the triumph over evil

evil smells, that is. i hadn't mentioned it here, for sake of not horrifying anyone, but the last few times we had washed grace's diapers, this terrible smell was emitted - not from the diapers AFTER the wash, but from simply getting them into the washing machine and getting the pail outside. that minute of exposed diapers and barren pail --- well, to put it gently, we were dying here.

the in-laws said it smelled like fish. i didn't think it's smelled like fish so much as it just smelled gross --- but they were diapers, so i could understand. nevertheless, the complaints about the smell got to me and i searched for a cure. remember, it's not my clean diapers that smell --- it was the smell that happens when you take them out of the pail and chuck them into the wash. their "air exposure" for that minute caused the most rotten smell. okay, well, not rotten: but the ammonia smell from urine is not pleasant in the slightest.

after my hunt for a solution --- which was tricky, mind you, because most people explain how to get the smell out of diapers that are "clean" and washed (which is a whole different matter) --- last night i tried adding bleach and vinegar to the load. it was the magical solution. that, and i moved so fast getting the diapers out of the pail, into the machine, and the pail back outside that it wasn't even funny. i looked like a roadrunner, i moved so fast. i was desperate to not allow the smell to contaminate the happy family space.

it didn't smell at all. you couldn't tell i was even running a load of diapers, that's how little it smelled. i was in cloth-diapering heaven.

so, that's my story of my triumph over evil smells. it's left me quite happy. i can't believe i just bragged to the world about how i didn't make the house stink!

have a good, stink-free day!