How to Rid Cloth Nappies of Ammonia Smells. And other smelly issues.
Ammonia smells are the one thing every cloth nappy parent dreads. Not only because they will burn the hair on your nose, yes you know the smell I’m referring to now, but because they can be the cause of nasty nappy rashes and no-one wants that for their baby. But what exactly is ammonia and how can we get rid of any smells from my nappies?
Smelly cloth diapers, practically ammonia smells are a sign of an insufficient wash routine. Usually caused by too little or too much detergent. Fix ammonia build up through strip washing your nappies then tweaking how you wash them going forward.
Ammonia isn’t the only smelly problem your nappies can face. Smelling like a barn yard or a hamster cage can also happen. Again this is easily fixed and down to a poor wash routine, often highlighted when baby starts doing strong smelling wees around weaning or teething age.
Don’t sweat it, don’t feel bad, and most importantly don’t throw in the towel because it’s an easy fix and once you get it right cloth diapers will smell of nothing, just take in the scent of your sweet baby and not the gross smell of disposables.
What is ammonia build up in cloth nappies?
Ammonia is found naturally in our urine. If it is not washed out of nappy fibers fully it can build up in the fabric, leading to strong smells and ammonia burns on your child in the nappy area.
You may not smell it when the nappy is clean but as soon as fresh urine hits the nappy it will react with the stale urine and cause the strong cat wee like, burn your nose hairs smell we associate with ammonia.
Causes of ammonia building up in cloth diapers.
Not enough detergent.
Remember nappies are the dirtiest thing you’ll probably ever wash. They need a decent powdered detergent to get them clean enough to put back on babies bottom. Powdered detergent is proven to be a more effective clean and rinse out of fibers better, leaving no residue.
Too much detergent.
Now to confuse you. While you don’t want too little detergent too much could mean it builds up, clogging up the fibers meaning smells can occur. This could also mean your nappies become less absorbent. Follow my guidelines later in the blog post for the perfect amount of detergent or head over too “The Best Washing Detergent for YOUR Cloth Diapers.”
not loading your machine sufficiently.
When your nappies are washing they need a good amount of agitation against the other nappies to get a good clean. This will also ensure the detergent get bubbly enough and washes more effectively. Too little or too much in the machine will mean this doesn’t happen. You want you machine to be 2/3 full. If you haven’t got enough in the machine bulk it out with small items such as baby clothes, tea towels or muslins. Big items like towels are no good as they will wrap around the nappies and reduce agitation.
Not washing often enough.
If you use cloth nappies full time you may be tempted to not wash your nappies until you have a full load. But try not to leave your nappy sitting around for more that 2-3 days or they can be harder to wash and get smelling clean. If your not washing because you don’t have a full load do a pre-wash of your nappies and then add other items to bulk out as mentioned above. If you do need to leave your nappies for more than 2-3 days give them a short pre-wash or hand wash before put them back in the nappy bucket.
Teething, weaning and Concentrated wee.
Listening to the Cloth Diaper Podcast episode recently revealed some interesting chat. On the Episode they noted that parents often speak of ammonia issues around 6 months, when their babies started weaning. They made a good point in saying that at this time and when babies are teething wee can become more acidic, become more concentrated and therefore smell more. But I believe, as they did that we should not fall into the trap that this is the cause of your smelly nappies and therefore wait for it to pass. It is likely that you still have an insufficiency in your wash routine which has been highlighted by stronger smelling wee.
How do I know ammonia is the problem in my cloth nappies?
If your unsure it is ammonia, then ammonia isn’t the problem. Though any smells in your cloth nappies/diapers are a sign of an insufficient wash routine. Ammonia is a distinct, pungrunt smell, often described like cat wee, which seems to burn the inside of your nose when you smell it.
If you have it, you’ll know about it.
We had an ammonia problem with our cloth nappies when my daughter was about 4 months old. It caused a lot of stress simply because ammonia wasn’t our only problem. Many cloth nappies parents and bloggers don’t like to talk about the perfect wash routine because they feel it can make cloth nappies/diapers sound too complicated, which I understand. However, not understanding why I should have a decent wash routine for my nappies was the reason we got ammonia build up in the first place. Once you’ve figured out the perfect wash routine, which really isn’t hard and I can walk you through it below and in “How to Wash your Cloth Nappies,” you’ll be on the course for plain sailing over the next few nappy changing years.
What does an Ammonia Nappy Rash look like?
Rash’s caused by ammonia in nappies are actually more burns than rashes. When fresh urine reacts with stale its causes a chemical reaction which is why it is a burn. Often similar looking to sunburn rather than more common nappy rashes.
Do not feel like the worse parent in the world if this happens. Ammonia is a problem as old as time. Studies in the 1920’s looked into how and why ammonia builds up. It is also something that can fixed, learned from and not your fault at all.
If your experiencing smells but are yet to get a bad rash from ammonia I suggest just putting a thick layer of nappy cream on your baby, especially at night time to prevent anything becoming worse while you are sorting the problem.
If like us you do get a bad nappy rash, head to your GP. My GP was very understanding and gave us some stronger cream to help clear the rash quickly.
If you want to put your child in disposables while you sort the problem, don’t feel bad about that either.
How to fix ammonia and other smells in your reusable diapers.
To rid your diapers of ammonia and any other smells you will first need to tweak the way you wash your nappies to make sure they will get super clean and then run a simple strip wash. Both these steps are broken down for you below.
Tweaking your cloth nappy wash routine to avoid ammonia problems.
The reason I call it tweaking your cloth nappy wash routine is because it will look different to every parent. Factors, such as the size of your washing machine, how often you want to wash your nappies, how hard your water is and what detergent you want to use will be different for everyone.
See the 6 steps below to assess and tweak your cloth nappy wash routine effectively.
Choose the right detergent. I go into this in more detail in “The Best Washing Detergent for Your Cloth Nappies.” Essentially using a good quality powdered detergent will work. Unfortunately most eco-friendly options have proved to be less effective.
Use the right amount of detergent. Follow the guidelines on the side of the box, factoring in how big you machine is, your water hardness, then adding the amount advised on the box for heavy soiling. This may seem like a lot but it is needed. If you find that you still have soapy suds when the machine is rinsing use an extra rinse cycle afterward then you can slowly lower the amount of detergent you use until you find the right balance.
Pre-wash your nappies. Run a short cold cycle with HALF the amount of detergent you would use in the full wash first. This will help rid of muck before the main wash and is important. For example on my machine I use the 30 degree, 30 minute cycle.
Make sure your wash is 2/3’s full. This will provide the right amount of agitation as explained before.
Choose the longest cycle for your main wash. For me this the anti allergy or long cotton wash setting.
Wash at 60 degrees. Washing at 60 will kill any bacteria. Many people do not like washing at 60 all the time, for energy saving reasons or to try and prolong the life of their nappies. If this is you I still recommend washing at 60 every few weeks to make sure they get one good extra clean and prevent a build up of problems in the future.
The simple way to strip wash your nappies to rid ammonia and other smells.
Wash your nappies on a 60 degree long wash with the FULL amount of detergent.
As I advise below and in my nappy washing guide, making sure you have pre-washed first.
Then wash again on the same cycle at 60 degrees with NO DETERGENT.
Note you can do this serval times if necessary.
Strip and sanitizing your nappies if necessary.
If you do want to do a full strip and sanitize, perhaps to be sure you have got rid of any ammonia build up, if buying second hand nappies or preparing to re-use nappies on a subsequent child, (though the simple strip wash above is more than sufficient in these cases), Clean Cloth Nappies Down Under have the best recipe for a strip and sanitize. It does use a very very small amount of bleach and Vanish so I would not recommend doing it unless really necessary, or doing it very often.
Always try adjusting your wash routine and run a simple strip wash first.
Bleach is effective at removing ammonia, but many parents have worries over using bleach, and it could invalidate the warranty of some nappies. However if you make sure you have washed and rinsed your nappies properly after using and do not do it often bleach can be the answer for many.
I see a S&S as a full reset to your nappies but it’s rarely necessary.
Things you don’t need to do to rid smells from your diapers.
Don’t start soaking your nappies.
It’s messy and unnecessary.
Don’t use washing up liquid or vinegar to get rid of ammonia.
This could damage your nappies.
Don’t use Napisan.
You might hear your Mum talking about Napisan from when her generation used it to soak cloth nappies but it will damage modern materials and elastics in your cloth nappies. It can be used on some inserts and old style terry nappies but avoid on any other type of nappy.
Don’t boil wash nappies.
This will melt your nappies and could effect absorbency. Again the previous generation may tell you this is what they did but materials and times have changed. Hospitals sterilize their washing with a 70 degree wash, therefore you washing at 60 degrees is more than enough to effectively clean at home.
Extra ways to avoid ammonia build up.
Rinsing night nappies.
Ammonia smells can build up or reveal themselves when babies wee becomes more concentrated, like for example when they start to sleep longer through the night and therefore stay in their nappies for longer, probably all night. This means night nappies are more prone to ammonia build up. You can help avoid this by rinsing your night nappies before putting them into the pail. I do this simply at the bathroom sink when I take the nappy off in the morning, running it under hot water, then wiping the bathroom sink down.
Running a strip wash once a month.
It doesn’t hurt to do my simple strip wash on your nappies every so often. As well as making sure you run your washing machine on a cleaning cycle once a month. Do this by running an empty machine on 90 degrees. Adding vinegar or soda crystals to the drum will help get rid of limescale build up too.
Both of these will help stop any issues in their tracks.
Leave your nappies out in the rain.
It sounds mad but rain water is much softer than mains water. Making it a wonderful and natural stripping agent. So next time the heavens open and you go running into the garden to save your nappies, stop and leave them there.
Weaning poo and smelly diapers.
Newborn poo and poo once the baby is on solids are quiet different. Post weaning poo will harbour more bacteria and therefore do a better job of creating ammonia. As above making sure your using enough detergent to shift everything, fill your washing machine correctly, and most importantly shaking poo into the toilet, getting off as much as possible before storing and washing will avoid bad smelling nappies.
Other smells to be aware of with reusable diapers.
Hamster cage or barn yard smelling nappies.
Often occurs when using too little detergent. This one is a really easy fix and a simple strip wash/tweak of your wash routine as we have spoken about above will fix this.
strong detergent smell.
If your nappies smell strongly of detergent when you take them out of the machine you could be using too much which could lead up a build up on your nappies making them smell or effecting absorbency. If this is the case simply put the nappies back in the wash and give them a rinse, making sure there are no bubbles left in the wash at the end of the cycle. Next wash use slightly less detergent until you find the right balance.
Have a read of “The Best Washing Detergent for YOUR Cloth Nappies.” to help this situation.
I hope this has answered all on your ammonia cloth nappy questions and sorted out any problems you may have. Sometimes with things such as cloth nappies we do face hurdles but do not let them make you give up. Even if you take a break from reusables so it is not stressful and then asses these problems in weeks or months to come.
Hannah xxx
Other articles for you to enjoy….
How to Recycle Old Cloth Nappies.
How Often Should I Wash Cloth Nappies and Other FAQ’s
How to Survive Maternity Pay, While Living Sustainably.
Fight Your MP for Cloth Nappies.
Do Cloth Nappies Affect Crawling and Walking?
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