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Saturday, April 21, 2012

Make your own diaper pail deodorizer

It's been awhile since we talked about cloth diapering (CD).  In case you're new to my blog I have CD both of my kids.  My first daughter did cloth from newborn all the way through potty training (including overnight cloth pull-ups).  My second daughter is currently 9 months old and is going strong in size medium.

However, things have gotten a bit stinkier since she began eating solid foods.  As a result the dry diaper pail needs a little help.  In the past we used an air purifier in the changing table room, but right now that's been moved elsewhere.  So, I started looking into things to add to the pail.  I wanted something stronger than straight baking soda (which works too, just a sprinkle here and there).  Here's what I did with a little help from my 4 year old.


Diaper Pail Deodorizer

Ingredients
Baking Soda
Water
Essential Oil (lavender, tea-tree, eucalyptus, mint or lemon)
A container to put it in (a large spice container would work great)

Directions
1. Take a medium bowl and put baking soda in.  I used 1 cup b/c that's what my shaker held.
2. Add water slowly until it makes a thick paste.
3. Add a few drops of your chosen essential oil. I used about 5-7 drops.
4. Spoon the paste into a cupcake cup until it's about 1/2 inch full.

5. Wait 1-2 days for the mixture to dry out.  Mine took only one day but I live in a very dry climate.

6. Put the powder mix into your container and shake up to break up the clumps.  Then shake in your diaper pail at changes or when needed.


Another quicker option is to put a couple drops of an essential oil onto one of your cloth wipes and put it in the diaper pail.

Check out a Christmas Version of the deodorizer here.

Diaper Liners
And don't forget that using disposable and environmentally friendly rice-paper liners is helpful with the solids too.  That way if baby poops you can just throw the liner in the toilet instead of worrying about rinsing or even worse swishing in the toilet - yuck!  And if they haven't soiled the liner you can just throw it in the wash with the diapers and then use it again (2-3x before you need to toss it).

For more information on Cloth diapering check out my posts cloth diapering 101cloth diapering 102, and cloth diapering 103.  I talk about my washing routine, what diapers I use, where to buy them and how I organize them.

38 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  2. Thank you, that looks like a very good recipe! Have you tried making them with ice cube trays?

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  3. So glad i found this idea. I SEARCHED pintrest and found nothing until a good o'l "fashioned" Google search led me to your blog ;-) I don't CD but my diaper pail STINKS! I actually changed up the scents & linked your post in my blog post here:
    http://two2precious.blogspot.com/2013/09/diy-homemade-diaper-pail-deodorizer.html

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  4. Do you sprinkle it in with the cloth diapesr and just wash them with it in there or do you put it in the bottom of the pail?

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    1. Hi Stacey, I usually just sprinkle it in the pail on top of dirty/stinky diapers. You could put it directly on the diaper too. And yes, you wash the diapers with the deodorizer in there. It's a great laundry additive for diapers!

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  5. What is the point of letting it dry up and then breaking it up again? Is it just to help distribute the oil evenly, or does it do something else to help?

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    1. Great question Kenner. If you put it in a big container wet it wouldn't come out very easily (would dry in one solid lump). The smaller sizes are helpful to either crumble up for the container or to store in disks. You can then use one lump at a time in the bottom of your diaper pail or in the washing machine with the diapers.

      Hope this helps!

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    2. I'm not sure but I think Kenner meant is all those steps necessary. If soi have the same question.. as in, can you just make a dry powder with just baking soda, mix with some EO and put into a shaker. That's what I'm going to do as I need it Now and I've used just plain baking soda on its own and it worked for the garbage :)

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    3. Ah, thank you for clarifying Cherie. Yes, the extra steps are to infuse the oil throughout the baking soda. Otherwise it would be in scent clumps here and there.

      You can put just plain baking soda in a diaper pail (or in the wash with diapers) also. The scents just make it a bit more pleasant. :)

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  6. If you were to use them as pucks at the bottom of the pail would they go inside the pail liner or under the pail liner in the actual bucket?

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    1. I used them in the pail liner; that way it would be added to the washing machine when I washed the diapers. The puck is a helpful cleaner and deodorizer!

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