Diaper Genie II Elite Test Drive & Opinion

Posted on Jun 10 in product/ service reviewby TalinaPrint

I was given the opportunity to try out and review this diaper pail and I jumped on it since we have had to have E in disposable diapers overnight (so we can apply lotion to her bum, long story. Will explain later). Anyway, as an eco-minded mom I am always looking for ways fine tune and improve upon my mommy duties while still being environmentally aware.

On any day in my diaper stash you’ll find my preferred cloth diapers, some disposable diapers (that were free samples and what not), cloth wipes and also disposable wipes. This makes my diaper pail usage most unique which is why I was eager to partake in pail reviews.

I need a place for stuff that goes in the trash like disposable wipes and diapers plus I also need a place for my soiled reusable items to accumulate until I have enough to do a small load of diaper laundry. With kids it is very important to have pails and waste baskets with lids to keep curious hands out and smells in.

The low-down on the Diaper Genie II Elite:

I read from their product info that the Diaper Genie II Elite is designed with a “patented AIR-TITE System” that lets you drop diapers in without having to endure the smell of all the old diapers already hanging out in the pail.

Because we cloth diaper shaking the poop off diapers is a regular thing for us, that said we don’t normally have a huge issue with poop stink coming from our diapers since they don’t sit in the pail full of poop. What does stink is the disposable wipes that often have lots of poop on them. Now the urine smell is another story in our house, I’d love to be able to contain that.

So I tried many different ways of using the Diaper Genie II Elite, some of which I don’t recommend. LOL. What? I am a creative, outside the box kind of girl.

The first week I used this pail I only put disposable diapers and wipes in it. While the room didn’t stink of poop I did notice some nasty (almost fermenting meat) smell that kind of knocked you on your butt whenever you opened the pail to toss a new diaper in and especially when you went to change the liner and toss the used diapers. There was maybe 1 poopy diaper in the pail among several peed on diapers.

The “AIR-TITE” system does crank open as the pail lid opens so I suspect this is how the smell escapes. The rest of the time my bathroom was odor free, as long as the pail was closed.

The next week, after realizing I hardly use that many diaper and wipes (the pail is quite deep), I also put scooped cat poop in the pail with the wipes and diapers as well as various other bathroom trash items. I know, this is an odd thing to think up but I was feeling guilty about the plastic use with the Diaper Genie bags.

Normally, we reuse old shopping bags we’ve accumulated over the years for trash pail lining and usually when the pail is full I’ll dump the contents of the smaller grocery bag in to our larger kitchen trash bag and then reuse the grocery bag again (unless it is all gross or something). This reduces the amount of excessively bagged trash we toss out.

This brings me to the one obvious con for this eco minded mama: The wasteful plastic bag design. It would be a smart idea to make plastic refills that are similar to EconoGreen Plastics idea so they decompose faster.

While I know it’s odd to be worried about plastic waste if you are using disposable diapers it is still an obvious concern for many. Especially those who use compostable diapers or eco-friendly disposable & compostable diaper liners. How are the diapers supposed to breakdown in the landfill if they are bagged in other, not easily decomposing bags?

I also felt the Diaper Genie II Elite’s stink factor is possibly increased by the larger capacity of the pail. It measures about 2.5 feet tall which means it takes more diapers to fill up but a plus is that you can remove the waste and start a new bag whenever you feel the need and starting new bags is a great way to cut down on the stink of changing bags out!

“Though the Diaper Genie II Elite can hold 30 small diapers before needing to be emptied, sometimes emptying the pail before it reaches its limit can help to reduce odor as you get the bag out of the pail. Diaper Genie is the only diaper pail that allows you to dispose of fewer diapers without wasting excess refill film.”

The removing of the soiled stuff is a majorly stinky ordeal for sure and the cut, tie and pull to change out bags does take some getting used to. It’s not easy to empty and change the bag with a child in the room and you totally need two hands for the task, this is kind of a problem for me since E is always up in my business or in my arms while I do household chores.

One thing we really liked was the foot pedal to open the pail lid. This is great when you’ve got your hands full of a mess you are trying to contain. Also the ease of putting diaper in the pail (aka the wide opening) is awesome. You can literally drop stuff right in without having to bend over or force stuff down the pail.

Also, the pail’s height is nice because it is taller than most toddlers faces so it doesn’t entice them to try playing in the pail. On the other hand, It’s too tall and doesn’t fit next to the toilet and under the toilet paper holder like we need it to. It’s height can be a benefit or an issue depending on your needs.

Another creative use for the Diaper Genie II Elite and cloth diapering moms is converting the disposable bag system in to a washable system so you can put your cloth in it.

All I did was take some old sheets and sew them into narrow pail liners. Then I plopped the pail liners in around an empty bag ring and right through the pail like you would with a plastic bag. When you aren’t using plastic bags you can toss cloth diapers in the Diaper Genie to hang out until a load of diapers is necessary.

I don’t recommend putting your cloth diapers in the plastic pail liners that come with the Diaper Genie. The lack of airflow inside the plastic bags will cause your diapers to mold and possibly have stink issues. A breathable cloth liner (like an old sheet) and frequent pail liner changes will allow you to forgo the Diaper Genie plastic pail liners and use it with your cloth diapers like I did.

I am a member of the Mom Central community and I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central, sponsored by Diaper Genie, and received a free Diaper Genie diaper pail and a free Munchkin Arm & Hammer diaper pail to facilitate my review.