Playtex Diaper Genie Elite Diaper Disposal Pail
by Playtex
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List Price: Our Price: $34.39 You Save: $22.60 (40%) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Buy Used: from $30.88 (click here) Category: Baby Product See more product details |
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Baby Products Reviews of Playtex Diaper Genie Elite Diaper Disposal Pail
Customer Review: 7 Months, Still Going Strong
Summary: 4 Stars
I was debating between this and the original Baby Trend Diaper Champ in Pink and picked this mostly because it was on sale at the time. That being said, I am very pleased with this product and would highly recommend it to other new parents. Yes, it's basically a plastic trash can, but it does a great job of containing baby stink! I like that the diapers, wipes, etc are all contained within the plastic bag and I never have to clean the container itself...unlike the Diaper Champ I used at a friend's, when the diaper smeared all over the plunger part and I had to use a dozen wipes to get it cleaned up. Yuck!
I can generally go a full week without emptying the Genie, which takes all of twenty seconds - open the top half, cut, tie a knot on the full bag, remove full bag, tie a knot on the empty bag, pull a little extra through the "jaws" and close the top half. It's at a comfortable height for both myself (5'3") and my husband (5'10") to use. We're not exactly gentle with it sometimes and it's held up very well to 7 1/2 months of daily use. I did throw one of my Munchkin Arm and Hammer Nursery Fresheners, 5 Pack in the bottom of the Genie but that was more because I like the lavender scent than because there was odor to cover up. The refills generally last 3-4 weeks for us and it's easy to tell when you're almost out, since there's a big black line on the plastic bag.
If given a mulligan, I would buy this again.
Customer Review: Don't waste your money - get a real garbage can!
Summary: 1 Stars
I was extremely enthusiastic about this product when I got it. I really wanted to lock away both the contents and the odor of all used diapers. Admittedly, this product does do a good job locking both of these in the plastic cylinder, however, there are several PROBLEMS with the product that make it not worth your while:
1) Price of refills!!! The pail is only $35, but refills are EXPENSIVE! Take a look before you buy! You will easily spend more than $35 very quickly on refills.
2) It does not hold that many diapers. My son is 5 weeks old and he goes through a lot of diapers. I have to empty it at least every other day. The garbage bags do not expand like normal garbage diapers so even though the pail looks like it holds a lot, it doesn't!
3) Every time I empty it, I have to go to the kitchen, get scissors, cut the bag, and tie a new knot at the bottom of the bag. This is very time-consuming and annoying. Thanks for nothing!
4) Kind of shoddily-made - the plastic is a bit cheap and sometimes I have problems clicking it closed after emptying the pail.
I would sell my diaper genie, but the market is flooded with them - people are practically giving them away for $5 on ebay so I will most likely just throw mine out. I've ordered a stainless steel 13 gallon garbage pail from amazon and plan to use that from now on. It will hold a lot more diapers, and refills will be CHEAP since I buy them in large quantities for my kitchen garbage already!!!
Hope this helps!
Customer Review: pretty satisfied...
Summary: 5 Stars
We have a 7 day old child and so far I'm happy with the Diaper Genie. Of course, at this stage, the diapers have no smell at all (to us anyway!). Our nanny, who will start in a few months, has told us she requires a diaper pail with a sealed lid. The diaper genie II elite no longer uses the "sausage" wrapping method. Instead, the pail operates like an air lock. You load a diaper into the top after pressing the pedal. When the lid closes, the lower section opens and it drops into the bag below. The diaper pail requires its own refills. It's like a really long tube of plastic. You create the bottom of the plastic bag by pulling it to the bottom of the pail and tying it. When you want to remove the bag
Now, with a newborn, it fills up fast. We probably empty it every day. Some people advise saving money by putting #1 diapers into the regular trash and saving the genie for a stinky #2 diaper. We're doing everything from our bedroom right now so it's just more convenient to use the Diaper Genie for both, as it would get emptied easier than our bedroom trash can.
Another tip has to do with the diaper disposal method. It is intended for diapers, not other trash. If you want to put in all your dirty wipes, you should put them inside the dirty diaper and wrap it up into a package. That way, it will smoothly exit the airlock and into the bag. Otherwise, it has a tendency to get stuck. DON'T try to overload the Diaper Genie II with too much like my spouse does!
Customer Review: Good for newborns/infants, smell gets worse after that
Summary: 2 Stars
We've had the Elite II since our son was born two years ago. I don't really have any complaints about the design and the ease of removing diapers. My complaint is about the odor.
When our son was primarily on breast milk or formula for his first year, his BMs didn't smell too bad and therefore the Diaper Genie didn't smell too bad. However, at one year old he completely switched to solid food and regular milk and things got more... pungent. The Diaper Genie does a fairly bad job at mitigating this as his room pretty much mildly smells like dirty diapers all the time, except when we empty the Diaper Genie. And when you open it to put a new diaper in, it smells like death. And, of course, when you cut the bag to empty it you usually get another unpleasant waft. I don't expect this thing to make them not smell at all, but I'd think it could at least be better than it is.
I'm not a huge fan of the refills either. When the refill runs out the bag just slides completely out of the cartridge/holder and you inevitably end up wasting some. With full size 4 diapers I would estimate that each refill can hold maybe 60 diapers max - up to about 15 diapers emptied about 4 times. That works out to about $1.50 every time you empty it.
We are going to try out the Arm & Hammer diaper pail that dispenses baking soda into the bag every time you open it. Plus, with those refills it looks like you get more for your money.
Customer Review: Glorified Trash Can, Expensive Refills
Summary: 3 Stars
The Diaper Genie in and of itself isn't bad, but there's nothing magical about it either. As a trash can for diapers, it's OK, but I can only give it three stars for two reasons:
* It's billed as some kind of magical device that's going to port your smelly diapers to a better place, when in reality, it's a cheap although stylish plastic bin with a plastic bag inside.
* The cartridges are such a rip-off! At about 7 bucks each, they last less than a month, or about 4-5 Diaper Genie loads of diapers. Think of how many regular trash bags you can get for $7 (I just bought a box of 200 for $8).
That being said, you can still use a Diaper Genie and save a ton of money (I estimate we'll save about $200 over the next two years) by simply using regular trash bags in place of the way-overpriced cartridges. Simply buy 16 gallon tall kitchen bags and insert the top of the bag into the lip of a spent cartridge. I can't guarantee the odor control will be as good necessarily (but no reason why it can't be) but I can guarantee you'll save a ton of money.
UPDATE 07/23/10: I've been using the regular 16 gallon trash bags for several months now, and they're great! I simply duct-tape them into the inner lid to hold them in place; it takes a minute or so to put it in (but actually easier to remove than the regular Diaper Genie bags), but the savings is pretty nice. No more expensive cartridges.