After months I have finally been able to get rid of the leftover stink in Isaac's diapers from when we went to Houston! I am so excited! I thought for sure they were always going to have that underlying stink! But I persevered and finally found a concoction to make them fresh. The secret: Baking Soda!!!
First I stripped them, several times (washing them in hot, hot water to get rid of soap buildup). When that didn't work I added oxygen bleach and let them soak. That worked a little but they still didn't have that fresh smell. I tried a different detergent but I didn't really like because it was a powder and powder doesn't do too well in my front loader, so I went back to my liquid Allen's. So next I added more soap to my wash, I tend to err on the side of less soap, so I thought maybe I wasn't washing them well enough. But nope, that just ended creating too many suds and I had to rinse them a few extra times to really get rid of it all. Just when I was about to accept the stinkers as they were, thinking maybe the Houston soft water had really done some permanent damage I remembered when Maddie was in diapers that I used Baking Soda generously with every wash. Her diapers always smelled great right out of the wash! Duh! How could I have forgotten! So I sprinkled Baking Soda generously on the diapers after the initial cold rinse (in addition to the detergent) and I did an extra wash with just Baking Soda. Once they were clean I added even more soda and let them soak for a couple hours. I think I used about 1/4 cupful each time, I have a front loader but I would imagine with a top loader you would need at least 1/2 cup, maybe even 3/4 cupful. After that I did a regular rinse, plus one extra cold rinse. I took a sniff when they came out of the wash and was skeptically hopeful. I just finished folding and stuffing them and I am happy to report that they smell great!
They are too small for Isaac now, but at least they don't stink and if we ever have another baby they will be just like new!
Yay memory and yay Baking Soda!
I really may need to start using this as well. My microfibre inserts are starting to get a funk in them. I'm washing nightly now that the warm humid weather is here, but it's not helping. The only other thing that's changed is that I'm back to Allens again. Who knows, maybe Country Save does work better in my water....?
ReplyDelete-Taryn