Ammonia

Ammonia--- It's a smell I never expected to find fuming from my baby's saturated diaper.  It honestly reminds me more of cleaning supplies than anything.  One thing is sure: once you get a whiff, there's no denying it.  You have ammonia in your diapers, and you have to do something about it!  Ignore the problem, and the smell (and possibly a rash your baby's bum) will only get worse...until one day when you want to toss all the diapers out the window!

Here is a brief bit of info to help you understand ammonia.  It can form in your diapers for two different reasons:

1.) Urea, which is one of the components of urine, is a very similar chemical to ammonia.  I am not a chemist, so I don't fully understand the science behind it...but somehow under the right conditions (warmth, long amount of time), the urea in the diaper fabric converts into ammonia.  The urea/ammonia substance finds a way to secure itself to the diaper by forming crystals in the threads of the fabric.

2.) Bacterial build-up can also cause ammonia to form in the diapers.  This cause becomes more common for babies when they begin eating solids, as they have more bacteria in their guts.

As you can imagine, a regular washing of your diapers is not going to pull out the crystallized ammonia or the bacterial build-up.  This is why it is so important to immediately strip your diapers.  It is equally important to develop a laundry routine that prevents this toxic substance from building up in your diapers, or else you will find yourself stripping the diapers every few weeks when the ammonia returns.  A few techniques I have integrated into my washing routine to prevent the return of ammonia include:

1.) Rinsing diapers after each diaper change.
2.) Using an old tooth brush to gently scrub off any bacteria-causing poo that is on the fabric.
3.) Storing the soiled diapers in an open container to prevent breeding grounds for bacteria.  Bacteria loves damp, warm, oxygen-free spaces.
4.) Going no longer than 48-60 hours between washings.
5.) Stripping my diapers every 6 months.
6.) Using only natural creams on my baby's bum.

Care to read more about ammonia?  Here's a great page by Rockin Green.

Stripping Cloth Diapers

You know it is time to strip your cloth diapers when they have a stink that doesn't go away despite your normal washing.  Before I stripped my diapers for the first time, the diapers still smelled of urine/ammonia immediately after washing them "clean."  They seemed to lose the smell when dry, but the stench returned as soon as any liquid - even water - came in contact with the fabric.  Being new to cloth diapering, I had no idea what to do.  I thought I was going to have to trash my entire stash!

Thank goodness for a friend telling me about diaper stripping.  Two days later, I came away feeling as though I had an entirely new set of diapers!  Ta-Da!

After hearing multiple renditions of how moms strip their diapers, I have compiled my own technique, as follows:
(Please note, my directions account for having a top-loading washing machine and no hard water.  If your situation differs, you will need to modify the directions.  Here is a great place to look for alternatives.  You may also chose to use expensive, specialized detergents, such as Rockin Green - Funk Rock Ammonia Bouncer or Bac-Out; however, I have experienced great results using only standard products I already have on hand.)

1.) Manually turn up your water heater, so you can get the hottest water possible in your washer.
2.) Wash all your diapers clean (I use All Free & Clear  in this routine- and plan to keep baby in disposable diapers until your stash is fully stripped and dried (about 36-48 hours).
3.) Separate out all your diaper covers with PUL for step #4, as vinegar can damage the material.
4.) With all non-PUL diapers in the washer, run a warm or hot water, rinse-only cycle - adding 1/2 cup white vinegar as the washer is filling.  (The vinegar helps to break down the detergent built up in the fabric, so the build-up can be rinsed out in the following steps.)
5.) Add PUL fabrics back into the washer.
6.) Fill washer to the fullest setting with HOT water.  (If your water heater does not produce hot enough water, you may want to boil water on the stove to add to the washer, as hot water is crucial for breaking down bacteria and crystallized urea and ammonia.)  Add 3/4 scoop of OxiClean, and begin a normal wash cycle.
7.) Allow the washer to run long enough to thoroughly mix the OxiClean throughout, and stop the washer.
8.) Allow the diapers to soak in the hot water for 6-8 hours.  "Stir" the diapers every 1-2 hours by starting the washer for a few moments.
9.) After 6-8 hours, allow the wash cycle to finish.
10.) Rinse diapers (4-6 times) in HOT water until soap bubbles no longer appear.  (The first time I stripped my diapers, I had to rinse them 7 times in addition to the rinse in step #9!)  Be sure to check for soap bubbles (not to be confused with agitation bubbles) during each rinse cycle.
11.) When fully rinsed, sun dry the diapers.
12.) Turn your water heater back to its normal setting.
13.) Repeat every six months, or as needed.

Hope this helps kick your stink like it did mine!

Laundry

Oh, laundry...the part of cloth diapering that many people say keeps them from even attempting cloth diapers.  The truth is, once you get a routine down, washing your cloth diapers becomes about the same effort as taking bags of stinky disposable diapers out to the garbage at least daily.  It is true that you have to launder your diapers correctly, or else you will end up with detergent build-up, ammonia, stains, or other nasty problems.  It's also important to strip your diapers every six months, or more often if needed.  Let's talk about pre-wash/pre-rinse, storage of dirty diapers, frequency of washing, cycles, detergent, and drying.

Pre-Wash/Pre-Rinse
Rule number one: poo must go down the toilet!  Never leave it on your diaper expecting it to come out in the wash.  Your diapers will likely not come out clean and will probably be stained.  If you like, you can purchase a bumGenius Diaper Sprayer that attaches to your toilet for the purpose of spraying poopy diapers.  I am blessed to have a child with rather firm poo, so his normally rolls right off.  I then use an old toothbrush to immediately scrub out any marks left on the diaper.  If you don't care about stains, this would not be necessary.
You'll find many methods out there for urine-only diapers.  Some moms choose to place the urine-soaked diaper immediately in a pail and leave it there until wash time.  That was my initial method; however, I began having problems with ammonia and decided to begin rinsing them immediately after a diaper change.  It's not a long process, just 30 seconds or so - long enough until the diaper no longer smells of urine.  This pre-rising (combined with my storage technique described below) have keep away all the stink!

Storage of Dirty Diapers
After reading a lot of reviews, I initially used a large Planet Wise Diaper Pail Liner inside a garbage can.  This combination worked perfectly at containing the stink to the diaper pail and could hold even more diapers than I owned.  Even after a super wash on all my diapers, my ammonia problem persisted, so I switched to storing the dirty diapers in an open laundry basket similar to this one.  I had read that storing them in an open container actually decreases the odor, because the bacteria-causing-odor does not like oxygen.  A wet, closed-up diaper pail is breeding grounds for the bacteria.  To further prevent bacteria/ammonia build-up, I allow the wet diaper to dry until damp on the rim of the laundry basket before tossing it in with the other dirty diapers.  This method is working great for me.  Although there is a minor stench wafting from the baby's bathroom on the day before washing, his diapers no longer smell like ammonia while he is wearing them!

Frequency of Washing
Every other day.  Period.  Leave the urine in the diapers much longer than that and the urea in the urine can turn to ammonia, which takes a bit of work to get out of your diapers.  For a great article on understanding ammonia, see this article by Rock In Green detergent.

Cycles
Initially, I did only one cycle when washing diapers.  This was a big mistake, as they were not getting clean.  The method that works great for me is: pre-rinse (cold), wash (hot) with detergent, and an extra rinse (cold).  Even if you only have a few diapers, it is important to set the fill line to medium or high for all cycles in order to maximize the cleanse.  If you do not pre-rinse your diapers after each diaper change, you may need to do more than one pre-rinse to break up the crystallized urea in the diapers.

Detergent
I tried using an all-natural detergent (Nellie's) recommended to me, but found this was useless in cleaning diapers.  In fact, it doesn't even clean our regular laundry.  All Free & Clear has worked perfectly.  Here is a great web-site for figuring out if the detergent you are using is safe for your diapers.
The key with the detergent is to not use too much.  It is better to err on the side of using too little than using too much.  You should only use about 1/3-1/2 the amount of detergent recommended on the bottle.  Use more than that, and your diapers will get detergent build-up and hold stink.

Drying
Yes, most diaper inserts can be dried with heat in your dryer.  Do I put my diapers in the dryer?  No.  The reason I am using cloth diapers is to keep some money in my pocket and to be kind to the environment.  Running my dryer isn't exactly in line with those objectives.  If you are going to put your diapers in the dryer, be warned that repeatedly using heat on your covers made of PUL can destroy their ability to hold wetness.
Depending on the humidity in the air, my hang dried diapers are normally fully dried 16-24 hours later.  Inserts made with more layers or with natural fibers take longer to dry than the others.  Some of the natural fabrics are more stiff when air dried, but this isn't a problem as long as they aren't touching your babies bum.  Hopefully you have already heard that sun drying your diapers makes breastfed baby poo disappear like magic!

What is your process for washing your diapers?  With which detergents have you had the best luck?