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Cloth Diaper Pail Options & Suggestions
Finding the most effective and efficient diaper pailing method for your needs
By Susan Crawford Beil
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Diaper Pail Options
If you’re wondering what’s involved in getting your diapers to the pail (i.e. to dunk or not to dunk) click here.
There are a variety of ways to “pail” your diapers before you wash them. Soaking diapers is not necessary, but it can be quite helpful for cleaning and deodorizing them. We have some ideas to help you soak your diapers thoroughly without having to fill or drain a single bucket! We are all about letting our machines do the work on this one – it’s just the easiest and safest thing to do. In all of these methods, we recommend that you not wait too long to wash your diapers. Even soaking them won’t keep odors from setting in, and your best bet on getting diapers clean is not to wash too many of them at once.
Choosing your diaper pail and how you use it will have a lot to do with your laundering habits and how your home is organized. Do you like to do a little bit of laundry every day? Do you like to wait until you absolutely have to do laundry and then just make a day of it? Do you have one small bathroom, or several of various sizes? Is your laundry room/closet on the same floor as your diaper changing station? Think about how you like to organize your days and your home, and this will help you decide what kind of diaper pail strategy works best for you.
The Wet Pail
The Washing Machine as a Wet Pail
The Dry Pail
The Dry Pail-to-Washing Machine Combo
The Wet Pail
If you will be washing your diapers at home, we do not recommend a wet pail for storing your wet or dirty diapers. It’s just not necessary to soak them this way (again, let your machines do the work), and wet pails are heavy and awkward. The main reason we don’t like them is that little children can get into them and make a big mess, or, much worse, fall in and drown.
But, some people wash diapers at a laundromat and it really makes most sense to do some soaking/pre-washing at home. If you choose a wet pail method, we recommend that you use a locking-lid bucket or pail, and that you keep it safely out of reach of your children.
Get yourself a locking-lid container – we stress the importance of this safety feature! And get a reasonably sized one; you won’t want to lug a heavy pail of dirty diaper water around your home! We recommend the buckets your Costco sized detergents or cat litter come in. Or, the food-grade quality, square-lidded ones – ask at your local bakery or bulk foods store if they’ll give or sell you one.
Basic:
- Fill your bucket or pail about 1/2 full of water.
- Add 1/2 cup Baking Soda.
For a nice touch: (add one or more of the following)
Never use detergent to soak your diapers! And never use chlorine bleach to soak or wash your diapers!
Always replace and reseal locking lid after adding each diaper. And keep this bucket out of reach of children – keep the bathroom door shut, keep the bucket on top of a counter, etc.
The Washing Machine as a Wet Diaper Pail
If you have a top-loading washer close to your baby changing station, and you don’t do laundry every day, this is a great place to store your wet and dirty diapers! We love this method!
Basic plan:
- Just fill your washer to the “low” or “very low” setting with cold or warm water. Add 1/2 cup Baking Soda.
Add a nice touch: (add one or more of the following)
Never use detergent to soak your diapers! And never use chlorine bleach to soak or wash your diapers!
Each time you remove a diaper from your baby’s precious bottom, just take it to the washer, drop it in, and close the lid (remembering to drop any large poops off at the toilet first, of course). If it’s been a couple of days and you’re not ready to wash a load yet, drain the water and re-fill (to low) with fresh water. Letting diapers soak for too long is not recommended; bacteria will start to grow and odors will set in. And, even more fun, the poopies that got lifted off one diaper will start to make themselves at home in another one if given enough time. So don’t forget to change the water!
When washing day arrives, drain water and spin down. Then, follow our Easy Wash steps and you’ll have clean, fresh diapers in no time.
The Dry Pail
If you have a front-loading washer, or your washer is not conveniently close to your diaper changing station (eg. in your basement), we recommend using a dry pail to store your wet and dirty diapers.
A locking lid pail is not necessary with the dry pail method, though it would keep curious children from making messes. And they’re also free or very cheap: we recommend the buckets your Costco sized detergents or cat litter come in. Or, the food-grade quality, square-lidded ones – ask at your local bakery or bulk foods store if they’ll give or sell you one. I find the square shaped buckets fit in the space between my toilet and tub better than the round buckets. Either shaped bucket will hold about 2 days’ worth of diapers, washies and wraps. A flip-top lidded trash can is a good choice, too, and depending on the size you choose, you can get more diapers in it than a bucket.
Basic plan:
- Just throw your wet and dirty diapers in the pail after you’re done changing a diaper.
Add a nice touch: (one or more of the following)
- Baking Soda - sprinkle on the bottom of the pail. Some people like to keep a shaker jar filled with soda near their pail and sprinkle it on as they go. An old, cleaned out parmesan cheese shaker would work well, or poke several holes in the lid of a mason jar and use that.
- Bac-Out Stain & Odor Eliminator - make up a 1-3 or 1-4 solution in a spray bottle and use this to pre-treat your diapers. I just keep my spray bottle above the toilet and treat any extra messy diapers before tossing them into the dry pail. It’s also great for cleaning the bathroom – or just wiping down and sanitizing the toilet or the potty chair *smile*.
- Tea Tree Oil – Put 1-2 drops on a wet rag and throw it in the pail.
- Nylon Tote - This is to line your pail and make transfering your diapers to the washer easy! If you use a large diaper pail, this is a fabulous help. But the smaller buckets are less awkward to carry and you may find the totes unnecessary.
*If odors are really troubling to you, you can also rinse out each and every diaper – wet and dirty alike. Some older toddlers can produce a very strong smelling urine, and rinsing their diapers may dramatically reduce the odor in your pail.
Last but not least. . .
The Dry Pail-to-Washer Pail method
So you want to soak your diapers, but not in a bucket? And you like the idea of using your washer as a wet pail, but don’t have one conveniently located near where you change your diapers? Or you just don’t want your washer tied up so much? This method is for you!
Basic plan:
- When you have about 2 days worth of diapers, just dump them into your washer, fill to a “low” setting with cold or warm water and add 1/2 cup Baking Soda
Add a nice touch: (one or more of the following)
If you have a soak cycle on your machine, this should agitate the diapers for a few minutes to loosen them up and then it will soak them until you change to another cycle to rinse and drain it. So then, sprinkle some Baking Soda on the bottom of your bucket and take it back to your bathroom – or wherever you keep it. Let your first round of diapers soak for the next two days while you fill up the bucket a second time.
When the bucket is full again, dump round two into your washer – now you have a full load! Fill washer to half full and run a pre-wash cycle (or just a rinse and spin). If you want to soak all your diapers some more, drain the first soak water and refill to a “low” setting with another helping of Baking Soda, oxygen bleach, or Bac-Out. Rinse and spin when you are ready to wash. Then follow the Punkin-Butt Easy Wash method.
With this method, your diapers never sit too long in either a dry pail or a wet pail. This can help you stretch out your diaper laundering days; you can wash diapers every 4-5 days rather than every 2-3 days. Depending on how many diapers you have and how you like to organize your weeks, this can be a very helpful approach to getting your diapers clean!
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