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 101, cloth 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.