What am I missing? Constantly bleaching and stripping my diapers
Help me solve the mystery of the stinky diapers!
No matter what I do, my cloth diapers seem to have an expiration date. About every 1–2 months they start smelling as soon as I take them off my 16-month-old, and I end up bleaching and stripping them... again.
Wash routine:
- Every other day prewash: normal cycle (55 min), Tide Original liquid (line 1–2), then into an airy basket.
- Every 4 days main wash: heavy-duty cycle (90 min), Tide Original (line 5), bulked to about 3/4 full with small cloths.
- Very hard water, but I have a water softener
- Front-loader is only 6 months old and gets cleaned monthly.
Stripping Routine:
- Mix 1/4 cup of washing soda, borax and detergent with super hot water for inserts.
- Keep in for 6 hours, sloshing it every hourish them wring them out by hand.
- Wash them on hot water setting with no detergent in washing machine
- Soak inserts for 30 minutes in cold bleach with 1/4 cup bleach
- Wash inserts 2-4 times as normal.
I feel like I'm doing everything "right," but clearly the diapers disagree. Any troubleshooting ideas before I accept bleaching as my permanent hobby?