Cloth Diapers 201: Troubleshooting Cloth Diaper Stink

Smells and stink are an issues we hear about quite a bit at Cotton Babies. The issue can be caused by a few different things. So while there is no one easy answer to solve all stink issues, we have a few basic troubleshooting tips to get you started.

The first and best way to deal with stink issues is to make sure you wash your cloth diapers at least every other day. The longer your cloth diapers sit dirty, the more difficult it can be to remove any smells that may set in. Another helpful tip is to take a few extra minutes to rinse that dirty diaper or overnight diaper before tossing it in your pail or wet bag. bumGenius Odor Remover is another way to help combat smells before it's laundry time. It is especially helpful if you have a little one who is eating solid foods or a toddler who has very stinky overnight diapers.

If you are washing every other day and rinsing to help with odor, the next step is to take a look at your laundry routine and detergent.

A detergent that works really well for your best friend may not work well for you. With variables such as type of washing machine, water hardness and more, it may take a bit of trial and error to find the right detergent and right amount of detergent for you and your family. We recommend using 1/4 of the recommended amount if your laundry detergent is not specifically designed for cloth diapers. If you are using a detergent designed for cloth diapers, like bumGenius, Fuzzibunz or Rockin' Green, use the amount listed on the package. If you know you live in an area with hard water, you may find you need to use a bit more than the recommended amount of detergent to get your diapers clean. If you find you need to switch laundry detergents, we suggest stripping your cloth diapers before changing to the new detergent, to make sure you don't have any buildup of the old detergent.

Another area to consider is your laundry routine. If you have a newer, high efficiency machine, you may find your diapers aren't being rinsed enough to remove all the urine or detergent during the wash cycle.

If you are battling "stink issues", we recommend changing to the following laundry routine:

• Wash a full cold wash/cold rinse cycle with recommended amount of detergent.
• Wash a full warm wash/cold rinse cycle with recommended amount of detergent.
• Run a second cold rinse cycle.

Another way to get more water into your rinse cycles in a high efficiency machine is to use our wet towel trick. Simply wet a towel (or two if they are small) and add it to your machine with your dirty cloth diapers at the start of your cycles. This will trick the machine into adding a bit more water to rinse your cloth diapers better.

Remember that these are our basic troubleshooting tips and if you are still having issues, we are glad to help you with more personalized troubleshooting tips if you give us a call at 1-888-332-2243, live chat with us at CottonBabies.com or e-mail us at contactus@cottonbabies.com. We'll ask detailed questions about your style of cloth diapers, washing machine, laundry detergent and little one to help you find a solution to your smell issues.

The goal is that your diapers come out of the laundry and smell like nothing. If you have yet to achieve this, give us a call so we can assist you.