It has been five years, five full years since I have not had to change a diaper every few hours. Three kids under 5, means A LOT of diapers and A LOT of, ahem…smells. I know I am not the only homemaking mama that has tried it all to make sure that when welcoming guests into her home, they are not immediately tipped off to the fact that my day is full of diaper duty, because, let’s be real, diapers STINK! It has taken me almost 5 full years of diaper duty to discover the real-deal solution to the diaper stink problem in my home, and I know you are going to want to know this, too!
We currently have two little ones in diapers. Ugh… and I have been working on this problem since long before we had our second baby. We discovered some things along the way that helped; but I just recently solved the entire diaper stink problem. Let me explain.
First of all, and this is the most important thing I am going to tell you – you may have purchased/registered for the WRONG diaper pail. I haven’t looked up to find out which diaper pail is the most popular, but I would take a guess that it’s the Diaper Genie. I mean, it is all in the name, right? BUT, the Diaper Genie is a stink factory – literally. We had one for the first baby and part of two babies in diapers (the first time around) and we just assumed that diaper pails in general make your house smell like a baby waste factory, BUT it’s not the fact that you have a diaper pail, it is the fact that you have a Diaper Genie.
So, which diaper pail should you buy/register for instead?
The Arm & Hammer Munchkin Diaper Pail, it’s rated #1 in Odor Control (in laboratory tests). Well, the experiments done in our own “laboratory” confirm their conclusions – this is the diaper pail to help control diaper stink in your home. What’s different about the Munchkin, that makes it better, is the construction of the pail itself, and the bags that go in it. The pail is made to twist “closed” at the top each time the lid is closed on the pail.
This effectively cuts off the stink residing in the bags while the diaper pail is closed. And the bags themselves are thicker than the bags that come with the Diaper Genie. They are also easier to use because they have a locking system at the top (instead of the cut-and-tie method with the Diaper Genie).
Did you notice that I said help control the stink? There’s a reason for that, and I have some tips for how to use your Munchkin Diaper pail to maximize the stink-reduction in your home.
Use baking soda often
One of the reasons the Munchkin works so well is because it utilizes one of the most natural odor-reducing products available – baking soda. The Munchkin pail has a reservoir for baking soda that sits in the lid. So every time you open and close the lid (put a diaper in the pail), a small amount of baking soda is released into the bin, which helps to neutralize odors quickly.
In order for the baking soda to do its best work, you should change out the reservoir at least once a month, AND in between reservoir refills, I recommend that each time you change out the bag, you sprinkle a little baking soda into the bag before you put any diapers in it.
Clean the diaper pail as often as you clean your garbage cans
I am not sure how often you clean the garbage cans in your home, I tend to do it quarterly. When you clean the garbage cans, clean the diaper pail, it makes it easy to remember when you did it last. A good cleaning includes scrubbing with soap and water, I recommend doing in the bath tub. Make sure you remove the baking soda reservoir before you clean the pail! Use a small brush or an old toothbrush to really get into the nooks and crannies of the pail.
Once you have the diaper pail clean and you have changed out the reservoir, you are ready for the last of my tips – further odor reduction.
Control odor with an air neutralizer
One of the common misconceptions in homemaking is that air fresheners actually help to freshen the air. But what the commercials don’t say is that instead of actually refreshing the air, you end up with stinky-flowery smells instead of just stinky smells. What you really need, instead of an air freshener, is an air neutralizer. I just recently found one that takes away any residual diaper stink, for real.
I was shopping the aisles of Target (sipping my Starbucks and soaking in a few minutes of retail therapy. Don’t you just love it?) when I came across a new product in the air freshener aisle. Since diaper duty is never far from my mind (even in Target), I checked it out and decided I would look it up when I got home. After doing a little research, I purchased the Fresh Wave Odor Removing packs. And let me tell you, these things WORK.
We keep our diaper pails (plural, for the plural kids in diapers) in my baby’s room and in the laundry room and usually after the diaper pail is about half-way full in our laundry room, there’s a certain “smell” greeting us upon entry to our home. I popped one of the Fresh Wave Odor Removing packs into the bottom of our Munchkin last month and I have not smelled a diaper stink upon entering my home since! For those of you with sensitive noses (I have one, too), I seriously, cannot smell the diapers inside my pail! There is a door that locks shut on the Munchkin.
Are you currently in the diaper changing season of life, or are you about to be? If so, I highly recommend that you get/register for the Munchkin pail and pick up a pack of the Fresh Wave odor removing packs. Trust me, your nose, and the noses of your guests, who come over to coo over your little one, will thank you!
Leah
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I am fairly certain that the Munchkin Arm & Hammer Diaper Pail has been discontinued. We have one and liked it, but haven’t been able to find the refill bags for a few months now.
The refills are still available at Target and Amazon. They have rebranded a little bit, but they are still available!