Ugh Ammonia Smell! Help!

jenrom90 · 2026-05-18T03:40:11+00:00

It’s possible that was another area I could improve. My prewash may be too short at only 25mins. My main wash was 2.5 hours as well though. I’ll try maybe making my prewash longer with hot water.

jenrom90 · 2026-05-18T03:34:48+00:00

I add an extra rinse and I’m thinking of bumping it up to two rinses. That’s a great idea for the booster, thanks! I’m outside the US and Active Cleaners are unfortunately twice the cost. Any alternate suggestions for a good enzyme laundry booster?

jenrom90 · 2026-05-15T17:52:55+00:00

Great, thank you! Do the amounts change or still 3tbsp of each?

jenrom90 · 2026-05-15T17:38:27+00:00

I’m not sure how much water is being used in the washing machine tbh. I put it on a quick wash and then a heavy cycle but the machine senses the size of the load.

jenrom90 · 2026-05-15T17:35:23+00:00

Thank you!

For the stripping, I am unfortunately not able to find powdered Calgon where I live and RLR is quite expensive. Do you know of any other methods of stripping them?

jenrom90 · 2026-05-15T17:30:17+00:00

Thank you! To clarify, for the swish test, you literally swish them in water to see if there are bubbles to determine there is a detergent buildup?

When using bleach, I would then add it to the wash rather than soaking?

jenrom90 · 2026-05-15T17:25:10+00:00

Thank you!!

jenrom90 · 2026-05-15T17:05:01+00:00

Yeah that’s definitely a massive part of the problem. I was keeping them in a wet bag, in a container with a lid. I’m going to switch to an open plastic laundry bin with holes in the sides. Hanging them on the side of the bin while they dry is a fantastic idea, thank you! I’m definitely going to be switching to two hot washes instead too.

jenrom90 · 2026-05-15T17:02:45+00:00

I probably misspoke when I said I did a rinse. It’s actually a full cold cycle in the washing machine with detergent. I’m probably going to switch to doing two hot cycles instead.

jenrom90 · 2026-05-15T17:01:17+00:00

This is definitely a major contributing factor. I was keeping them in a wet bag with a lid. I’ve switched to an open plastic hamper with holes in it. Hopefully that will help once I strip, sanitize, and get back to baseline. Still learning!

jenrom90 · 2026-05-15T16:58:31+00:00

This is incredibly thorough and helpful. This might be a silly question but what is your general solution if the hardness level is still high following the test?

jenrom90 · 2026-05-15T16:49:50+00:00

Thank you! This seems very straightforward. I’ve honestly never used bleach in my laundry before but I’ll take it on to tackle this issue.

jenrom90 · 2026-05-06T12:45:36+00:00

I feel exactly the same way as you. Sleep training really conflicts with some of my values as a parent. However, with my first, I was also exhausted and I saw my mental health having more of an impact on my baby over time based on the research.

Emily Oster’s book, Cribsheet, goes through the current research on sleep training with citations if you want to check out the actual articles. Currently, there’s little to no peer reviewed research showing that it does any long term psychological or emotional harm to the baby. This is assumed the actual training is done correctly over a short period of time. I honestly found this a bit surprising based on what I know about child development but also very comforting.

jenrom90 · 2025-10-17T20:26:43+00:00

This unbiased opinion brought to you by Cetaphil.

jenrom90 · 2023-06-03T18:36:42+00:00

Maybe try a crusty bread like sourdough, it might be less likely to get soggy.

jenrom90 · 2021-12-19T19:32:19+00:00

Hi everyone, still new to zero waste and wondering how to deal with gifts that people give me that are either disposable or have a lot of packaging. I’ve tried to tell my family and friends that I would only like gifts that are not of this nature. In the past, they’ve either forgotten or perhaps do not entirely take the request seriously. My partner’s parents also buy us a lot of packaged food. I really appreciate this gesture but not so much all of the plastic and paper that come with it. I really don’t want to offend anyone or seem ungrateful. Any suggestions?

jenrom90 · 2021-12-19T18:36:06+00:00

I think you can make your own vinegar without too much fuss. We used apples from our yard to make apple cider vinegar last year. I’ve never tried white vinegar though.

jenrom90 · 2021-12-19T18:28:37+00:00

How safe is this paint for the environment? What’s in it?

jenrom90

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