Diaper pail question

Hi! I've been absent for a long time but I thought I would ask this here instead of bothering my amazing BFF and her new little one. ;)

Jackie sent me some mother ease sandy fitteds for overnight and I have finally managed to transition to 100% cloth at night but now Claire's room smells horrible like ammonia. The only thing different is that I switched to cloth overnight. I still wash every three days. This last wash cycle I tried rinsing the overnight diaper in the toilet before putting it in the pail but didn't seem to help. Any suggestions?

What are you using to wash? I'm a newbie to cloth but I just started making my own laundry detergent (borax, washing soda, baking soda, oxy booster, and fels naptha soap) i did my towels with it after I made it for the first time and I couldn't believe it got the smell of cat pee out of them finally. we have 7 cats and sometimes if their litter boxes aren't cleaned enough they will use our bathroom as theirs too (if towels are laying on the floor they become a target). No matter how many times I washed those towels you could still somewhat smell the pee on them. I was almost out of hope till I tried my detergent. I swear by it now. Maybe you might want to give it a try. Just a helpful suggestion considering cat pee is a very strong ammonia smell and hard to get rid of.

I still struggle with nighttime cloth for this reason. I go through periods where I use it and then I go through periods where I use disposables at night. I just have a hard time with the overwhelming smell in the morning. I have to wash every other day or things start to get stinky. I've actually noticed that if my diapers sit for too long, they take on this strange brownish color. Ever experience that?

Anyway, washing every other day and using Oxyclean with the hottest water possible seems to work for me.

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Originally Posted by mlle_carrie

I've actually noticed that if my diapers sit for too long, they take on this strange brownish color. Ever experience that?

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I haven't noticed that problem! I wonder if its specific to the fiber you were using? What did notice that on?

As I recall, the wetter the diapers, the more they smell. Does your diaper pail allow air flow, or is it sealed up? Letting them get more air seems counterintuitive, but can actually help.

Never seen brown from leaving diapers too long! Interesting.

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Originally Posted by beccasweet

I haven't noticed that problem! I wonder if its specific to the fiber you were using? What did notice that on?

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After I posted this last night, I did some research and it seems I am not the only on person out there with this problem, but I wasn't able to find a solution. It seems like it's a chemical reaction of some kind. It happens with her pee diapers...the ones that have been sitting the longest (which is still only 2-3 days) and it's a new problem. I've only noticed it in the past few weeks. I'm at a loss about how to prevent it.

Oh, and it's happened on MF, bamboo, and even a few prefolds. The only thing that's been safe so far is my hemp.

And back to the diaper pail issue...Is Claire's room really warm? I find that the warmer it is, the stinkier things get. :(

It's about 72-73 like the rest of the house and I use a trash can with the swing lid so I don't think the airflow is too restricted. DH does like to close off her room though so maybe he is making it worse by keeping her door closed when we aren't in there. Maybe I will just start washing every two days and leave her door open as much as possible.

I've noticed DS room smells more if we keep his room door closed so I try to leave it open periodically to air out (or maybe it is just spreading the stink throughout the house so I notice it less :p) I do notice that the open bag we keep his soiled cloth diapers in smells less than the closed lid garbage where we keep his used wipes and disposables so it seems air circulation is key especially if you are dealing with overnight diapers that are probably heavily soaked with urine.

I've got major ammonia smell issues and I wash every other day. I have a foot pedal pail (where you step on the lever and the lid opens) and every time the lid would open the awful smell would just hit you hard, so I switched to just an open pail and it got even worse. The whole room would smell so bad my eyes would water, and since the changing table is in our bedroom that it no conducive to sleep! So I started using the lid pail again. I've noticed the turning orange thing once or twice, but hasn't been an ongoing issue here. What I do notice is that after a day the poopy on the diapers turns a forest green color.

I've actually thought of putting an additional wet bag/pail in the bathroom, so I could just dump the poopy diapers in there after I rinse them off, rather than having to carry them down the hall into her bedroom. Maybe you could soak the overnights in the toilet for a bit (I know, sounds gross) and then wring them out really well and put them in a separate pail in the bathroom. Just a thought.

I have to keep her bedroom door shut all the time to keep the pets out.