Oh no! Your fabulous diapers are now not quite so fabulous. Out of the blue, they’ve begun to leak. Or maybe they become really really stinky after your precious little one pees. Ruined forever!
Well not really. You can get your diapers back to their glorious days. It’s called stripping. Stripping your diapers is when you remove the build up in them that has caused the leaking and/or the stink. We’ll cover some of the ways to strip your diapers, but before we do and before you strip your diapers, you should determine WHY your diapers are leaking or why they stink after a pee. Because if you strip and keep doing whatever you’re doing that made them stink or leak, you’ll need to strip again and again and again.
Reasons why diapers leak or stink after a pee
First check the fit of your diapers and that you’re using the correct inserts or doublers. If all that is good, then let’s determine what the reason can be.
- Detergent – some detergents do not rinse out well enough and over time the build up of the detergent will cause your diapers to leak. Solution: Switch to a cloth diapering detergent, like Rockin Green.
- Rash creams – using rash creams can make your diapers repel. Solution: Always use a liner when using rash creams so that your diapers aren’t directly touching the creams.
- Barrier balm – there are great for keeping moisture off your baby’s bum, but petroleum based barrier balm can cause your diapers to repel. Solution: Some barrier balms are ok to use directly, such as GroVia Magic Stick and Earth Mama Angel Baby Diaper Balm.
- Fabric softener – bad, bad news for cloth diapers! Fabric softeners are a sure way of getting your diapers to repel moisture and should not be used with cloth diapers. Solution: Use dryer balls and preferably woolen dryer ball.
How to Strip your Cloth Diapers:
- Take clean diapers, add them to your washer machine, kick up the water heater, even add some boiled water and do a wash cycle with no detergent. Check the water during the rinse cycle and if you see bubbles, repeat, repeat, repeat until there are none.
- Put clean diapers in your washing machine, add a little bit of Dawn Detergent and wash, then rinse, rinse, rinse, rinse until you don’t see any bubbles.
- Put your clean diapers in your dishwasher and do a wash with no soap on hot and repeat until there are no bubbles left.
- Rock the soak by soaking your diapers in very hot water and in 3 table spoons of Rockin Green detergent and wash. Then wash again 2-4 times with very hot water and no detergent.
The 4th is my favorite way since in my experience Rockin Green has worked really well for stripping (and washing too!). Once stripped, keep in mind the reasons why they began to leak or stink so that you don’t have to strip anytime soon again.
Now you can go back to using your fabulous diapers again! Happy cloth diapering!
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Is this also recommended for AIO diapers? I bought some used ones that are awful. My hubby wasn't feeling well when he stopped by the lady's house, so didn't think to check them out and just exchanged money for diapers. I'm hoping I can get them into usable shape.
Rockin Green for sure! Do an overnight soak on the hottest water setting and then follow that with finishing the wash, then 2-4 washes with just hot water and no soap. If you have hard water, use Hard Rock though.
We had been using All Free & Clear for our diapers, because my husband thought it was ridiculous to have a separate (and expensive) detergent like Rockin Green.
After using our diapers for 3 1/2 months, I had to strip them. I used the Dawn dishsoap method, but it was a GIANT pain because we have a front-loading machine.
I convinced my husband we need to stop using All, but he still refuses to buy Rockin Green. He found a detergent called BabyGanics, which claims it, "rinses free for use on cloth diapers."
We've used it for a month now, and I already need to strip the diapers again, so I'm really irritated with this detergent… Although I found out yesterday that when my husband runs a diaper load he puts OxiClean in machine.
Do you think the OxiClean or the BabyGanics is the culprit? I love the smell of the detergent, and the fact that our diapers are stain free… but I'm soooo done with stripping >.<
I would go back to basics. Rockin Green, though more expensive would save you so much time with your wash cycle and need to strip. But, I can understand his concern and hey if he's washing the diapers too, he has to have a say.
I would ditch what's not working (use on your own laundry or give away) and if you want something over the counter, try instead Tide Free & Clear, as many have had great results with it. Use about 2/3 of the recommended amount and rinse until you see no more bubbles. Don't use anything else – only the detergent. For stains, sun them instead by drying them in direct sunlight.
Thank you thank you thank you!
My husband always has a say in things, we try to be a team as best as possible… but sometimes he can just be a BOY, ya know?
He does go far above and beyond what most husbands/daddies would do in the diaper department, though!
He sure does! Big kudos to him!