Lil Helper Knowledge Base and Support Center

There is nothing less fun than smelly diapers.

When your clean diapers smell anything but clean, especially if the smell is a barnyardy, damp and moldy, we have some fixing to do!

The first thing to do is: FIND THE CULPRIT

Next step is: DAMAGE CONTROL

And finally: AVOID REPEATING WHATEVER THE PROBLEM WAS

Please have a go through our stinky app when you get a chance:
https://bit.ly/lh_stinky 

There are a number of things that can cause your diapers to smell damp and moldy including, but not limited to:

1) Not using enough detergent:

    

    Make sure you are using the proper brand and recommended amount of detergent. The brand recommended amount is not always correct for cloth diapers! Double check your detergent brand and the correct amount here:

 http://www.fluffloveuniversity.com/how-to-wash-cloth-diapers/detergent-index/

*Please note the above link is a good starting point, but they often recommend too much detergent, please reach out to Delight if you need more clarity

    If this was your culprit: Damage control would involve changing your detergent to one which is recommended and using the proper amount to clean poop off diapers.

2) Washing in hard water:

    If you have ever noticed water marks or residue left over on your dishes, I can almost guarantee you that you have hard water. But the proper way to test your water is to get a water hardness test kit (available in most places that sell aquariums) and test your own water or to look up your city's water report and see the hardness level on there.

    If this was your culprit: Make sure you are using Borax or Calgon in your wash routine. You can see more info on it here: https://lil-helper-knowledge-base.helpwise.help/articles/210309-hard-water

3) Waiting too long to wash diapers:

    Ideally, you should be washing every 2-3 days. Any longer than 5 days can lead to mold in diapers.

If you must go longer, we recommend hand rinsing and wringing each diaper every day.
Make sure you leave dirty diapers in an open basket or well ventilated bin.

    If this was your culprit: There is a chance you would need to give your diapers a second main wash if they came out of the first main wash smelling bad. This will leave you with fresher diapers and in the future, make sure you are not letting dirty diapers sit for too long.

4) Leaving clean diapers wet for too long:

    

    Allowing wet (albeit clean) diapers to sit in a basket may lead them to dry in that basket and develop a smell of dampness.

    

    If this was your culprit: If your diapers dried and left a damp smell that bothers you, another wash cycle will remove that smell. Next time, dry your diapers immediately after coming out of the main wash.

5) Improper bulk:

Depending on the type of washer you have, you will need to make sure your main wash is properly bulked! (Adding clothes to ensure proper agitation)

For a top loader with a tall agitator:  You want your diapers to have a "stew" consistency when they are agitating, not too "soupy" and not so thick that it reaches a "chili" consistency.

For a top loader with no agitator: You will want the machine drum to be half full.

For a front load machine: The drum must be 2/3-3/4 full.
*You should only bulk using items no bigger than an adult t-shirt

    If this was your culprit: Try a few washes with the corrected bulk to see if that fixes the issue.

6) Not cleaning your washing machine regularly:

    You should be cleaning your washing machine on a monthly basis to avoid gunk (both from diapers and your everyday laundry) building up inside. Build up will make your machine less effective at getting your laundry properly clean.

If this was your culprit:  Pull out your washing machine manual and get ready for a deep clean!

Most of the time, when we are dealing with funk and smells in diapers, simply giving the load of smelly diapers another wash will help remove the smell. Especially if we are catching the problem early on.

However, in some cases, diapers have been accumulating build up and smells for so long that they NEED to be stripped.

Here are the steps for stripping your diapers as recommended:

https://lil-helper-knowledge-base.helpwise.help/articles/210434-how-to-strip

Keep in mind that stripping diapers is a harsh process that can really wear down your diapers, so should be reserved for a NEED TO basis only.

Please reach out to delight@lilhelper.ca if you need more assistance!

*Please note we only recommend stripping the inserts, Never the covers!