Since someone PM'd me to follow up on some of my care tips for washable pee pads, I thought I'd share here too. Before going into my cleaning methods, I'll openly admit that I stopped using chemicals nearly two years ago and my house is cleaner than it has ever been and I breathe a lot easier. I also feel it is safer around my animals. But whether or not you want to use chemicals and become a green cleaner, this is a cheap alternative to consider.
I realized I had a typo in my earlier post --
I do a 1/3 white distilled vinegar to 2/3 water solution in a 32 oz spray bottle. I add about 10 drops of essential oil of lavender to my bottle. When the
s have soiled their pee pee pad, I take the pad and spritz it with my solution and store it in a pail until I am ready to wash. The vinegar helps to neutralize the odors of urine.
The vinegar solution can smell strong when wet but in my opinion it beats the stink of urine. It's safe on fabrics and is natural so you and your furbabies will not be breathing in caustic chemicals.
If you have already chemically "set" your urine into your washable pee pads and you're picking up any urine smell, my suggestion is to soak the pads in a vinegar and water solution in your tub or large basin with 2 cups of baking soda and then do a regular wash. This will help to get some of the urine out of the fabric. Add vinegar to your rinse cycle and add a 2nd rinse. This should make your fabrics come out smelling brand new.
I will disclaim this and say that it works for us on our pee pads that T. Bumpkins & Co. makes using 100% cotton toppers. I think this method would be fine using fabrics that are cotton/poly as well or cotton flannel but since I do not have those products I must limit my suggestions to 100% cotton toppers.
Good luck! Anyone who is interested in more info can PM me!