At Nicki’s Diapers, sustainability doesn’t stop with just the cloth diaper. We strive to provide parents with all the cloth diapering necessities like sprayers, reusable wipes, changing pads, diaper extenders, diaper pail liners, and wet bags!
The main hesitations most parents have with cloth diapering are storing and cleaning the used diaper. If you are looking for more advice on how to actually clean a cloth diaper, check out our guide on cloth diapers for beginners to learn more.
What do you do in the meantime when it’s not laundry day? Are you going to have to do laundry every day? The short answer to that is NO, you will not have to do laundry every day. There are numerous diaper pail options for cloth diapers, where you can store your baby’s used cloth diapers until you are ready to tackle the laundry. Let’s find out more about the best diaper pails for cloth diapers…
Cloth Diaper Pail Dilemmas: Storing and Cleaning
The main hesitations most parents have with cloth diapering are storing and cleaning the used diaper. If you are looking for more advice on how to actually clean a cloth diaper, check out our guide on cloth diapers for beginners to learn more. Now, onto the question about what to do when it's not laundry day, specifically in terms of using a diaper pail for cloth diapers.
Discovering the Best Diaper Pail for Cloth Diapers: Not All About Laundry
Are you going to have to do laundry every day? The short answer to that is NO, you will not have to do laundry every day. There are numerous diaper pail options for cloth diapers, where you can store your baby’s used cloth diapers until you are ready to tackle the laundry. Let’s delve into more about the best diaper pails for cloth diapers.
Choices for Your Cloth Diaper Pail
Your cloth diaper pail can store your used diapers in two main ways: the wet cloth diaper pail method and the dry cloth diaper pail method. Your choice for the best cloth diaper pail depends on what you feel is best for your family, your home, and the types of cloth diapers you use. Let's evaluate the two different cloth diaper pail options.
The Wet Pail Method for Cloth Diapers: A Cautionary Tale
The first cloth diaper pail option is the wet pail method for cloth diapers. This is when the cloth diaper pail is filled with a little bit of water. This water helps to pretreat the used diapers. Many parents believe this gets their baby’s used cloth diapers cleaner and helps to reduce staining.
We at Nicki’s Diapers do not encourage or recommend parents to use the wet pail method. The wet pail method prematurely damages cloth diapers and is an extreme drawing hazard for your babies.
The Dry Diaper Pail Method for Cloth Diapers: A Common Choice
Next up is the dry method for cloth diapers. This diaper pail for cloth diapers is the more common practice among cloth diaper parents. This means that cloth diapers are simply stored in a trash can or a diaper genie, lined with a reusable cloth diaper pail liner. These dry pail liners can also be hung from hooks or doorknobs. This is a good idea for parents who have curious babies!
Before throwing your used diapers in the dry pail liner, you will want to remove any solid poop from the diaper. It is also important to note that your cloth diaper pail liner should not be made of cotton or any other super absorbent material. This is how smells get trapped and linger around your home.
We recommend that you keep at least two cloth diaper pail liners in your home. This is so that when you are doing your cloth diaper laundry, you have another diaper pail liner to store any diapers your baby may use while the laundry is running.
Choosing the Best Cloth Diaper Pails: Options for Every Parent
Next, we are going to discuss our picks for the best diaper pail for cloth diapers. Don’t worry, we have options for every type of parent!
Commercial Cloth Diaper Pail: Traditional and Reliable
This diaper pail for cloth diapers is the most traditional type of dirty diaper storage. This is just the standard flip-top trash can you can get at Target or Walmart. These are perfect if you are using the dry bag method. If you are using the wet bag method, you should consider investing in a way to lock the lid while you are not using it just to avoid any drowning hazards.
These types of diaper pails are great for keeping odors locked in. The flip-top usually has a rubber seal that prevents odors from leaking out and stinking up the whole nursery or laundry room.
A parent-favorite is the Dekor Hands-Free Diaper Pail from Amazon. This diaper pail for cloth diapers comes in a variety of different colors so you are sure to find one that matches your nursery. It is totally hands-free so there's no need to play hot diaper while trying to throw it in the diaper pail! Your Planet Wise large diaper pail liner can fit right inside.
Hanging Wet Bag and Wet Dry Bags: Convenient and Space-Saving
These diaper pails for cloth diapers are exactly what we were talking about earlier!Many parents prefer using Hanging wet bags or wet dry bags as their cloth diaper pails. These are great for parents who live in smaller homes, because they can hang right on the back of a door and not take up any unnecessary space. Wet and dry bags double as the diaper pail and the diaper pail liner, which also makes laundry time convenient. Just grab the bag and throw it all in the washer.
Other Popular Choices for Cloth Diaper Pails
The next parent favorite is the iconic Diaper Genie! The Diaper Genie is a foolproof way to keep odors locked in the can. Can you use a Diaper Genie with cloth diapers? Of course! However, there is a mechanical part that may need to be removed if you are using a reusable pail liner. There are many tutorials on YouTube about how to refill a Diaper Genie.
Preventing Cloth Diaper Pail Odors: Cleanliness is Key
The best way to prevent your diaper pail from smelling is to wash your used cloth diapers as often as you can. After a few days of sitting, the urine trapped in the cloth diapers turns into uric acid, which smells very bad. This acid can also cause premature damage to your cloth diapers.
Another way to prevent odors is to disinfect and clean the cloth diaper pail every time you empty it. We do not recommend any type of deodorizer, because these contain harsh chemicals that you don’t want anywhere near your baby’s diaper.
The last way to prevent smells from cloth diaper pails is to rinse the diapers after every use. We recommend investing in a cloth diaper sprayer. These attach to the plumbing of your toilet and work just like a hose. Simply spray out the diaper and throw it in the pail! However, it is important to remember that just because you spray it out, doesn’t mean you should go longer between wash days. This added moisture is just a breeding ground for mold. Stay consistent with your wash days, even if you are spraying them out.
Added Insight: The Ubiquitous Odor Control Sachets
Many parents swear by the use of odor control sachets in their diaper pails for cloth diapers. These handy little sachets contain natural odor absorbers and neutralizers like baking soda and activated charcoal. You can hang one of these sachets near or inside your diaper pail to help control the smell. It's a safe and natural way to keep your diapering area smelling fresh!
The Sustainable Choice: Diaper Pails for Cloth Diapers
You can still be sustainable while raising your babies. At Nicki’s Diapers, we want to help all families to be able to cut back on their waste and find new ways to be eco-friendly and sustainable. Cloth diapers, reusable cloth diaper pail liners, reusable wipes, and wet-dry bags make it so much easier for any family to do their part and reduce their carbon footprint.
If you are ready to make the switch to sustainable, we recommend reading these new articles:
If you're ready to make the switch to sustainable diapering, we have several resources that can help. Start with our guides on Cloth Diapers for Newborns and How Often to Change Cloth Diapers. These guides will help you prepare for cloth diapering and develop a routine that works for your family.
Every parent is different and every baby has unique needs, so it’s important to find what works best for you and your household. We hope this guide has helped you on your cloth diapering journey, and if you have further questions, don’t hesitate to reach out!
