Mom’s Guide 2018: The Best Diaper Pail for Cloth Diapers

If you’ve ever stepped foot in the baby section of Target (and you most likely have!) you’ve probably noticed all the different diaper pails available. Diaper pails are a great invention, but many of them are just not compatible with cloth diapers. We recommend the famous Diaper Genie Elite for regular diapers, but it’s no good for the cloth diapering parents out there.

A standard diaper pail wraps diapers and seals them to keep the odor contained, but this is unfortunately a really bad idea if you use cloth diapers, as this promotes bacteria and mold growth. Cloth diapers need to be aired out before washing.

We’ve looked at a number of diaper pails, and we’ve found that one diaper pail is clearly the best for users of cloth diapers.

MomTricks Picks: Ubbi Steel Diaper Pail

The Ubbi diaper pail is our favorite option for cloth diapers. The best thing is that it’s made out of steel instead of plastic, so it won’t absorb any odors unlike it’s plastic counterparts. It has a rubber seal on the lid that works well to keep the odors contained. The lid also has a child safety lock, so you can be sure they won’t get into it (or throw anything in!)

The Ubbi is compatible with standard trash bags, which is a nice money-saver. It’s also compatible with most wet diaper bags, which is great, too. Of course, you can always opt for their specialized biodegradable cloth pail liners, which aren’t very expensive. I’d definitely recommend going with a machine-washable diaper bag, so you can throw it right into the wash with the diapers. Our recommendation is the Planet Wise wet diaper bag, which works really well with the Ubbi.

What we really like about the Ubbi is that it’s sleek and modern looking: it comes in 11 different colors so that you can pick one that fits your nursery.

Now, the downside to this pail is that it doesn’t have a step mechanism so there is no hands-free use. This is because it uses a sliding lid to make sure the rubber seal is strong. It’s a minor drawback with a good tradeoff, in our opinion.

The Ubbi costs more than most diaper pails, but it’s well worth it if you use cloth diapers. The steel construction is ideal for storing cloth diapers, and it’s just so much better than using a plastic pail for the job. Ubbi makes it very easy to call this the best diaper pail for cloth diapers: it does the job wonderfully.