I tried so many things to fix it. I sunned my diapers more even though I was already doing this any time the sun was out and they were wet. I ran the diapers through three hot washes with no soap. I tried many different detergents because I knew that ammonia buildup was also usually caused and/or complicated by soap buildup. I tried more soap, I tried less soap. I tried vinegar (which I later learned isn't recommended in hard water.) I tried adding in boiling water to increase my water temps. I tried Funk Rock which fixed the problem temporarily, but then the ammonia came back. As a last ditch resort, I even went so far as to use bleach with my diapers which worked for about two weeks until the ammonia came back.
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| Photo via Kelly's Closet |
It got so bad that my poor baby was getting rashes caused by the ammonia and I nearly quit cloth diapering. Luckily I am the most stubborn person out there and refused to be defeated by ammonia. So after much advice, scouring internet articles, and trial and error I came up with a few tips and tricks that helped mainly eliminate my ammonia woes. In his overnight diapers I still occasionally can catch a whiff of ammonia but it isn't strong at all and I can live with this as long as it isn't every diaper and causing rashes. He does wear those diapers for 12+ hours so I assume this is normal.
Okay before first and foremost since I just thought I should have included this after I typed all of it, I would recommend stripping your diapers so that you are starting with very clean diapers. My preferred method is stripping with RLR. First and foremost, I found rinsing all diapers even just the pee ones helps. Secondly I no longer zip my wet bag closed but leave it open 24/7 to let oxygen circulate and help prevent ammonia from building up. If one of his overnight diapers smell really strong, I will actually let the inserts soak in water in my bathroom sink for a while. So basically rinse, rinse, rinse.
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| Photo via Kelly's Closet |
Then you repeat the rinse, rinse, rinse while washing. (To read my washing routine in detail, click here.) I do a warm rinse first. Warm seems to work much better than a cold rinse at getting extra urine/ammonia out of the diapers. I was concerned with staining of my diapers from the warm rinse, but I found that it isn't anything that a good sunning won't take out. I then do an entire extra wash cycle with a hot wash/cold rinse as the final rinse.
Calgon Water Softener Liquid is a life saver as well. I add a half a cap in the hot wash and then a half a cap in the hot rinse. I didn't actually think this was helping until I stopped using it and the ammonia got worse again. It makes a huge difference even if it isn't super noticeable at first. This is especially true if hard water is what is causing your ammonia woes.
A final product that I have to recommend is Grovia mighty bubbles soap. This is something I will use every other month or so for a wash or two as a method of reducing build up from the hard water. It seems to really help as I notice less odors immediately after using it. You just throw a pack of it in in place of your normal detergent.
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| Photo via Kelly's Closet |
I hope these tips and tricks helps you battle your ammonia woes. It was a lot of trial and error, but I finally got a place where I feel like I know what I am doing haha. You know until something else comes up and I realize cloth diapering is always a learning experience.
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