what do I need for a nappy bucket?

OK, this is really a pretty dumb question, but:

What do you use for a nappy bucket? How large does it need to be? Will one of those small bins (10-15 litres or so) with little flippy doors on top do?

Is it for disposable nappies or cloth nappies?

We use the nappy buckets that you buy from Big W for our cloth.

But when we were using disposables, we just used a cheap HUGE garbage bin and chucked it in the room where the kitty litter is so all the bad smells were in the one room ;)

It's for cloth nappies of various types (at least until I settle what kind works best for us), waiting to be washed.

For my cloth I have three nappy buckets from Big W - and they fill within 2 days - so I wash every 2 days.

I don't like a bigger bucket than those ones cos I rinse my nappies of a night time and carry them from the bathroom to the laundry - and it gets bloody heavy.. lol

I got mine from Kmart. It needs to have good sealing lid, as there will be a smell. You might also like to get some citrus circles - they go inside the bucket to help with the smell. If you google them you will find a couple of online stores that sell them.

I went to the local Asian $2 shop, they had buckets with lids for about $6.
i also fill in 2 days and wash every 2nd day - but only one bucket, i then top up the machine with the waterproof matt that she has no nappy time on and bibs and other bits of clothing... dont think my machine would cope with 3 buckets full - whoa i dont envy your washing loads Mel

pmsl @ SJ...

2 in cloth babe.. 2 in cloth - its a fun trip

Gee Mel i best get 6 buckets for all 3 kids cloth soon!!

I got my bucket from Bunnings....it looks like a big caters food bin....

i got well and truly ripped off at a baby store in canberra with mine LOL!

well i guess it works, but you know, it could be any bucket with a snap lid really...

we fill ours every two days with one in cloth. we generally dont soak so we rarely have the lid on (mostly because, as part of being ripped off, the lid is almost impossible to get on and off LOL!).

I got 2 from target about $10-12 i think.
One big one for wet nappies which lives in the laundry
ANd a smaller one for pooey nappies which lives next to the toliet (and little squirt!)

if this is your first bub, and you don't have toddlers/older kids to visit, you can use any 20 litre (normal household size) bucket that has a lid. ones with handles are easy to cart about though.

if this is your 2nd, or you have little kids come to visit, i would suggest you get a LOCKABLE lid nappy bucket, Target has them for $16.

i have one child in nappies and two buckets.

one bucket lives in the toilet room.
after i've changed my child, i take the dirty nappy to the toilet room, use the Little Squirt to rinse off any poo, drop (the now rinsed and sopping) nappy into the "drypail", until it is full (usually about 24 - 30 hours)
then i take that bucket (light cos no water in it) to the laundry, don gloves and transfer the nappies to the washing machine, put on the "baby cycle".

i then squirt the nappy bucket with ONE squirt of disinfactant and run some hot water in it, slosh it around and drain bucket in the bath tub.

so that's why i need two
one in the toilet room at all times
one just been rinsed, and is drying in the bathtub at all times

it also depends on the layout of your home, if you have a Little Squirt installed in your toilet or not, how big your laundry is, if you have other kids, so many variables.

everyone has different preferences too, how long they leave it between washes, whether they do small loads frequently, or one monster one less often. be warned, sometimes MCN fabrics can degrade if left too long sitting in the bucket.

some people use a bucket with NO lid,
some people use the swing lid bins,
every type of bucket you can imagine, SOMEONE is using that as their nappy bucket.

just as much variation as to WHERE you put the nappy bucket , e.g
nursery
bathroom
laundry
toilet room
one upstairs, one downstairs
so once again, what works for you.

read all you can (about what others do) and have a few tests in YOUR home, to see what suits YOUR home and YOU. Once you have a system set up, that works for you, it's easy. Have a try, whatever annoys you, or is not easy, change it so it's better, cos you're doing it every day heaps (changing baby) so it needs to be userfriendly to you.

be aware:
the modern way of storing used nappies is DRY PAILING, no water required in the actual bucket.
Napisan is not required, soaking is not required. Some people choose this as an option, but it can invalidate your nappy brand warranties.
Babies can drown in very little water.

ozclothnappies dot org has info on drypailing (they is no AU on the end of that url).