Washable Nappies

Ravenlady_2

spaghetti_monster wrote: »

Thanks for the liner tip - I think I've heard you can get a cheap fleece blanket and cut it up?

Ha ha - you got me to go and deliberately stick my head near the nappy bucket! Difficult to describe - old pee smell, but definitely something else to it.. a bit poo-ey??? But there's no poo in there (it all sticks to the liners).

When the nappies are on (and need changing) they sometimes smell a bit of pee.

Yep, you can cut up and use anything that is made of fleece. Makes fairly decent wipes too.

Oh god dont sniff inside the nappy bucket if there's been nappies in there for over 12 hours, I need a toxic sign on mine. Wash day consists of holding my breath and getting it all in the machine asap!

Its just the ammonia from the wee, its perfectly normal for your nappy bucket to smell like that, you can either sprinkle the nappy with some bicarb before you put it in the bucket (this help neutralise any odours and when in the wash it acts as a extra stripper to help get the fibres cleaner) or add some essential oils to the bucket. Tea Tree and Lavender are very safe for babies and are strong enough to tone down the ammonia smell, they are anti-bacterial too.

If you have any dried lavender you can pop some in a mesh bag and put it on top of the nappy pile.

as long as they are not giving off horrid smells as soon as baby has wee'd on them ( one of the signs of a soap build up) then a pongy bucket is fairly normal.

Ravenlady_2

spaghetti_monster wrote: »

Had a thought - could it have anything to do with weaning? In the last month or so (as the smell problem increased) he's been really eating solids a lot better and eating quite a variety of things and I've noticed that he seems to drink less when breastfeeding.
Maybe makes the pee smell different?

This could be it, stronger wee. has he started to explore the sippy cup yet?

Might explain the redness too.

Elsewhere

If you soak the nappies in plain water, chuck it on your flowerbeds, or compost heap after. The dilute urine is a great fertiliser.

spaghetti_monster

Hi again,
just a quickie - I've now cleaned out the machine (empty, with bicarb and vinegar). Then put the inserts in, hot wash on 60 with a dishwasher tab. Then an extra rinse...
and they still smell of wee. I'm not convinced that one more rinse will do it..
Any ideas to really kill the smell? I've got all the inserts in at the moment, so would be good to get them all in one go..

Nicki

My method worked for me! Detergent wash to kill the smells and bacteria, then vinegar wash to make sure you get rid of every last sud, then a dishwasher tab wash to make sure they are completely clean but without creating any suds. Drying outdoors was also important to air them, even if you don't have a garden, in a window with wide open windows would do or on a dryer by the open door.

Nicki

Sorry, just another thought, but you said in your post at 10.30 that you were cleaning your machine preparatory to stripping, and then at 11.30 that you were sticking your head in the bucket of dirty nappies. I don't want to be rude, but you did wash them with something other than a dishwasher tablet first? You can only strip clean nappies.

spaghetti_monster

Nicki wrote: »

Sorry, just another thought, but you said in your post at 10.30 that you were cleaning your machine preparatory to stripping, and then at 11.30 that you were sticking your head in the bucket of dirty nappies. I don't want to be rude, but you did wash them with something other than a dishwasher tablet first? You can only strip clean nappies.

OMG!:eek: Sorry, didn't realise you had to clean them first - I thought you could just go in with hardcore stuff and blitz everything......:o
Think I'll have to start again tomorrow..... It was lovely weather today so maybe I'll get lucky tomorrow and there'll be some sun..

Ravenlady_2

Sorry, my bad

Nicki

spaghetti_monster wrote: »

OMG!:eek: Sorry, didn't realise you had to clean them first - I thought you could just go in with hardcore stuff and blitz everything......:o
Think I'll have to start again tomorrow..... It was lovely weather today so maybe I'll get lucky tomorrow and there'll be some sun..

I'm so glad I posted that now! I did think several times about whether I should as I didn't want to insult you if you had prewashed in detergent.

I think you should have good success tomorrow with clean nappies but I'd still recommend a vinegar rinse as part of your process.

Ravenlady_2

Vinegar is amazing stuff, stops cotton nappies going crunchy.