A Diaper Genie is a glorified diaper pail. As trash cans go, it is the Lexus. The thing that makes the Diaper Genie so great is that it is capable of sealing each diaper in a little sented bag and along with it the stench that accompanies the diaper. It really is one of the great inventions of man.
All that said, the point of my blog is to state my beef with the Diaper Genie. It is not only a diaper pit, it is also the most expensive trash can you will ever own...assuming you own one, which will probably also necessitate having a baby in the house. Diaper Genies go for about $25, unless you get one for a baby shower gift, which is how I got mine. In order to use a Diaper Genie, you must also purchase Diaper Genie refills, which come in two varieties "Stinky" and "Super Stinky". (One variety is for babies on a liquid diet, the other is for babies that eat food, which stinks a lot more as it breaks down inside your body. Personally I've heard that formula fed baby poop is much stinkier than breastfed baby poop. Since my son has never had formula, I don't know how accurate this is. Breastfed baby poop is not exactly perfume, but it definatley could smell worse.) Anyway, these refills range in price from about $5 to $8, depending on which type you buy and where you buy them (Note to self - do not buy them at the grocery store.) A refill lasts about 2 weeks, so you can do the math - this trash can costs nearly $200 a year. Not that bad unless you are on a tight budget and don't want to spend $200 on something you are just going to throw away.
Which brings me to the REAL point of my blog is to explain how to EXPLOIT the diaper genie and make it more of a friend than a money pit.
The instructions on the Diaper Genie brochure tell you to twist the lid after each diaper. With each diaper the film coming out of the refil gets longer. However you don't have to twist the lid. Instead just press more and more diapers in the slot and when the entire bottom compartment is full you can twist the film, cut it and tie off the top. This uses considerably less film. I estimate about 1/10 of the amount of film for the same about of diapers. Meaning that the film, used properly (or improperly depending on how you look at it) will last 10 times as long and cost only $15-20 a year. This works ok because the lid on the Diaper Genie is actually pretty tight and you could change it every day or two to keep the stench in check. Also if the smell gets intense you could give it a twist to get some more miles on the bag.
If you still want to twist the Genie after every diaper, you can still save money in the way that you tie off the bags. The intructions tell you to tie a knot in the film after you cut the used film. If you get into the habit of saving twist ties from bread bags, you can twist tie off the bag unstead of knot. You'll save enough film to fit about 4 - 5 more diapers with the available film.
If you ARE on a tight budget and you don't already have a Diaper Genie and you are going to be throwing away all the diapers that come with a newborn, consider the value of your time and effort in simply having a trash can that you empty every day. Is it really that big of a deal?
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