Whats the Best Diaper Pail to Use as Far as Keeping the Smell Away?

Updated on December 15, 2008
J.J. asks from Livermore, CA
35 answers

I have the diaper dekor plus. My daughter is 5 months old & I am about to throw this thing out the window. haha. It hardly holds any diapers & DOES NOT keep the smell out. I have a 1200 foot home, one level & I just walked in from running an errand & I can smell it in the whole house!! & there are only a few poop diapers in there! Help. Need to make a change.

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A.S.

answers from San Francisco on

Hi J.-!

When we did disposable diapers, we did not have a diaper pail at all for the very reason that they ALWAYS smell. Anytime there was a poopy diaper, it went straight outside to the big garbage can on the side of the house. It was worth the extra trip out there to not have poopy diapers in the house-!
When we did cloth diapers, I had a regular pail with about 2 inches of water in the bottom with about a tablespoon of bleach, and I always rinsed solids out in the toilet before putting the cloth diaper in the pail, and then I washed diapers every day.

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L.D.

answers from Modesto on

I have the Diaper Genie in my sons room (he's 2.5 yrs and not yet potty trained - in process!) and the Diaper Genie II in my newborn daughters room. The Diaper Genie II is far better as far as smell and as far as tying off the bag and emptying it. I recommend it.

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D.T.

answers from San Francisco on

I LOVE my Diaper Genie II!!! It has a spring action door that you stick the diapers through. You can sometimes smell the poopie diapers, but it does a much better job than the original Diaper Genie. I hope this helps!

D.

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J.K.

answers from Fresno on

The only real way to keep the smell out is to take the dirty diaper to the outside trash bin right away.

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L.S.

answers from San Francisco on

I gave up and keep only peepee diapers in the house. I use our old kitchen trash container with a lid that steps open outside for the poopy diapers (we use cloth). We use the diaper champ inside for the peepee diapers. It keeps the pee smell contained just fine, but not poop. Also, even if you are using paper diapers, you should flush as much of the poop down the toilet as possible. That will cut down significantly on the smell and is the best for the environment!

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C.A.

answers from San Francisco on

I had the Diaper Champ, since everyone LOVES it so much. I hated it. whenever I sat on the floor to play with my daughter it would smell like pee. I finally got rid of it and started throwing wet ones in our kitchen garbage and taking poopy ones to the outside trash. My sister-in-law bought a nice tin planter container and has it on her front porch. She puts all dirty diapers in that. My friend puts her in her garage garbage.

G.M.

answers from Modesto on

Skip the diaper pail, they are all worthless. Discard it to the outside trash immediately. Make sure you have a good, closing lid on your outside trash so as not to irritate your neighbors with your little one's aromas. And ALWAYS hold your breath when you lift it to toss in the new one.

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J.H.

answers from Bakersfield on

I have the Diaper Genie 2 like a bunch of the others, and I have zero problems with it. It sits in our living room, in fact, where we are most of the time, and we can't smell a thing. I do put the pee diapers in the regular trash to save space in the pail so the bag inserts will last longer. We've used this one for our last two kids and I love it. I don't even spray Lysol or put fabric softener sheets in it or anything, although it's not a bad idea...I just had never thought of that. But I've had no need to at all. Yes it is ASTOUNDING how bad those precious little babies can smell!

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I.P.

answers from San Francisco on

Using cloth diapers is the best for the smell! I've used them for both of my children and have never experienced any smell issues. Tiny Tots has a service or you can buy them and wash yourself. Just an idea...good luck.

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D.H.

answers from San Francisco on

My children are older now, but I always disposed of the poop into the toilet before placing the diaper in the pail. I used both cloth and disposable diapers, treating both the same way. My children were ultimately more comfortable in the disposable diapers. By emptying the poop into the toilet, I did not have an odor issue.

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G.C.

answers from San Francisco on

My place is smaller than yours. The diaper pails never worked for me and took up more space in the house. I put the dirty diapers in recycled small plastic bags from newspapers, supermarkets, etc., tie it up and put it in the garbage. My small bathroom does not smell up and I try to bring it out to the trash within a day or two. If I have a poopy diaper that can be emptied into the toilet, than I'll do that first. Good luck!

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A.B.

answers from Stockton on

We never used a diaper pail. It seemed like a waste of space and money. Since your little one is so young, you are probably changing a lot of diapers. What we did was put the diapers in plastic bags we saved from grocery stores and shopping and tied them closed. Because we were changing diapers so often in the beginning, the tied off bag filled quickly and so was quickly disposed of in the outside garbage bin before it had a chance to smell.

Now that our son is 2 years old and using less diapers, the odor has a chance to disperse. So we put them in the plastic bags, tie them off, and set them outside the door. Whenever someone is on their way out to the car or whatever, they grab the tied off bad and toss it in the garbage bin.

This is just something that occurred to me. I've heard that breastfed babies have less offensive smelling poop than formula fed babies. Don't know if that's true. I breastfed my son and the odor was not offensive until he started eating solids. And, of course, if you do formula feed your baby, I'm not suggesting you stop what works for you. I'm just mentioning something I've heard that could be a cause.

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R.W.

answers from San Francisco on

After reading Baby Bargains we bought the NEAT! system and love it! They are harder to find but BRU carries the refills for it. We put ALL diapers into this thing and have never had any odor at all. And we have a dog so you know the dog would be all over it if it smelled! If you can find one I highly recommend it. We have had it for 3 years and NO smells.

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A.S.

answers from San Francisco on

Honestly I don't think any of them work. We ended up putting our diaper pail outside. I then got a small simple human garbage can with the step/lid and put that in the room next to the changing table and we take out the diapers out to the big pail every night. (I use cloth and keep the diapers one week until my weekly diaper service pick up- so I was not willing to have a smell for 1 week!) :) I just couldn't stand the thought of my daughter sleeping in the room with that smell. It also reminds us to take out the trash at the same time.

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T.D.

answers from San Francisco on

I have a 7 week old and we use the Diaper Genie Elite. It works great and there is never any smell in our daughter's rooom. My sister has a 1-year old and her diaper pail was stinking up the house too, so she got the Genie Elite and loves it too! We bought ours at Babies "R" Us for about $35.00.

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J.K.

answers from San Francisco on

We got the Safety 1st Easy Saver diaper pail and it's worked wonders. No smell at all. It has small scented discs that go in the top and we've only had to refill ours once since getting it and the refills come in packs of 6 for something like $2.99 at Babies R Us. And it holds quite a bit. Our son is 5 months old. A good investment for us since his room is upstairs and the garbage bin is downstairs. This way we can avoid the extra trips and just do one big haul when we take out the garbage every week. When he was younger and going through more diapers we maybe had to do two hauls, but usually managed to keep it to the one. And the Costco 10 gal bags or any spare plastic grocery bags worked great to fill it.

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A.C.

answers from Sacramento on

I think they all start to stink after a while, but we had a pretty good system to keep the stench out of the plastic. Every time we emptied it I'd wipe down the inside with fabuloso, then I'd get a paper towel damp with fabuloso and put it in the bottom on the pail. That kept it smelling clean all the time.

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C.S.

answers from San Francisco on

We have tried several different pails. They all began to smell at some point. We now just take the poopy diapers out to the trash (outside) after each one. It is the only way we have been able to get no smell!

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D.T.

answers from San Francisco on

J.,
We have the same pail and it's fine. I think a lot of people don't know this - but it's actually illegal to throw feces in the trash. It belongs in the toilet. We dump or shake off the poop (scrape with a plastic tool, if you need to) into the toilet, then wrap the diaper and deposit in your pail. It won't smell because there will only be a residue of poop in there. This will really help the smell and be better for the environment. :-)

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D.P.

answers from Sacramento on

Diaper pails DID NOT work for me. I put the dirty diapers in a plastic bag, tied it up really good and took it straight to the trash, if I couldn't get out at the time, I left it tied up outside the door and hubby threw it out when he came home! GOOD LUCK! Isn't it funny how such cute, cuddly little ones can make such stinky diapers!

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P.F.

answers from Sacramento on

All of the diaper pails are horrible. I used to just take the diaper straight out to the garbage can outside.

Those diaper pails are a huge waste of money. Don't go buying another one!!!

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L.O.

answers from Sacramento on

I have the Diaper Genie 2. It's served it's purpose well. I keep 2 dryer sheets inside at the bottom and change them every week. I also spray lysol inside the can each time I change the bag. If I put a real doozy in there I'll spray some lysol after putting it in the container. Seems to be working... I haven't had any problems with a stinky house. Plus, having the diapers in the Diaper Genie bags stops the diapers from stinking up the garage (where I keep the large trash bin). I tried taking diapers straight to the trash before I got the Diaper Genie, but it made the garage STINK! Good Luck.

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N.J.

answers from San Francisco on

How about flushing the poop down the toilet before leaving the diaper in the pail? That's what we older ones had to do and we had to put our hands in the toilet water and move the cloth diaper around to get most of the stuck on stuff rinsed out....

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K.W.

answers from San Francisco on

Go to Scentsy.com/Designer and look at these wickless candles. They do not burn with fire so they are safe for kids and the scents last about 80 hours and can run constantly if you want. There are about 80 scents and they penetrate your whole house. They everything, from apple pie to lavender or oranges, etc. They also have some that plug in the wall and car scents that are fabulous and last forever. They were invented by a mom that worried about kids getting burned and the house catching on fire. They make great Christmas gifts, also.

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R.D.

answers from San Francisco on

I have three kids and I really liked the diaper genie 2. I don't know where you live, but ours is in the garage - we never use it anymore. I'll give it to you. I got it from Target. The refills are easy to put in and only cost like $5. It worked great! If you're interested, send me a message.

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M.T.

answers from Bakersfield on

We got the Diaper Genie II as a shower gift and absolutely LOVE it. We used to change diapers in the living room when our son and kept the diaper genie in there. It NEVER smelled. The genie has now moved into his bedroom and it continues to live up to our expectations.

L.K.

answers from San Francisco on

It's been quite a while since we had diapers in the house, but I thought the Diaper Genie was the only way to go.

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E.P.

answers from San Francisco on

You could try emptying the poop down the toilet. I cloth diaper and there isn't too much smell, mainly because of that I think.

E.

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C.D.

answers from San Francisco on

so we use cloth diapers and am not sure if paper diapers will work the same but we use a stainless steel simple human trash can with a flip top lid and it works great, it is easy to clean out with 2 sprays of bleach water spray and some apple cleanser and then I set it outside for an hour or so.
I rarely smell a thing unless I open the flip top, might be worth a try

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B.R.

answers from Sacramento on

I thought I had a unique idea, but see that everyone agrees with me about taking the diaper straight out to the trash. What I'm doing with our daycare, since it isn't always convenient to take the diaper straight out, is that I have a small regular trash can next to my changing table. I wrap the diapers by turning the gloves I have to wear inside out over the diaper. Poopy diapers are then wrapped in a plastic bag. The diaper is dropped into the small trash can and as soon as I can get a chance I open the door that goes into our garage and put them into a larger trash can I have sitting just inside the garage.

If you are looking for a diaper throw away bag, we've found some at Dollar Tree. They are small, thin, pink bags that have a nice scent to them and seem to help keep the odor confined. I use them just for the poopys and can put two of the glove wrapped diapers, plus the baby wipes I've used in one bag. I haven't noticed any odors that are overwhelming in the garage trash can. During the cooler months we can get by taking that trash to the outside bin once a week. During warmer weather I try to empty it about every other day, because the heat in the garage will tend to cause it to smell.

Our plastic grocery bags (which we are trying to eliminate as much as possible) are used to send home soiled clothing from the day, and/or donated to our church food closet.

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R.S.

answers from Sacramento on

Sometime back I had asked the same questions. I have a 16 month old with one due in February. I have the diaper genie 2 and wanted something new the second time around. I had received a lot of input, some even recommending the diaper dekor (hahahha) and other recommended some Lysol spray each time you use your pail.
I actually got some Lysol and started using it AFTER each use of the pail and it has helped greatly!
If you dont like your Dekor, then maybe try the Genie 2. My only issue with it now, is that the refill inserts are almost 5 per roll. Granted, the roll lasts and holds quite a few diapers yet its definitely not cheaper than regular bags.
Good luck
R.

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C.S.

answers from San Francisco on

We eventually moved our diaper changing station into the bathroom, got a trash can that has the step on lever to open the lid and dumped the poop in the toilet before discarding the dirty diaper into a plastic bag in the trash can. That is what worked best for us.
Good luck!

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A.N.

answers from San Francisco on

I had the same one and it was worthless. I started just taking the poopy diapers out to the outside trash.. It is free and my house never smells!!

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M.W.

answers from Fresno on

Hi J.,

My babies are now 48 and46. So I assume there have been a lot of changes in the diapering business since then. (That might be considered a poopy pun)

I used foldable cotton cloth diapers. A diaper soiled with stools was hand held in the toilet bowl.sloshed around in the flushing water until the stools flushed away. The ones with urine were sloshed the same way. They were then put into a plastic container that had a lid. This container was about half full of water plus a cup of baking soda. When the pail got full I flushed the "soda" water down the toilet. Any water remaining in the diapers I spun out in the washer. Then they were laundered with regular detergent, no chlorine bleach, rinsed in water with half a cup of soda and dried outside on the line in the sunshine. They were dried on an expandable wooden rack inside during bad weather.

No bad smells. No diaper rash. No urine and/or feces going anyplace but into the local waste water treatment plant. No trees had to die for baby poopy paper; nor plastic used
to cover each one. Everything ended up where it could be properly treated and no human feces or urine ended up in the landfills to seep into the water tables. No one had to worry about stepping in one of those smelly little presents in the parking lot when they got out of their car.

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G.R.

answers from Sacramento on

We tossed out our diaper genie. It seemed to trap the smells and make them worse. Standing within 5ft was enough to knock you over. Even when we sprayed it with clorox every time we emptied it. Also tried scented dryer sheets in the bottom. Yuck. Rotting diapers and scented dryer sheets.

We opted for putting poopy diapers in plastic bags in the kitchen garbage (scented trash bags) and take it out every day. It isn't ideal, but seems to work better. We don't get any horrid rotting diaper smells! The worst is that the trash can stinks a little when we open it.

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