Laundry crisis: Switched from frontloader to toploader PLEASE HELP

[newmom98118]

My family recently moved and we left behind a great frontloader and now have an older maytag toploader. Prior to our move we'd been using cloth for 3 years with no issues.

Now...my diapers STINK, mostly ammonia but sometimes like dead fish once pooped in. I know...GROSS. The other major issue is that about half my fuzzi bunz pockets have totally delaminated (about 15 of them). I just bought 10 more FBOS from a mama on DS so we'd have enough...I have 2 in cloth so we wash every other day.

I've been using mostly the same wash routine as before (cold rinse with nothing, hot wash with country save, tide or meyers, 2 cold or warm rinses) though sometimes I add a little extra soap the first time around and run the cylcle on hot twice (the second time with nothing). I'm assuming my dipes aren't getting clean but I thought toploaders were supposed to be better at cleaning since they use more water. It does help if I bleach the inserts but it's a drag to do that so often. I've never used bleach on the pockets though I have used a little oxyclean or vinegar on occasion.

Does anyone know what might be happening. Why such stink? Why the catastrophic delamination? How do I get them clean?

[Melinda29]

As for the stink, my guess would be the water is the culprit, not the washer. Some water supplies are just nasty. Are you using enough detergent, not HE amount but the full amount?

[momEmac]

First of all, are you sure the washer is working properly? I had a top loader that I struggled with, it was smaller and older and didn't get anything clean! It just didn't work well.
Second, has your water type changed? You may need to change detergents, use more, add boosters, or use a splash of bleach every load. I've used bleach ever since DS started solids, just a splash, or his diapers get stinky.
Since your having delamination problems, I would check the functionality of the washer first.

My iDevices are out to get me. Please excuse mistakes.

[MDever]

Yep, what they said. Water quality.

[newmom98118]

I'll have to look into our water quality. We live at a boarding school and the school just spent about 800K building a new water system. Would be a real bummer if the water is bad...and not just for me.

Anyone else want to chime in?

[klevmomma]

As an experiment, could you handwash a few diapers with the same water and detergent being used in the machine? That might help give you a clue as to whether the issue is a machine that isn't working properly or if it is water quality. As in, if the smell clean after hand-washing, suspect the washer. If they don't, suspect the water.

So sorry, mama. Washing issues are miserable :-(

And while you try to figure it out, could you pick up some flats and basic covers to use? I've never had an issue with flats being smelly or developing buildup (even when my other diapers did), though I have fought stinky pul before... Good luck!

[Sarahknavy]

Also, check the temp in the water heater maybe? Should be around 120 I think? Look of up. I always run the largest load cycle. Cold rinses.

If you have hard water? Does it take forever to rinse the shampoo out of your hair? Then more detergent is needed than normal.

Good luck

[marliah]

I guess water quality, I had a very hard time getting our diapers clean with hard water til I stared using bleach and tide every wash. Tide to the 1 line, and that's with about a half filled washing machines worth of diapers. I add approx a tablespoon of bleach to my cold prewash.

[Nicolenutt]

For the stink I would say try more soap, and use bleach every other wash. For the delamination I would check and see if your water is maybe getting too hot? Or is the dryer acting up? It is ok to add bleach with your pockets too.

[craigwick]

Did you buy the delaminated FB's used or new? I only ask because they have unlimited warranty on PUL in diapers purchased in 2010 on.

As for the washing, I used FB's for quite awhile and I have my water heater set higher than normal and have only had one delaminate (it was probably because I liked the colour of that one and so did DD2 so we used it more often than the others!). We have hard water and not good quality and I don't get stink, I use at least as much laundry soap with my diapers (or more) as my regular laundry and then rinse twice.