Oh, Dear God...What Is That Smell?

I love my PPB (petunia Pickle Bottom) diaper bag! However, my poor bag has been cast aside like an old, broken toy. Here is how it all went down...

We were up at the beach having a great time shopping, going on bike rides, playing in the sand, etc, when I went to grab my diaper bag off the kitchen counter...that is when it hit us. I doubled over, dry heaving on the floor, as my husband runs from the affected area, grabbing A on the way. I can barely make out what he said next because he was so far away, but I think it was, "what the hell is that smell?".

Apparently my little plan of saving money (and time) by going to the "poor person's zoo" aka the pet store had backfired. I am not sure how she did it, since A is always in my sight, but I am convinced she managed to get some small little animal to crawl out of its cage and play with her. Then she didn't want the fun to end, so she stuffed it in my diaper bag and forgot about it, where it eventually perished.

Granted I did not find a small, lifeless animal in my bag, but the stench was overwhelming. My husband was convinced I had "lost" a poopie diaper in there...but really, I think I would have found that when I upended the bag over the trash can, as I continued to dry heave in the sink.

Now, on the website for PPB they are very firm in their claims that the bag must be spot cleaned with a damp cloth, both inside and out, no dry cleaning, and no washing. Well, I am sorry but unless I wanted to throw my adorable bag in the trash, we were just going to have to take some chances. My husband and I decided on the washing machine, on delicate. So I loaded the bag, with each compartment unzipped, into our machine, poured a generous amount of tide free into the detergent place, and set it to delicate on the stain cycle.

73 minutes later I opened the door to our washer with a mix of fear and hope....then I gagged again. Not only was the bag still very stinky, but it had made the entire washing machine smell like death. Casey Anthony couldn't lie her way around this smell.   

Three cycles later and two days in the sun, and I have finally gotten my bag back...well sort of. The bag in no worse for the wear (what do you know about washing machines PPB), but I still hold my breath and cringe each time I unzip the top to put something inside. I just don't know if it will ever be the same again.

xoxo

Daily Mom