From my experience, diaper pails are one of the few baby items that just don’t get a lot of thought.  Most people ask a few close friends what pail they use and register for it, or they simply pick one at random when the time comes.  I was one of those that did the latter and I always despised the pail I ended up with.  Not only was it ugly, it was smelly, and it was expensive to refill.  When I wasn’t on the hunt for cheap refills, I was searching for products I could use to clean and sanitize it every single time I emptied it.

Yes, every time. Yuck.

While creating a special “big boy” room for my son, I came up with the idea to do “world traveler” as his new room theme {note: this is just the sneak peek – full nursery post coming soon}.  While doing the decorating, I decided we would finally retire the old pail we’ve used for 3+ years for both of our kids and get a pail that not only would complement the nursery, but would also be one that was chosen with careful thought and consideration – and this time from a veteran mom’s standpoint.

First things first, it was going to have to accommodate cloth diapering as well as disposables.  Secondly, it was going to have to be far less expensive and time consuming to maintain.

Those distinctions really only lead you to one pail, the Ubbi diaper pail that recently hit the market and recently won the PTPA Seal of Approval.  Ubbi {pronounced oo-bee} is a Brooklyn-based company that has developed a diaper pail that solves all of these dilemmas and more and the result is a sleek, clean, and worry-free solution for diapers of all kinds.  And, did I mention it was beautiful?

If you’ve ever looked at the diaper pail aisle before, you’ve seen the line of boring old white plastic pails and you know that they are anything but stylish.  So, what do parents do if they aren’t creating a boring and white nursery?  They hide the plastic pails, disguise them behind furniture, resign them to the bathroom, or just count down the years until they can dispose of them for good.

Or, they do what I wish I would have done in the first place and buy a pail that is as good-looking as it is functional and you could be looking for ways to repurpose it long after the diaper wearing days are done.  Made of powder-coated steel that resists odors and is easy to clean, the Ubbi diaper pail is like nothing I have ever seen.  It really doesn’t look like a diaper pail at all; it looks more like a fancy garbage can that you would display in a kitchen or bathroom.  It comes in a variety of colors {and not just the typical “baby” colors, either} and would look great in any room.

But, more importantly, it would smell better in any room.  In contrast to the odor-absorbing plastic pail, the powder-coated steel doesn’t start to stink after just a few weeks and it doesn’t require cleaning chemicals or perfumes to maintain.  In fact, I’ve had it in use since March and you would never guess it by how new it looks – and smells.  Designed with rubber seals to keep smells in the pail and with a unique sliding lid that prevents air from escaping, it is clear that some serious thought went into the Ubbi design.  You don’t have to buy charcoal filters, deodorizing wipes and sprays, or other add-ons that you inevitably forget to restock, you just have a great, odor resisting pail that holds up well to even a busy nursery.

Disposable Diapering
For you disposable diapering parents, you can add another thing you can forget about buying: expensive refill bags.  Until now, every single pail we have used has required expensive refills and they are quite the pain to keep on hand, especially when you have two, or three, in diapers.  For this reason, I was thrilled when I found out the Ubbi pail doesn’t require specific inserts and refills.  Now, we can just use any old tall kitchen garbage bags to refill and save a ton of money each month, as well as trips to specialty stores to purchase.

So, not only is it easy to maintain, cost-effective, and attractive, it’s also easy to use.  You can easily slide the lid open one-handed to dispose of your diaper, turning the optional lock to keep little ones from opening it {although we’ve never needed to do this with either child} and that’s it.  Changing the bag is just as easy, just tie it off and take out to the trash and wrap another bag around the internal ring.

You may find that because the pail controls odor so well, that you don’t need to change your bag as often.  This means you will need to tie bag quickly when changing the bag lest all your soiled diaper odors escape into the room, but we’ve gotten good at this over the past few weeks and now are seasoned pros.  We can now tie it off before odors escape and then come back in and add the new bag to the pail while the room stays wonderfully odor-free.  Certainly better than our old pail that required cutting the bag, tying it in two places and fitting it back inside, all while the pail is open and odors are escaping into the air!

Cloth Diapering
I bet you’re thinking that Ubbi has thought of everything, and you’d be right.  In fact, they even thought of the often-left-out cloth diapering parents and designed the first pail that can be used for cloth diapers.  With their optional Ubbi Cloth Diaper Pail Liners, you can turn your pail into an eco-friendly parent’s dream with a washable, odor-resistant and waterproof bag that can keep the rinsed cloth diapers contained until they can be laundered.

We used to have what we called our “toxic bin” in our laundry room that contained cloth diapers, soiled clothing, and anything used to clean up after either, and it was not a system that I would recommend.  Yes, it does keep the items contained and away from other laundry, but it doesn’t control odors and it is certainly not pretty or kid-proof.  By contrast, the Ubbi Diaper Pail with Liner is perfect with its mess-free, odor-free, and plastic-free design.  Just think of how much nicer an Ubbi Pail would look in your bathroom or laundry room than a “toxin bin” and how much cleaner and safer it would be around kids.

In fact, I’m not sure the Ubbi will be retired after the diapering is done.  After diapers comes potty training and then after that you’ve got mud, grass stains and grease, and it would just take a few minutes of sanitizing and the Ubbi pail and liner would be perfect for both in the laundry room.  How much nicer would it be to have the Ubbi keeping all that dirt and grime away from the other linens and clothing instead of a “toxic bin”?

For Every Parent
Whether sleek design and good looks are paramount or odor control is you biggest concern, the Ubbi Diaper Pail excels on both fronts.  Add in the fact that it’s cost effective with no “extras” to buy or refills to purchase and it’s just a smart investment overall.  I can’t tell you how happy I am that I no longer have to special order filters, make several trips to stores to find refill bags in stock, or keep any toxic chemicals near the nursery.  Since the Ubbi pail requires nearly no maintenance, it is virtually worry-free, which are pretty much the best words a parent can hear.

You can shop for your perfect color Ubbi pail at ubbiworld.com and even order peel and stick decals to further customize your pail.  Just think of all the possibilities to personalize and complement your child’s room décor!  Since we were going with a world traveler theme, we decided to go with the “sand” colored Ubbi and put some map and train case stickers on it to make it look like a piece of luggage and I think it turned out great, don’t you?  Sneak peek spoiler – on the left you see a teeny tiny bit of the fabric-wrapped shelf we created to look like a steamer trunk and an actual steamer trunk we are using as a changing table for now, a toy box later.  We really couldn’t have a plain white plastic pail next to a changing table this cool, now could we?

Be sure and connect with Ubbi World via Facebook and Twitter for even more decorating ideas, to hear all the other raves about this great pail, and to see it in action for yourself.

A big thank you to Ubbi World for sending their steel diaper pail for review.  All opinions are 100% ours and no form of monetary compensation was received in exchange for this Rave Review.