Nothing Smelly About This Nappy Bin…

Wasn’t initially sure whether or not we needed a nappy bin when the list of stuff we considered buying was being put together. It seemed like there was a perfectly good bin outside that some very kind people came and emptied for us every 2 weeks.

Figured we might be able to manage to struggle 10 feet outside of the house to put dirty nappies in the wheelie bin?

But after considering what life would be like with a newborn, it seemed unlikely that either of us would want to stumble out of the house at 3am in the morning in the darkness, wearing just some tighty-whiteys, to put a nappy in the bin.

The prospect of a couple of dirty nappies sitting in a normal bin in the bathroom just wasn’t very appealing, so we looked into the ‘fun’ world of nappy bins.

After 10 minutes of reading about cartridge refills and ‘systems’ we discovered a brand we hadn’t heard of before…Ubbi.

Their solution, the Diaper Pail (that’s nappy bin to you and I), seemed a far more straightforward candidate for our cash.

At just shy of £70 though it did seem a little bit on the expensive side of life.

We had a good look through the Ubbi website at the product, and found a handy list of frequently asked questions. One of the questions asked why the Ubbi bin is more expensive than other nappy bins. The answer seemed sound enough, explaining the difference between the plastic of other bins (which absorbs odours) and the powder coated steel that Ubbi uses…which doesn’t absorb odours!!

They also explained that the Ubbi bin doesn’t require any extra cartridges, filters, batteries or any special bags to be purchased.

After grabbing the calculator and reading up a bit on some forums I worked out that a cartridge system such as the one by Tommee Tippee was going to cost around a couple of hundred pounds to run over 18 months to 2 years, on the basis that a cartridge lasts around 5 weeks. Plus the bins themselves were a bit plastic and ugly.

The Ubbi was feeling like the front runner, and I tracked them down at The Baby Show in Birmingham and they gave me a demo and I placed my order.

It really looks the part in the bathroom, and with a great range of colours available (around 12) we were able to find one that matched the decor well, especially with those floor tiles!

The Ubbi nappy bin is really easy to use, and all the claims they made about it not stinking are perfectly true. It has remained odour-free for nearly 5 months now. On one occasion I did think that it was a false claim after opening it and getting my face too close and getting a good whiff of a bag full of dirty nappies from the last 3 days…but of course a plastic bag full of dirty nappies will smell!

Once the bag was removed and I had a big drink of water and some Vicks inhaler up the nose, I was able to check again without any dirty nappies in there and it smelled like it did the day it arrived.

You can buy special bags for the Ubbi, if you want to, but normal bin bags work very well with it. In fact, the best bags to use are those charity collection bags that seem to get pushed through our door at a rate of about 6 a week. We give what we can, when we can, but nowhere near 6 bags a week, so insted of throwing them out we use them in the Ubbi…they are just the right size!

There is a little sliding lid that opens for you to drop the dirty nappies into the bag, and after being slid shut there are no smells. If you have toddlers in the house then the sliding lid can be kept closed from little fingers by using the plastic lock switch on the top of the napy bin.

We are finding that the Ubbi holds around 4, sometimes 5 days of nappies in it, which works out around 20 to 25 nappies. It will hold more than this, but that all comes down to how keen you are to push down each dirty nappy after you put it in the bin. With the low cost of replacing the bags, especially as they keep being pushed through our door, we’re happy enough dropping them in and when they get close to the top where the lid is then the bag gets replaced.

I can’t see this product letting us down at any point. It is incredibly well built and being made of steel it is very strong too. I have complete confidence in the odour-free aspect of the materials used and I can see this being used as the bathroom bin once it is retired from use as a nappy bin.

Ubbi recognise this as well, and you can buy decal stickers for the Diaper Pail for use as a bedroom bin after nappies are done with.

More info on these accesories, and the Diaper Pail itself are available from the Ubbi UK website.

This nappy bin retails for around £69.99 at a selection of independent retailers and is also available from some larger chains such as John Lewis.

The Ubbi Diaper Pail has won a few awards by the looks of it, and it cleaned up in the Mumii Best Baby & Toddler Gear Awards last year by winning both the Consumer Choice and the Gold Award for Best Nappy Disposal System.

NB: I bought our Ubbi Diaper Pail myself and have not been asked to write this review. I chose to write it because it is a damn fine product and I am happy to share my view and experience 🙂