Ammonia diapers

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Ammonia diapers
« on: July 29, 2008, 01:16:01 PM » by petersgirl

For some months now my now 2yo dd has woken up with diapers that smell strongly of ammonia - to the point that they occasionally make my eyes water. It has happened once or twice during the day, but now frequently. She drinks plenty of water, is fed healthy food. I have thought that maybe she has had these diapers when she had something with sugar the night before, but this doesn't make much sense, biologically. It isn't necessarily the amount of urine because she has woken up not super wet but still with the ammonia. So far the only solution has been to put her in disposables at night. Any suggestions?? Thank you!

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Re: Ammonia diapers
« Reply #1 on: July 29, 2008, 01:51:27 PM » by SarahLaRae

You are using cloth diapers? It sounds like you need to strip your diapers. Or maybe you are not washing them in HOT water.

We don't have hot water to our washer and the cloth diapers would get like that. They smelled very strongly of ammonia, even when they only wet a tiny bit. I found out that it was because I was not washing them in hot water.
check out Stripping or Priming Cloth Diapers: How and Why

http://www.welltellme.com/discuss/index.php/topic,15277.0.html

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Re: Ammonia diapers
« Reply #2 on: July 29, 2008, 07:06:15 PM » by heatheronthehill

Yes, try stripping them. I find that mine get this smell when I use too much detergent and they get a build up. You can strip them by washing them in plain hot water repeatedly until you don't see any more soap bubbles while they agitate.

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Re: Ammonia diapers
« Reply #3 on: July 29, 2008, 09:15:26 PM » by hi_itsgwen

Mine do this too...here is what I do:

http://www.handmade-adelaide-baby.com/stripping-cloth-diapers.html

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Re: Ammonia diapers
« Reply #4 on: July 30, 2008, 04:20:48 PM » by petersgirl

Thank you ladies, I'll try stripping them. It seems strange though, I kept thinking that there was something wrong with HER, not the diapers......yes, first time mama.

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Re: Ammonia diapers
« Reply #5 on: July 30, 2008, 07:15:31 PM » by prairiechild

Here is a great thread on this subject...

http://www.diaperswappers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=491745

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Re: Ammonia diapers
« Reply #6 on: September 11, 2008, 11:15:15 AM » by petersgirl

Ok - now I have stripped all my cloth diapers and they are very soft and nice smelling - BUT I have still had ammonia problems. First, I thought it was using too much vinegar, but that doesn't really make sense because of vinegar being an acid and ammonia a base. It's been a long time since chemistry

I am now back to wondering if it a problem with my dd and not the diapers. Also, I put a disposable on her last night as an experiment and it smelled of ammonia when I took it off. This has never happened before. A friend told me it might be improper digestion of proteins.....and I have wondered about allergies. We had shrimp last night and there was a time when she was around 15mo or so when I thought she was sensitive to it. Yes, I probably shouldn't have been feeding such a small child shrimp

Thanks for any advice - I probably need to take her to the doc and look into some allergy testing.

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Re: Ammonia diapers
« Reply #7 on: December 04, 2008, 11:02:24 PM » by kittyninja

we got the strong ammonia smell changing the baby...so much it burned our eyes..and his bum.sooo here i am! now the link hi_itsgwen posted says to skip the vinegar with hard water. prariechild's link pretty much said vinegar is the key. so what do i use then?

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Re: Ammonia diapers
« Reply #8 on: December 05, 2008, 10:02:11 AM » by boysmama

Quote from: kittyninja on December 04, 2008, 11:02:24 PM

What are you using as the normal wash?

Is your water very, very hard?

Can you collect enough soft water to use for a couple of loads to strip the diapers as described in the link "gwen" put up including the vinegar rinse. HOT, Hot water also helps in stripping.

To prevent detergent build up you have to stop using detergent in the normal wash.

The other item with cloth diapers is that they really should be changed more frequently. Ammonia builds up as the urine breaks down.

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Re: Ammonia diapers
« Reply #9 on: December 05, 2008, 10:17:38 AM » by kittyninja

i dunno about very very hard...not like a hail storm when i shower or anything Cheesy

but we get pretty nasty buildup pretty quick. NORMAL wash use to be homemade soap-ivory and kirk's with baking soda. i just NOW got back to using cloth diapers since it won't make me so quesy now and i haven't made any homemade soap (going back to the cloth was a big step for me at this point! Roll Eyes

). sometimes my grandmother gets ahold of them and scrubs then in the sink with dish detergent or takes them and washes them at her place with whatever detergent she has. and honestly i've just left them. never stripped them or anything. how do you collect soft water? you mean like getting some bottled water to wash with?
umm guilty on not changing often...at least yesterday...i thought i did but i didn't and hubby changed him and was bowled over with the ammonia smell!

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Re: Ammonia diapers
« Reply #10 on: December 05, 2008, 10:40:52 AM » by boysmama

Rain water is soft and my grandma grew up using that for laundry/cleaning and washing hair.

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Re: Ammonia diapers
« Reply #11 on: December 05, 2008, 10:53:42 AM » by kittyninja

oh yeah! but i live in the desert don't know when i will see enough rain agani!

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Re: Ammonia diapers
« Reply #12 on: December 05, 2008, 11:50:04 AM » by RB

Soap nuts have greatly helped to decrease ammonia smell from my baby's prefold diapers, and rash problems. I just use soap nuts and oxy-powder and it's the best method I have tried yet!

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Re: Ammonia diapers
« Reply #13 on: December 05, 2008, 10:49:52 PM » by boysmama

Quote from: kittyninja on December 05, 2008, 10:53:42 AM

oh yeah! but i live in the desert don't know when i will see enough rain agani!

I guess that isn't a very good option! Do you have friends with a softener system that would let you run a couple loads Shocked

Or a laudromat with a softened water?

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Re: Ammonia diapers
« Reply #14 on: December 06, 2008, 10:50:02 PM » by hi_itsgwen

http://www.litegreenliving.com/stripping-cloth-diapers
This link specifically sites vinegar for hard water...I'd give that a shot first. It can't hurt! Also, dish detergent does a great job of stripping away excess detergents, which can cause the ammonia reaction.

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Re: Ammonia diapers
« Reply #15 on: December 07, 2008, 12:52:06 AM » by kittyninja

Thanks ladies!! i'm going to give it a whirl. just got back on cloth and hate to give it up now with the new one coming!!
oh and i don't know anyone that has a soft water system oddly enough! i may check out the laundromats though!

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Re: Ammonia diapers
« Reply #16 on: February 02, 2009, 05:34:54 PM » by DoubleGlick

I have struggled with ammonia diapers, too, and tried lots of different things. Our 19 mo. old son is also on his fourth infection, 1 urinary tract, 2 bladder, 3rd we're just treating without identifying what. If disposable diapers have a strong smell, I would encourage you to check for an infection or something. Infections can cause permanent kidney damage. Thankfully, we found the first infection with a urine sample (thanks to infant potty training) while checking for yeast. The next three we found because the diapers didn't smell right (finally gave up infant potty training). We still don't know why he's had so many infections, but it's something you might want to check into. We get the urine test strips from our midwife for .10 each. Nitrites may indicate an infection if you can find a way to get a sample. Something else we're checking is the urine pH. Both our kids run alkaline, which we've been told means they need more vitamin C but probably not from fruit, maybe rose hips. We're still learning.

I hope this helps!

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Re: Ammonia diapers
« Reply #17 on: August 11, 2009, 11:45:39 AM » by Kitty

I just saw this thread when looking for a different one, so I'll post here, too.

Gwen posted on the cloth pad thread a way to get rid of, um, stink. She said it worked for diapers, too, and it's working for mine. I use a homemade laundry soap, and the soap builds up, so I do need to do this every once in awhile:

Quote from: hi_itsgwen on August 04, 2009, 10:41:06 PM

Quote from: mandlwilliamson on August 04, 2009, 01:43:50 AM

I changed soaps thinking it was my homemade soap not getting them clean enough. That doesn't seem to be the problem. I've soaked and washed them in these things trying to get rid of the odor: vinegar, baking soda, washing soda, Oxyclean, and Bac-Out. ANY advice is appreciated!!!

I had a similar problem with my cloth diapers. It turns out, laundry detergent leaves a film behind, which can harbor bacterial/fungal growth. I also used to use homemade laundry detergent, and I know for a fact that it leaves a film...over time, all my whites turned dingy gray. My homemade laundry detergent was actually soap based, so a detergent would be more effective at stripping off the build up.

Here are a few things that you can try:
1. Wash in cold water first with no detergent. If you see deterg. bubbles in the water, they have build up.

2. Then wash them in hot, and add a squirt of dawn or dove dishwashing soap (or some good laundry deterg if you normally use soap based products).

3. Use a second rinse, and add a little vinegar to it.

Another thing I've learned is that bacterias and yeasts usually have a 'favorite' temperature. I used to think that hot would kill off all bacteria and germs, but that's just not true. Heat loving bacteria are killed by cold. So that's why I wash in both temps. You may also want to turn your hot water heater up pretty high just for the first wash.

I pre-washed in cold. Washed in HOT w/ Dawn. Then rinsed in vinegar. All look brighter and smell better. Whew!

THANKS, Gwen! Kiss

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About My Eczema...UPDATED 2/2010

Re: Ammonia diapers
« Reply #18 on: December 29, 2009, 10:25:00 PM » by Kitty

http://www.facebook.com/notes/charlies-soap/how-do-you-combat-stinky-diapers/256562075198

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About My Eczema...UPDATED 2/2010

Re: Ammonia diapers
« Reply #19 on: January 07, 2010, 04:21:25 PM » by Helen

I only use my own homemade soap that I use for all our clothes, with vinegar in the rinse, I never have a problem with smells or buildup. I also use prerinse in extremly hot water...

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