Kicking up a stink about cloth nappies

Sometimes people are put off the idea of using cloth nappies because they are worried about the smell. You might be worried that having dirty nappies sitting ready to wash might be a bit whiffy, or you might have heard that cloth nappies smell bad. Really though, there’s no need to kick up a stink about cloth nappies, and often you might even find that they are less smell than some other options.

Biohazard

Kicking up a stink

I suppose that in some ways there’s not getting away from it, cloth nappies are designed to catch something that can be pretty stinky, but there’s no need to be kicking up a stink about it. There’s no real reason that cloth nappies should smell any worse than disposable nappies. With cloth nappies, you do have a couple of advantages over disposables when it comes to smells. First of all, you can actually wash the nappies and get rid of the smells, they’re not sitting around in your bin until the end of the week; believe me, a bin full of disposable nappies can get pretty funky smelling, particularly in hot weather. You’re also not mixing all of that ‘baby waste’ with chemicals, instead you dump most of the solids down the toilet and flush it away, much nicer on the nose. For day to day use, there’s no reason why you should have smelly cloth nappies to deal with.

But my nappies DO stink!

There are times when cloth nappies do get a bit stinky though, some people find that as their baby gets older, the moment that they wee in their nappies, there is a really strong ammonia smell. It might be easy to think that this is just what happens with cloth nappies, but don’t fall into that trap. The ammonia smell is caused because there is a build up of urine in the nappies, that turns into ammonia before they are washed. This usually happens because of bacteria on the nappies and time before they are washed. Don’t panic though, it’s usually pretty easy to deal with and all that you need to do is make sure that you are using enough water in your wash cycle and giving the nappies a really good rinse. If you’re having real issues with eye wateringly strong smells, then giving them a rinse as soon as you take them off should help to combat the nasty smells. You might want to try doing a really good clean (or strip wash) to get rid of the smells first.

Storing without smell

Of course you might be concerned about having a bucket full of smelly nappies sitting around for a day or so between washing loads, but there’s still no reason to be kicking up a stink. A nappy bucket or wet bag that closes firmly will help to keep any smells in. If you don’t want to be knocked out by the pong when you lift the lid or unzip the bag, then a cloth, such as a washable baby wipe with a few drops of your favourite essential oil on will help keep the stench at bay. Tea tree, or lavender oil are particularly good, and you can add your wipe to the wash with the nappies at laundry time.

Cloth nappies don’t need to smell bad, and there’s no need to be kicking up a stink about them.

Want to find out more about cloth nappies and get some personalised advice about what cloth nappies to use? Click here for our free cloth nappy advice service.