I wasn't sure what to do... I found a group on Facebook (seriously, there's a Facebook group for EVERYTHING!) specifically for cloth diaper laundry questions.
From this group I learned that most smells are due to soap residue build-up. What I was advised to do was to "strip" my diapers by rinsing them in plain HOT water as many times as it took before I could look in the washer and see NO soap bubbles during the cycle. After that, I was to wash once with a Tbs of Tide original powder (yet another laundry detergent added to my collection) and 1/4 cup bleach, followed by two cold rinses and one more hot rinse (just for good measure and to be sure they didn't smell like bleach).
Ta da! It totally worked. It took a lot of water, which to me kind of defeats the whole "green" aspect of cloth diapering, but stripping should only be done when diapers are smellin' funky anyway. Hopefully that's not too often.
Cloth diaper laundry is different for everyone. Some people have the hardest time with this part of cloth diapering because there is no textbook answer. Some factors that change your washing experience are: hard or soft water? top or front loading washer? agitator or not? high efficiency or old school? What kind of diapers? How many diapers/inserts? Is baby breast fed, formula, solids etc? What kind if detergent are you using? Have you used a diaper cream on baby?
Each persons laundry routine will be unique based on the list above. I was lucky to find my "balance" fairly quickly! Just because that routine worked for me, doesn't necessarily mean it'll work for you too (hate to break it to ya... However if you're curious, I have an old school top loader [best kind for cloth diapers!] and soft-ish water)
I've got a good idea now of what people should do based on what I've read.. So if anyone out there in cloth diaper world is dying to get the stink out, I can try to help you out :)
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