Hello!

Our little boy is 4 months and recently his nappies have started smelling like cabbage! Even an hour after changing and through his clothes! They are bum genius, which are pocket nappies and when they're dry they don't smell at all!

We wash them in Ecover bio on 40 degrees with a 60 wash once a week or so.. soaked first in water and tea tree. He's wearing an amber necklace for teething although there is no sign of teeth yet.. lots of chewing his hands but no distress. Changing nappies regularly so no idea whats going on!

Any suggestions? Don't want a stinky boy!  :o

It could be a build up of ammonia in the fabric, try washing them without any washing powder to rinse them through thoroughly, also you could try adding some white vinegar to the wash. 

Gina xx

Hmmm.. we already put them through the machine first on a rinse before washing, which TBH I thought was being anal, so dunno!

Wash without powder and look in the door, if you see bubbbles then there is a build up of powder in the nappies and you need to keep washing until it goes. I've heard a few people say that Ecover has left nappies smelly as well, never has for us though we use non bio. How much powder do you use in a normal wash?

We use 2 tablets of the bio. If we use non bio which we do quite often too, use the scoop thingey to the measure on it.

Have eco balls too but didn't think they'd get them very clean?

;D We've had this problem too - we almost stopped using cloth cos I hated taking DS out smelling like that!

Sooo, this is what worked for us, it seems quite extreme but it is keeping us using cloth.

60 degree wash with a cool prewash. Nappy san in the prewash, ecover liquid in the main wash, and a rinse in vinegar. This is suposed to stop the build up of hardness in the nappies which traps bacteria making smells worse. Drying them on the line helps loads (apparently leaving them on overnight is suposed to be good???)

When DH does the nappies he often doesn't bother with the full mix of chemicals (!) and I can tell cos the nappies start to smell again.

Keep trying, eventually you'll find something to help your LO's rear end smell sweet again…  :D Good luck

def a cold pre wash as hot sets the ammonia in the fabric, I use about a tbsp of powder per wash.

We had this too - just as you say - like cabbage  :o  We wash at 60 with Ecover non bio powder and I always do a second rinse too then a final rinse with quite a big dose (75 mls) of white vinegar then line dry and they never smell now.  Oh yes we wet pail too with tea tree in water plus half a tablespoon of Ecover laundry bleach now and then.

Silly question, but do you put the vinegar in the machine? In the drawer or directly onto the nappies?
:D

Fabric conditioner section

I use bumgenius to, not to sound silly but aren't they great - did you get all the lovely colours?
Anyway, I use soapnuts and have found they get them cleaner than the old powder we were using.  But I have heard of the vinegar thing and can you put an extra rinse on the cycle.
If the nappies ever smell a bit fusty I make sure I dry them outside as sunshine gets rid of bad smells.

sarie