We have been using a Diaper Champ since our 18 mo. old daughter was born and love it. For the first year of her life, we kept the Champ in her bedroom because that is where we changed diapers. Up until about 6 months ago, we never had a problem with the smell. But now it just stinks. We started keeping it in the garage, she loves to take her diapers out and throw them away herself. We are expecting another baby in August and I have thought maybe I would prefer the Champ to be back in the nursery again. Does anyone have any tips on cleaning the Diaper Champ so that the smell actually goes away?
I don't know, maybe I should just keep it in the garage anyway - I know my older one would love to be a helper and throw out the diapers.
Maybe you could try cleaning it with vinegar. It always helps get bad smells, including pee smells, out of clothes when I put some in the washer.
HTH
Have a GREAT day!
S.
My sister in law taught me the trick of putting a charcoal brickette (the kind you use for bbq-ing) in the bottom. It works well for absorbing odors. When you notice the smell coming back, clean the pail and time for a new brick.
you can get odder aliminaters to place inside the diper champs they carry them at babies r us. and if you find that those dont work well for you then id just scrub it down realy well and hopefully that will work.
Ammonia. Take it in the backyard, put some ammonia & water in it (the bottle will have instructions) & let it soak for a day or so. Something in ammonia gets the urine (ammonia) smell out. If that doesn't work, rinse it well, let it set a day & try putting bleach in it to soak. Bleach & ammonia react, so make sure you rinse very well between cleanings.
To keep it smelling better, try a dryer sheet or some baking soda sprinkled in the bottom of the can.
Congrats on the new baby!
My husband and I chose to buy the Diaper Champ over the Diaper Genie because you can use any garbage bag with is. We thought it would be more economical. However, we too have been having the stinky problem you describe. So, every two weeks, I take the champ, put it in the shower, dump a cup of bleach in, wash it good, and then let it air dry for the day. We just use a regular bag of garbage that day while it is drying. It is a pain, but it seems to keep the odor at bay for 2 to 3 weeks. Your idea of just keeping it in the garage is a good one though. Best of luck with this and best wishes the new little one!
I used the Diaper Genie for my first, not only was it expensive you had to empty it often to eliminate the smell.
So for my son I got small trash can bags, that smelled like vanilla. They were very inexpensive, bought them in bulk and just would put the dirty diaper in that and tie it in a knot with each diaper, once a day I put them out in the big cans outside. They never smelled, actually the smell of the bags prevented the smell coming through. However from an environmental standpoint, you can get these same kinds of bags that are biodegradeable. I can say I saved a TON of money doing this for my second, had a lot less smell and could just throw a ton of the scented bags in my purse/diaper bag and have them when we were out too.
I had this very same problem... I tried everything! Bleach, air freshners, moving it into a more ventilated area ect.
NOTHING worked!
We have only had ours for 10 months!! Our daughters bathroom (where we change her) stunk so bad I couldn't stand to be in there and was embarrassed when family came to visit.
I finally threw in the towel and bought the Diaper Genie 2 at Target. I LOVE IT!
Of course I went with the diaper champ originally because I didn't want to buy the special bags ect, but since we are expecting our second in September I thought I can't keep buying diaper champs when they get smelly... so I caved and bought the Genie!
The Diaper Genie basically worked the same way. It is just a large bag that gets rolled out and as it fills up, you cut it off (built in cutter) and pull out new bag from the roll. I think the reason this one doesn't get smelly like the Champ is that the bag is all self-contained in the unit and therefore the smell can't get into the plastic. That is just my guess. Of course I have only had this for about 2 months now, but I have to say my Champ was smelling a bit by this time and I smell nothing in her bathroom at all.
So think it over. Certainly try all the suggestions you hear, but none of them worked for me.
Good Luck...
I have had the same problem with my diaper champ. I have tried others, but the diaper champ seems to work the best. Right now, the only diapers I throw in there are the wet ones. The other diapers I wrap in a plastic bag and through directly in the trash. I have found that the smell in the diaper champ is as bad. Also, I use the clorax wips to clean the inside once a week. That also helps a lot.
We have the exact same problem! And we have been keeping it in the garage as well lately. I am more responding to see tips as well because I am not sure what to tell you because we tried putting baking soda in it and cleaning it with 409 and nothing has worked. Maybe try taking the diapers out more frequently. I think maybe that was the problem with us-we only emptied it out about once a week. Anyway, good luck!
You're not the only one with this problem! We gave up on ours at about the same time, after scrubbing it and bleaching it several times, only to have the smell come right back. Now I keep any non-recyclable bags (cereal, old ziplocs, bread) and put the poopies in there then in the trash. Wet ones just go in the trash, then we put it all in the kitchen bag before taking it out. Nothing like real food to make the poop stink!
I keep our Diaper champ in our laundry room and every several days when we empty it I spray it with Lysol and let it sit outside for several hours to let it air out. This seems to work out pretty well for us.
I've found grapefruitseed oil really useful to remove bacteria caused odors & a paste of salt & water applied to the whole inner surface & left to 'cure' overnight might remove most of the odor too.
I've had the same problem. I'm going to try lysol and letting it sit out in the sun. If that does not work I my be purchasing a new one and this one lasted two years, but the if I can't get the smell out I'll need to do something for my second child. My mom also told me to try baking soda.
we had the SAME thing happen! loved the diaper champ up until about 15 months - then every time we turned over the lid to insert the diaper, and the air that came out of it was terrible! even the room began to smell!
we did a lot of research and finally bought the diaper genie 2 - yes, you have to buy the refills instead of any garbage bag like the champ used, but we have been very happy! we empty it about every 2-3 days or so, but the smell in the room is gone and when or IF we ever get a whiff, it's because we're standing over it when it's exposed to air or when we're changing the genie itself. it can hold a LOT of diapers too...
good luck - it's yucky, but we have to deal with it!
We had a diaper genie for our first, and it too got the smelly smell that never left. We chucked it, and decided to just take out the garbage every day for stinky diapers esp. It isn't that big of a pain as it may sound. We just put the diapers in a grocery bag (and our oldest son loves to help get the bag and help throw it out) and tie it up ready to be put out that evening, unless it is really bad it goes out right away.
My best advice is to get rid of the diaper pail. Save your plastic grocery bags and put the diapers in those. At least once a day, especially after dirty diapers, tie it closed and put in the big (outside) garbage can. Keep the bags right by the changing table in something that you're little ones won't be able to get into. Saves a TON of money and helps avoid the stink (the diaper pails won't contain the smell, as you've discovered, and once it gets into the plastic it's nearly impossible to get out)
COngrats T. on getting ready for another one!! How exciting.
I used a diaper genie for awhile with my son and I just realized that once he hit about 1yr, his diapers were just too stinky for the genie. So I would throw the stinky ones directly in the garbage can in the garage and stopped using teh diaper genie. At one point they are not babies anymore and can really make some nasty smells that no genie or champ can conceal anymore.
So thats just my opinion, I loved while he was a baby, but once he was a toddler, it didnt work for me anymore.
Good luck
I would use vinegar to clean it...
Congratulations on the coming baby!
We gave our Diaper Champ away... didn't keep the stink out! I love the Diaper Genie... even though you need the plastic refills, it's there and easy. I prefer the older model that twists each diaper into it's own part of the "sausage" link ;o) Keeping a bunch of plastic bags in the nursery is a good idea too, and then your little helper can help bring the diaper out right away... and use up all the plastic bags around the house!
I too have one and found that it's the foam seals that stink. Our seal ended up coming apart over a year ago so I found Diaper Champ's website and asked for a new seal which they sent, no charge. Good as new! However we are now using it once again for our 4 month old and it stinks again. I keep an air freshner inside it and recently started setting it out in the sun, empty and open to air it out which does help. Also, we never put poopy diapers in it...DH or I take those right out to the trash!
