Just because your “approved” or brand recommended routine stops working one day doesn’t mean it’s not a good routine. It just means it’s not working for you anymore.

Sometimes it works for the situation at hand – for the diapers, detergent, and soil factor of your diapers. But maybe your baby starts peeing more, pooping more, holding their bladder, and all that changes. It’s normal for a routine to not be as effective under changing conditions.

Start with small tweaks – rinsing diapers better, adding more or less detergent, changing the water temperature, or longer/shorter agitations. See if that kicks the stink to the curb, and if not, keep finding that tweak or collaborate with another brain to find an answer.

You don’t have to strip with every smell either – in my experience, sometimes a better wash does the job. If it’s persistent, then try doing a double detergent, extra rinse, wash on your diapers. If it’s still persistant, pick up a product like Mighty Bubbles or Bleach to help kick the stink to the curb. And don’t forget that if you bought your diapers from a brand or retailer to reach out to them in these moments of struggle to help you find an answer. They want you to succeed.

You can do this. You are capable of finding an answer, and it doesn’t have to be complicated and grounded in science. It can just be your personal laundry wisdom mixed with things you read on the internet. Don’t get caught up in finding the right way, but do get caught up in trusting yourself and you wisdom.

About the Cloth Diaper Podcast

The Cloth Diaper Podcast is a somewhat regular podcast sharing stories from cloth diaper parents, brands and retailers from around the world. 

The Cloth Diaper Podcast is not affiliated with any school of thought of diaper laundry but instead focus on the power of peer-to-peer story telling to empower you to make your own cloth diaper journey. 

Cloth Diapering is not this or that, but rather many different experiences.