A question about stinky reusuables.

[Febes]

Ok so I just went back to using my washables as am I on Maternity leave for DC 2. DD is 17 months I have a load of pocket nappies plus terries and wraps I use tea tree oil in the bucket and flushable liners which wash out a few times or can be flushed if pooy. They smell a bit pissy even straight off the washing line. What can i use to make them smell better? I use non bio concentrate (tesco brand) and some oxy stuff to whiten. What else can I do?

Have you tried a prewash?

Do you mean soak them in something. I thought its better not to soak them? What do you with yours??

I found that putting vinegar in the rinse cycle made a huge difference. They smell a bit vinegary when they come out but that evaporates off as they dry.

White vinegar?? Do I just put a bit in the draw thingy? Sorry not very dom goddess

A large measure of bio, and rinse, rinse, rinse until there are no bubbles.

Yep. Just white vinegar. It seems to neutralise the ammonia, or get rid of detergent residue or something. Dunno, it works though!

A good glug of White vinegar in the softener part of the drawer strips the ammonia or any powder residue from the nappies.

I always soaked mine in a bucket until I put the wash on. Put Napisan in bucket and sometimes tea tree oil too.

As a one off wash them with bio (full dose) at 60 and then do a couple of washes without detergent.

Then when you wash them normally do a cold rinse beforehand to dilute the wee.

Is your dd teething? That can make them smellier. DON'T soak the pocket outers if you do decide to soak the inners, it will destroy them

Never soaked mine found dry pailing much easier.

Must remember to get them all down and give them a wash before no 3 arrives and stock up on white vinegar!

Cool I'll try vinegar then. She is teething so maybe thats why they are so smelly. I have been turning it up to 60 for the nappy wash.
I don't want to get into soaking them if poss as thats another step- I'll try to keep it simple.

I just used bio permanently when my kids were in washables, the nappies came out cleaner and strangely, they were much less prone to nappy rash than with non-bio.

Do not use Bio powder at 60, it may not work at 60 -- the high temp breaks apart the enzymes so they don't work.

Sigh, there's an eczema website recommending Bio wash at 95 degrees . Almost pointless...

Anyway, I wash everything in Bio now, too (unless it needs a 60 deg. wash, basically stuff I don't want the Napisan to bleach but which got vomit or poo on it -- then I use non-Bio). DD has sensitive skin even, but nobody in our family seems to react to Bio.

Sometimes I do the prewash cycle as offered on the machine, just put a small amount of detergent in. It's basically an extra long rinse with a little detergent, and it does help with wee-smell, ime. I don't soak, otherwise, what a nightmare.

So should I use bio at 30??

No need to use bio - or presoak...

We used ecover non-bio (half the usual amount), but put in on a rinse cycle, then a short wash at 50, white vinegar or lavender oil in the conditioner chute, then line dried (or tumbled when raining). No smells at all...

And I can remember all of this 3 years on because the instructions are still on a post-it note on the wall in the laundry for DH's benefit

If you use bio, yes use it at 30 or it may be a little more effective at 40 (but that may take longer and uses more energy so effectively is more expensive). Just don't use it for 60 or 95 -- non-bio for those temps.

I have been using lavender oil and tea tree oil in the bucket so I'll try using in the wash too. Thanks everyone.

Ecover do a bio liquid now, which doesn't upset DS eczema, so must be fairly mild?

I found bamboo nappies smelt unless they were done at 60 degrees (I use Bold 2 in 1).

Really? I didn't know that (obviously ). I've always found a one off bio wash hotter than normal kills off any smells but I suppose it could just as easily be the extra rinses...(though when I did it at normal temp it didn't seem as effective)

I can't find a good link so maybe I'm making it up (I know I didn't. lol).

But most enzymes have a narrow range of temps where they operate well, outside that range (eg, 30-40 deg. on most detergent boxes) they either work much less efficiently or die off if too hot (get broken).

I tried a rinse cycle first, then normal 30 degree wash with non bio concentrate and a few drops of lavender oil and they were alot less smelly. I will get some vinegar too next time I'm at the supermarket. Thanks ladies.

I use a tbsp Bio-D's nappy wash with their powder - no smell.

I've found that a good glug of white vinegar in the fabric conditioner part of the machine with 1 drop of lavender oil works lovely on my bamboozles.

The best place to buy white vinegar is an asian supermarket - you can pick up 5 litres for about £2 - much cheaper than any of the big 4 supermarkets.

Ohhh good tip thanks