before letting people cuddle her!

I've tried a hot wash, bio wash, soaking. Does anyone tips on how to properly get them clean so I can carry on using them with her?

Try putting a capful of white vinegar in with them and an extra rinse as well.

Could also be detergent buildup, so they may need stripping of the built up detergent.

Thanks - will try on next wash. Will the vinegar rinse get rid of detergent build up?

I had 3 years of washing nappies with 2 in them. DS2 seemed to have more stinky wee than ds1 for some reason,

I always washed my nappies on 60, usually ignored the instruction to use only half a dose of washing powder. Put them in a prewash cycle but with no powder in the prewash so that they get rinsed before the hot wash starts use the extra rinsing button too if you have one. If they still smell of wee etc when they come out then repeat the (prewash) rinse hotwash more rinsing. If they smell of detergent then put them in a wash cycle with no powder at all to get it all out.
I think once I did the rinse hotwash rinse thing twice and still needed another powder-free wash till they were fresh and clean, and after that the nappies didn't seem to smell as much even when they were wet.
Oh and hang the nappies outside, even in a light drizzle the fresh air and light makes all the difference.
Detergent build up can really make them smell when they get weed in.

Thats a good tip - I use the prewash with detergent when I think they need more cleaning, which probably doesn't help with the detergent build up.

vinegar helps kill any odours but it does sound like detergent build up to me, you;ll need to wash them several times without any detergent til no soap bubbles can be seen.
It wll take a few washes but should eliminate the odour.

hang outside to dry/air when damp

cold prewsh and cold extra rinse

add few drops essential oil to wash before extra rinse

I think I need to reserve a 'laundry week' to try to fit all these washes in between normal constant washing! Thanks, these motherese are perfect in everything else.

I think it will take just one day of extra washing then they should be ok for a while!

My washing machine thinks we've moved house now that ds2 is potty trained