Got Ammonia?

Barf. We did. And it was awful. It got to the point where I couldn't even put the diapers on Hadi at all without give her ammonia burns. Her poor little bum :( It was sad. 

I didn't realize this but urine naturally has ammonia in it, so it's always there. But when you get a build up in your inserts you start having a problem. And microfiber seems to be a magnet for ammonia problems. 

I tried everything, I feel like, and it just kept coming back. And the smell is awful.  Like burn -your-nose-hairs-and-eyeball's awful. So after a lot of research, a lot of frustration, and a lot of trial+error, I *think* we are in a good place. Here's what I figured out:

1. Soak your inserts in a full washer with FISH ammonia remover. Ha I know it sounds CRAZY but I stumbled across an article about using it by a woman who swears by it. And it WORKS! I think I had to do it twice because I had such a huge build up. Then I did a rinse and washed them like normal.

2. I also did a long hot soak with about a 1/3 cup of bleach for a couple hours. (I do this about once a month followed by like 3 rinses)

Then I did a normal wash cycle and we were good to go. I also have been keeping a squirt bottle with some of the ammonia remover in it and spraying it on the diapers after I change her. So far it's working? And I am grateful I didn't give up. Because I was REALLY frustrated. But I knew I didn't want to give up the cloth diapers so thankfully I stuck it out. If you are having similar issues, don't give up! there is SOMETHING that will work - I promise.

Update

I figured that after a whole year of nothing here, it was about time for an update. We're still very much using our cloth diapers (although now that we are potty training we are changing less bums around here), but things have changed just a little bit. So here's where we're at:

Laundry Detergent:

We were using the homemade detergent for quite a while on our diapers, but when all our issues with ammonia started happening, I got desperate and did anything and everything to eliminate that issue (it got bad). So I kept the homemade stuff for the rest of our clothes (still using it, still loving it), and started buying "Rockin Green" for the diapers. And I LOVE it. That on it's own didn't solve the ammonia problem (that'll be the next post), but it does an awesome job cleaning and leaving the diapers smelling good. And I have bought it every time with my swag bucks so it's free! Can't beat that.

Wash Cycle:
Everyone's is different, and mine has changed around, but here's where we are at now:
Cold rinse
Wash hot with 2-3 Tbsp detergent
Cold rinse
Cold rinse
Line dry Pockets/covers and machine dry inserts

Wipes:

I can't remember if I posted about wipes before.. annnnnd, I'm too lazy to look. I use a combo of cut up some receiving blankets and some cheap wash cloths. The "dollar store" type wash cloths are my favorite. My wipe solution is a little castile soap, 3 drops tea tree oil and water. Then you have two options:

1. Put that solution in a squirt bottle and spray each wipe before using

2. mix up that solution in a container(I use some huggies wipe containers I bought for a quarter at a yard sale) and have ready-wet wipes come diaper changing time. 

I did the 1st one starting out, and now I use the 2nd. Both are great, and both have pros+cons. I just prefer the 2nd now. Then when traveling I stick some wet wipes in a ziplock and we're good to go.

I also get lazy and use disposable wipes but I get annoyed at myself every time I do. 1) because then I have to gather up the poopy wipes and stick then in the trash can, or 2) because if i end up washing them with the rest of the diapers, they fall apart and get stuff everywhere. But, like I said, I get lazy and it happens. Some weeks more than others. 

But when I am not lazy, I take about 10-12 at a time, drop a little castile soap, 3 drops of tea tree oil, and enough water to get all the wipes wet in the wipe container, and stick it in the diaper basket. Easy peasy (sorry, I hate that phrase and I used it anyways. blah.).

Diapers:

Our stash consists of

9-10 GrapeApple (the ebay knock off brand, pretty much the same as these) -snaps

4 Flip Covers - snaps

1 Thirsties size 2 cover -hook & loop

4 bumGenius 4.0 - snaps

1 Fuzzibunz - snaps

GrapeApple:

They are still holding up surprisingly. I stand by what I've said, you don't have to spend a ton of money to cloth diaper if you don't want to. You can make it work with cheap ones. You might have more kinks to work out, but you can do it. These are the diapers that I have had TONS of ammonia issues. But I'm blaming that on the microfiber inserts. They are cheap, but freak they cause issues. BUT, they work. Therefore we still use them daily.

Flip:

These are still working great and I've never had a leak or anything from these. We use both indian prefolds and the flip organic inserts inside them. I love the organic inserts the most because they are less bulky and softer than the indian prefolds, but they are also $7 something compared to $2 for the prefolds. So, yah. We use both.

Thirsties:

I don't ever use this because it's the hook & loop (velcro). Hadley can pull it off so easy and we got to a stage where she would immediately take it off as soon as I put it on. Like that one time when she was in nursery with a poopy diaper and she took it half off. Yeah, let's not talk about that.

Anyways, I would totally use this if it was made with the snaps. Snaps all the way!

bumGenius:

I LOVE these and I am sort of obsessed. I stayed away from these up till now because of the cost, but when Cottonbabies.com had a "seconds sale" I got 4 of them for $11 a piece. And now I am kicking myself for not buying more! So far they are my favorite diaper and FINALLY i have a cloth diaper I can use at nighttime. This whole time we've just using disposables at night, but now I stuff these with both the "Stay-dry insert" and then the newborn fuzzibunz insert and it holds up great at night. Love, love , love them. 

Fuzzibunz:

Eh. I could live without this diaper. I think it might work better on a younger kid, because i feel like its a little small. Also, the inserts that come with them are super soft, but they don't last long and I have had quite a few leaks from it. So, we still use it, but it's not my fav.

So, there we go. I think that's it? Any questions?