For the Mamas | Cloth Diapering 101: Dealing with Issues (e.g. Mold, Mildew, Ammonia, & Diaper Rash)
We are cooking and moving right along with this cloth diapering series! Still so glad y’all are getting a lot out of it and finding it helpful. I really was afraid it would be too much information, but if you are anything like me, then you over-researched… and frankly, there is a lot of “half” information out there. When I would try and find certain things when it came to cloth diapering, I’d only get about half of the information I was really looking for or needed.
Anyway. Here’s your catch up for where we are:
- November: Cloth Diapering: The Beginning
- January 7th: Different Types of Cloth Diapers and What We Use
- January 14th: Our system: wipes, creams, storage, organization, and whatnot.
- January 21st: The Scoop on Poop – Using & Washing Your Cloth Diapers (I HAD to call it that…)
- Last Week: Out and About – Traveling with Your Diapers
- TODAY Dealing with… Issues – dealing with the unforeseen stuff that sometimes come up with cloth diapering (mold and stink and ammonia. yuck!)
- Tuesday, February 11th: Cloth Diapering a Newborn
Today’s post isn’t as fun as some of the others, but it’s probably the most necessary…
Dealing with Issues in Cloth Diapering (e.g. Mold, Mildew, Ammonia, & Diaper Rash)
So, if I’m being honest, while 90% of the time, cloth diapering is awesome and easy, there is that 10% of the time that you run into problems and run into inconveniences and it can be a big pain. But let’s be honest, if cloth diapering REALLY was the most convenient and easy form of holding your baby’s potty stuffs, then don’t you think everyone would do it? Right? Right. So sometimes you run into issues, and dealing with them quickly prevents you from having, well, further (or worse) issues. I will spare you pictures of said issues. You’ll have to use your imagination.
I, personally, have dealt with all of these and so I’ve figured out how to fix them… Or at least, this is what has worked for me. 🙂
Dealing with Mold and Mildew in Your Cloth Diapers
I learned the hard way that yes, your diapers can grow mold and mildew. If you think about it, when the diaper gets wet, and then it sits for a day or three in a wet bag or pail surrounded by other damp wet things, mold is bound to grow.
At first I didn’t know what it was… I started noticing little black specs on a few of my diapers (not all of them). So I turned to some of the cloth diaper forums I read (yes, I’m a dork) and other places on the interwebs. And yep… mold on your cloth diapers looks like little black specs. Mildew looks more like a “rash” on your diapers – I actually did NOT have a mildew issue, only mold.
I immediately began FREAKING out. I totally overreacted and was like “OMGAHHHH I’M THE WORST WHY IS MOLD GROWING IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD!!!!”
It is not, in fact, the end of the world.
How do you KILL the mold and mildew in cloth diapers?
The ONLY way to KILL the mold and prevent it from growing or spreading is BLEACH. Yes, bleaching your diapers.
I was TERRIFIED to bleach my diapers. But now, I bleach them once a month. There are some people who will say bleach is BAD, but BumGenius (the brand I use) actually recommends using bleach once a month on your diapers. Bleach is pretty much the ONLY thing that will kill the mold.
Won’t the colors on my cute diapers fade if I bleach my diapers?
No, the colors on your covers WILL NOT fade – the PUL covers are dye fast and so the colors and cute prints aren’t going anywhere.
How do you bleach your diapers?
Once I noticed the mold, I ran them through the normal wash cycle that I usually do, but after the hot wash with detergent, I do ANOTHER HOT HOT HOT wash (with boiling water added) and a 1/4 cup of just regular old Clorox bleach. PLAIN Clorox bleach. Then, I rinse rinse rinse rinse rinse! Now, once a month, I just use the bleach in lieu of the detergent during the hot cycle. The key is to rinse your diapers A LOT after using the bleach. Because I’m rinsing so much after bleaching, I’m not worried about the bleach irritating my baby’s bum.
But the black specs are still there even after I bleached my diapers!
Yep, unfortunately, mold and mildew stain. So, while the mold and mildew are “dead,” their stains will still be there. It is going to take a lot of sunning to get it out. Annoying, yes, but don’t worry – the mold is dead.
How do you prevent mold and mildew from growing again?
Try to not go any longer than three days in between diaper loads… two days is really ideal, but no longer than three. Also, if you can, allow some air to ventilate the place you keep your diapers.
Since experiencing the mold issue, we now keep our wet bag unzipped. Yep, we put dirty diapers in there and leave the wet bag open… and we have YET to have a stink issue! And the mold issues are gone. Air ventilation really does help!
Dealing with Ammonia and Stink in Your Cloth Diapers
When pee sits for too long, it turns to this lovely smelling thing called ammonia. And by lovely smelling, I mean HORRIBLE smelling. Ammonia is a common issue in cloth diapering, and it can be fixed!
You will know you have an ammonia issue because as SOON as your baby pees, it will SMELL. Also, ammonia can leave ammonia burn on your baby’s bum and that is NO fun!
There are a couple ways to get rid of ammonia and stink in your cloth diapers… I am familiar with two of them and I have, myself, done ONE of them.
The best way to get rid of ammonia and stink is to strip… your diapers!
And honestly, even if you DON’T get an ammonia or stink problem, stripping your diapers every few months is actually a good idea.
Stripping your diapers gets rid of any detergent buildup, diaper cream buildup, ammonia, stink, mold, etc.
How do I strip my cloth diapers?
- I start with CLEAN diapers (so if they are dirty, I run them through their normal wash routine all the way up until I’d dry them).
- Then, I run a HOT wash with 1 tsp (I have a front loader, if you have a top loader, use 1 tbsp) of original BLUE Dawn dish detergent. Yes, it has to be BLUE and it has to be Dawn. It can’t be ANYTHING other than ORIGINAL Blue Dawn dish detergent. This is a de-greaser than will help to break up and get rid of all the buildup and gunk on your diapers.
- Then, I run a HOT wash with 1/4 cup of bleach (just plain Clorox).
- I add a boiling pot of water / pitcher of water to the bleach cycle.
- I then rinse, rinse, rinse, rinse, rinse, rinse, and rinse some more until I don’t see anymore suds.
- Yes, this is a full day process.
And then bam! Your diapers will come out bright and white and smell clean and fresh!
I have also heard that Rockin’ Green’s “Funk Rock” is great for getting rid of ammonia, too. I am allergic to Rockin’ Green so I have not used it myself.
Stripping your diapers is also good if you’re noticing that they aren’t holding as much or leaking!
Dealing with Diaper Rash
While diaper rashes are less common with cloth diapers, they do happen. If your baby is teething, rashes are common. If you have ammonia issues, rashes are common. Diaper rashes happen and sometimes, even my beloved Motherlove cream just isn’t enough to help the rash situation.
How do you treat a BAD diaper rash when you can’t use “regular” diaper rash cream?
If we have a bad diaper rash, what I do is I will use Triple Paste diaper cream (this stuff is SUPER strong and works like a charm) and I will COAT her in it, and then use a FLEECE LINER inside the diaper. So, I place a fleece liner on top of the cloth diaper and so that sits in between her and the diaper, preventing the non-cloth diaper safe cream from getting on the diaper.
You can buy fleece liners from any cloth diaper store, Amazon, or you could even just get some fleece from the fabric store and cut some liners up yourself. The fleece helps to wick away moisture from your baby’s bum and protects the diaper from the cream. The fleece is not absorbent, so you have nothing to worry about!
And, if that doesn’t work, then yes, sometimes you can COAT baby in diaper rash cream and put her/him in a disposable diaper for a few hours. Although that’s rare – the cream and fleece liner combo is really the best.
So that’s just a little bit about dealing with some of the issues. I really hope I’m not scaring any of you off!! 🙂 I promise the PROS way outweigh the cons. 🙂
Now what about you? Have you cloth diapered before? What issues have you run into? What issues have you run into and not been able to find a “fix” or “cure” for? What questions do you have?
So I ran across your blog on Pinterest some months ago when I was new to cloth diapering. I kept thinking to myself, “Wow, this all sounds like A LOT of work. All of these rinses and the boiling water, and the dish soap, and stripping….” I’ve since come to realize that your posts on cloth diapering are, unfortunately, FULL of misinformation. Please don’t take this the wrong way, because I am not trying to be rude, I just think that your posts about cloth diapers may scare off some poor momma out there who actually thinks that all of this is necessary. You are making this way too complicated, and in fact, following your way of cleaning diapers, could actually ruin someone’s diapers out there (and we all know that cloth diapers can be an expensive investment upfront.) Instead, you should probably consider checking out “Fluff Love and Cloth Diaper Science,” on facebook. Their methods are, in fact, based on laundry science and they really know how to get diapers clean, and turns out, it’s actually not complicated or extremely time consuming. If your diaper washing routine is on point, you should never have to strip your diapers. Stripping is only for bad washing routines. Again, I’m not trying to insult you, I just think that readers out there deserve to know that there are better and more effective ways to get their fluff clean. Being a mom is hard enough. Let’s not go adding more things to our to do lists? 😉 Beautiful blog, btw. Love your pics.
I apply extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil to my baby bums before put his cloth diaper.. He rarely get rashes..
Hi Molly, im needing to strip my diapers. Going off your method how many diapers are you stripping at a time?
My normal load is about 15-20 diapers 🙂
I have a small green spot on my bamboo insert and I can’t figure out what is it HELP!
Do you rinse with cold water?
I do! Rinse rinse rinse with cold water 🙂
Thank you for this post, I just found it by googling how to deal with mold on cloth diapers. I have a six-week old, and we’re using a combo of bum genius and charlie banana diapers. I just started noticing mold on some of the inserts, and of course, freaked out. I’ll be trying your suggestions for sure!
So glad you found it helpful!
Hi Molly, sorry if you’ve answered this elsewhere, but are you putting the bleach and dawn directly into the tub or into the bleach try or liquid detergent tray? I had no issues with my front loader and I’m not liking my HE washer yet 🙁
no worries! 🙂 the dawn i put directly into the tub and the bleach i put into the bleach tray 🙂
Hi Molly, Im having a huge problem w/ mold/mildew. I live in SC so its very humid outside especially in the summer. Once I figured out the black specks were mold/mildew I started drying everything in the dryer once then taking out the covers to hang in the house and keeping the inserts in the dryer until very dry. I keep the lid off my pail, I wash every other day, I don’t use a wipe warmer w/ pre-wet wipes, I do spray off very dirty diapers but I squeeze out excess liquid. I use bum genius detergent and I’ve bleached my diapers/ wipes several times but Im still seeing new mold! Why is this happening?? What am I doing wrong and what can I do differently? Im so frustrated and heartbroken because its attacking my covers (even the Flip covers), my fleece liners and my organic cotton/ hemp and bamboo inserts; basically all the expensive ones! The only thing I don’t see it in is the microfiber inserts. Last night I put a hemp insert on my baby and when I removed it this morning it was covered in black specks! How is it growing mold in urine!?! Please help me! Thanks!
Oh man I know how frustrating that is, Stefanie!
A couple things:
1st. The mold is only going to continue to grow until you kill it. You HAVE to bleach and strip the diapers. It sucks. I know. But it is the only way to kill it. Then, rinse rinse rinse rinse and rinse more.
2nd. Once you’ve bleached and stripped the diapers, you just need to make sure that you’re rinsing, rinsing, rinsing.
3rd. I would highly suggest switching to Tide Original Powder. I never had luck with any of the “cloth diaper specific” detergents… they never got my diapers really clean and that’s, ultimately, how diapers get moldy… it means they aren’t getting clean enough.
Make sure you’re using enough water when you wash. Make sure your water is on the HOTTEST setting during the detergent cycle.
What kind of W/D do you have? What is your wash cycle like now?
Thank you! I’ve bleached already but I think I need to start doing it monthly like you were saying and I do not like the Bumgenius detergent either, I have been wanting to switch but wasn’t sure what to switch to, so thanks I will try Tide! I have a samsung HE front loader. My wash cycle now is rinse on cold, then heavy duty wash on hot with extra rinse at the end and then into the dryer. When I have bleached I added 1/4 cup into wash with the Bumgenius detergent then I do a ton of rinses or sometimes I even rewash with the Bumgenius detergent. I didn’t mention this before but I also wash the pail liner bag with every diaper wash. You said the only way to kill the mold is to bleach and strip, how do you strip? Thank you!
I would DEFINITELY make the switch to the Tide Original Powder.
Here is how I strip my diapers:
1. I start with CLEAN diapers (so if they are dirty, I run them through their normal wash routine all the way up until I’d dry them).
2. Then, I run a HOT wash with 1 tsp (I have a front loader, if you have a top loader, use 1 tbsp) of original BLUE Dawn dish detergent. Yes, it has to be BLUE and it has to be Dawn. It can’t be ANYTHING other than ORIGINAL Blue Dawn dish detergent. This is a de-greaser than will help to break up and get rid of all the buildup and gunk on your diapers.
2. Then, I run a heavy, HOT wash with 1/4 cup of bleach (just plain Clorox).
3. I add a boiling pot of water / pitcher of water to the bleach cycle.
4. I then rinse, rinse, rinse, rinse, rinse, rinse, and rinse some more until I don’t see anymore suds.
Yes, this is a full day process…
I might also suggest adding some boiling water to the cycle as well… as in like boil a pot of water on the stove and pour that in, too.
You can ALSO soak in the tub with boiling water!
Oh, and I have also boiled my inserts on the stove or in the sink. But they need to SIT in boiling hot water for a while.
This is great thank you so much for the tips I am going to try this tomorrow! One last thing, if the mold is dead is it still ok to put on baby? I just bought some new fleece liners to put on top so she’s not touching the dead mold just in case its bad for her skin.
absolutely! once it’s dead, it’s dead. the mold stains will come out eventually (with lots of washes and sunning).
Wow. thats a great idea! Especially for hand washing mom like me 🙂
molly can i trow them in the dryer after bleaching them i just discovered mold on some of my prefolds i live in nc so is very humid outside right now
you can! just make sure you rinse rinse rinse rinse rinse before you put them in the dryer!
thanks and sorry for the many questions is it better if i just trow all my diapers in the washer even do not all if them have mold
it’s okay either way – it won’t hurt
Hi Molly! I have a 3 month old and I just discovered mold specks on all of our prefolds and inserts–I found a PW wet bag as the clear culprit =( I had to come say THANK YOU for writing this, because I was about to have a meltdown when I remembered that you dealt with this and had a step-by-step for dealing with the problem. Meltdown averted! Good thing I have an entire day to launder… every-other-day diaper wash isn’t bad, but washing/bleaching/rinse-rinse-rinsing the entire stash is going to take hourrrrrrrrs. Anywho, thank you!! =)
you’re so welcome!! discovering mold is the WERRRRST!! but so glad that this was helpful! you CAN fix it!!
Hey Molly- I love reading your cloth 101 and did not know about the bleach- I was always taught no bleach for cloth diapers. I use Drybees so I hope it still applies 🙂 In the future I am doing a blogger who inspires me or has taught me something new- may I link up this post- giving you and #fundaymonday credit?
Rachel of http://Garaytreasures.wordpress.com
Hey Molly! I’m due in August and was just starting my cloth diapering research when you started this series….I’m SO GLAD!! This has been wonderful!!! Would you mind also sharing some of your other resources/forums you have mentioned?? (P.S. CNU Captain’s 4L–I graduated in ’09!)
Absolutely! I’ll see if I can “curate” some of the links and share them in an upcoming post! This FB group has been very helpful https://www.facebook.com/groups/monsterbottomsqa/
GREAT SERIES!! I just found your blog through your banner on Mama in Heels and I’m glad I did. I’ve been cloth diapering for 22 months now and I am so happy doing it. It IS more work but I feel good doing it. I actually haven’t encountered mold issues or diaper rash issues, but I’m pretty religious about washing the diapers often. I have 40 All in Ones, which I’ve divided into two groups of 20, so As soon as 20 have been used I put them right in the wash and then air dry. I find that as long as i change my toddlers diaper often he doesn’t get diaper rash.
I have 24 BG AIOs and I’ve only had the issue on a couple of the ones that she wears overnight… not too too terrible