Smelly Fuzzi Bunz

I know they say not to....but I use about 1/8 cup of bleach when washing my fuzzi bunz. (every so often). It works!

it's the insert that retains the ammonia smell. i strip the diapers with regular DAWN - the blue kind -(make sure you rinse a TON! I do cold rinse, wash hot + 2 rinses like normal and then do 2-3 more cold rinses to get all the soap out)

then i take the inserts by themselves and soak/wash with some bleach. that seems to help.

if that still doesn't work then get rid of the microfiber and use something else. sometimes i fold up a prefold to use as an insert because those cotton fibers won't hang on to the smells like microfiber does.

go to www.punkinbutt.com- they have tons of info and products to help that. My friend used to own this business and now a wonderful women in Oregan does. They have an amazing resource to help you get info on exactly how to do that. I had that problem way back when and then tried what my friend recommended and all was better.
Good Luck,
D.

I do not use cloth diapers so I am unaware of the stripping process but I would try putting vinegar in your wash as it takes out the smell of spit up food, formula etc. I even mop my floors with it. Good Luck.

Wow, all this sounds like a lot of work & water! When mine get the ammonia smell, I put them in the sun on a drying rack for a full day & not only are the smells gone, but they are naturally bleached beautifully! I'm a CD fanatic & have MANY kinds =) good luck! S.

Vera's advice sounds good. I used to sell FBs and have used them on all three of my kids. When people ask me for advice I always give this advice first:
PRE TREATMENT STEP - isolate what smells! Is it the inserts of the pockets?
1. turn your water heater up. Don't just use the hot setting.
2. Try less detergent. Run a load on hot with less detergent and continue to use less. You likely have detergent buildup.
3. Rinse and rinse again. Keep looking at the load. If you see suds, they're holding onto detergent. Keep rinsing until you see no suds in the water.

After all this, consider a new detergent. FB recommends Allen's Naturally, which I always had good luck with. Hope that helps!

You already have great advice on here, but I'll chime in as well. I use Fuzzi Bunz on both of my girls. I use the Charlie's Soap (found at www.fuzzibunzworld.com), and I follow the wash direction on there as well. Every few loads, I'll do a double wash on them.

I also occasionally wash the inserts separately and use bleach. As other posters mentioned, don't accidentally wash the diapers themselves with bleach! But really, I find when the diapers get stinky, it's actually the inserts and not the diapers themselves.

Hope you get your diapers fresh-smelling again!

:-) T.

Have you tried stripping them in the dishwasher? Put the pockets on top, the inserts on the bottom, and wash on your hottest setting (sanatize if yo have it). It may take a couple runs through depending on the amount of buildup.
The house will stink when it's running (just make sure none of the inserts can fall through the bottom rack); when they're done you should not have the smell issues.
After that, make sure there's not too much soap in the diaper wash (or the load before the diapers).... that's usually the cause of buildup that causes stinkyness. (and FB's for some reason seem to be a big culprit). In the case of diapers, more soap is NOT better - just a tablespoon or so is more than enough. (we mostly just use baking soda anymore, put into the diaper pail w/ the diapers..... and sometimes vinegar in the rinse).

If indeed it is just the inserts hang them outside for a couple of days. The sun has a natural bleaching it does and it helps take out stains and smells.

If you have microfiber inserts, like I do, you can soak them in bleach once a month or so, then wash them. It makes a HUGE difference! Don't bleach your diapers, as it will break down the PUL and the elastic. Just bleach the inserts. Also, you can try an extra rinse after you wash to make sure you are getting all the detergent help. Forums like www.talkcloth.com, www.diaperswappers.com, and www.amomshideout.com have lots of experienced moms who can help you out!

I don't use Fuzzi Bunz, just prefolds, but had an aweful time with strong ammonia smell after my girls peed. I tried stripping them with Dawn, using Calgon to soften the water, using really hot water. Nothing worked. Now I put a tiny amount of bleach (bad, I know but it's the only thing that works) in with detergent, and then run them through another complete cycle on hot. It seems to work. Good luck!

the best information is at the forums at www.diaperswappers.com
good luck!

I h a similar problem. The best solution I found was to run the diapers through a rinse cycle first. Then, soak overnight in HOT water, with two big scoops of baking soda, and one scoop of Oxi-Clean. Then run through the wash cycle, adding white vinegar in the rinse cycle. It sounds like a lot of fuss, and I suppose it is. But it worked. Also, baking soda and white vinegar are inexpensive items - I bought the huge economy sizes from Costco. Good luck!