The Diaper Champ is a diaper storage system that is designed to take away the odor and unsanitary nature of diaper disposal. Getting diaper smells down to a minimum can do wonders to your quality of life as a new parent, or one that’s already gone through this once or twice before. Just because you’ve got a newborn, infant, or toddler in the house doesn’t mean you have to succumb to diaper odors, or just get used to them. But is this the system that does it, or are better options out there?
Overview
Babies. You’ve got to love them, but it’s hard to love what comes out of them. Fortunately, where there’s a problem, there’s a company out there doing their best to solve it, and in this modern world there are several products all jockeying to be your diaper storage container of choice. The only drawback to this is that now you’ve got some choices to make and products to compare to make sure that you pick the right one.
The Claim
The big claim for the Diaper Champ system, at least the Deluxe version, is that it has a larger capacity which can hold up to 30 diapers, and that it’s easy to use, doesn’t smell, and doesn’t require any assembly. The thing most of us are interested is keeping the foul smells down to a minimum, and that would have to account for about 80% of how this product will be judged. Having the unit arrive in once piece is nice, and they do provide instructions with pictures so you know how to get the bag in the right way.
The Hype
You don’t really need to hype up a product that promises to get rid of the stinks and odors that come with diapers. Most parents are ready to go ahead and grab one of these units right away, but savvy shoppers want to know if this is the system to go with, or if something better is out there. There’s a bit of hype in the form of word of mouth advertising going on, with some people recommending this over the Diaper Genie, and vice versa.
The Cost
The Diaper Champ system is less than $40 and can be found on Amazon. One of their features is that you have an option as to what sort of bags you put in it. They have their own line of refill bags that you can get, or you can opt to use ordinary 13 gallon trash bags like you’d use in the kitchen. Of course they say that theirs have special odor controls to them.
The Commitment
This is basically a diaper bin at its core, with the only real ingenuity being that it has a special lid that keeps things more airtight than a typical storage bin. This means that if you’re currently storing your diapers in a bin, you won’t have to change up your routine very much, and you won’t have to spend any extra time away from your baby fiddling with a contraption. The only thing you’ve got to master is getting the bag in right so that it doesn’t come undone and keeps things sealed up.
Evaluation
There’s just no way that a unit could hold 30 diapers and not stink. They’ve designed the Diaper Champ to create an airtight seal once closed, but each time you open it there’s going to be a blast of rotten diaper shooting upwards right for your face. This might not be a big deal on the first 10 diapers or so, but diapers 20-30 might be rough, and is cause for a dismissal. When you compare this to the Diaper Genie and the individual attention it gives to each diaper, you see that it might be a tad more wasteful as far as baggage goes, but it’s worth it for contained odors.
The Diaper Genie has a function whereby you seal off each diaper just after you put it in. When it comes time to empty them they’re all linked together like sausage links, and you bundle them up and take them out. It’s far more convenient than having them all bundled together in their own filth, putrefying as they sit for days and days until it’s time to empty them. It only makes sense to compartmentalize them in their own baggie.
Final Diaper Champ Review
We’re giving the Diaper Champ a Thumbs Down because there are better options available, namely the Diaper Genie. Those that said they were happy with their Diaper Champ purchase still had some lingering complaints that they were just putting up with instead of just getting a better product that has better reviews. In our opinion it’s better to go with a system that has fewer complaints rather than settling for less than the best.
Our Recommendation
When it comes to diaper storage and disposal, you want something that won’t stink up the place in between needing to be emptied. In this case, the biggest complaint people have about Diaper Champ is that while it does keep the smell isolated to the container, it lets off a rather pungent aroma when you open it to put the next diaper in, and also when it comes time to take them out. In contrast, a system like the Diaper Genie seals up each individual diaper in its own bag, drastically reducing the smell and making it easy and less smelly when you take them all out.
I don’t have an opinion on this product, but I can tell you with confidence that diaper genie works very well. If you look at their design is very easy to understand why diaper genie would do a better job at trapping odor and why diaper champ would come up short. Go with diaper genie and you won’t regret it.
Too bad because it looked very promising and I liked the idea of not having to use too many plastic bags. If they could somehow make a diaper container that has two chambers, it would solve most of the problem. I think there’s very small difference between diaper champ and the one that I’m using right now. What about diaper genie though? Does anyone know how well diaper genie seals diapers individually? The idea is nice, but it all depends on the how well the diapers are sealed.