Anyone who uses a Diaper Genie knows that refills are expensive! Even when bought on sale or at places like Walmart or Costco the cost really adds up. People who have multiple kids in diapers at the same time, like I do, know the refill needs to be replaced often!
I found the cheapest place to buy the refills were at Walmart. A 3-pack of refills costs $22.93, however other places sell them for anywhere between 8.99 and 12.99 per refill. Lets say, on the conservative side, you use one refill a month for 1 child. I have 2 in diapers and would use double. I would end up using eight 3-pack refills, that’s an expense of $183.44 a year! Almost $200 spent on disposing diapers!!
My box of generic recycling bags cost me $1.50 (on sale) for 40 bags. We use about a bag a week. At 4 bags a month, we can go 10 months on 1 box! I am saving $180.00 (give or take) in a year.
Some might say I don’t need a diaper genie, but honestly, I am so glad I use one as I never smell all those diapers!
Now, I have to give credit where credit is due, and thank my husband for coming up with this helpful money saving tip.
Needs:
Empty diaper genie refill
Elastic band
Blue recycling bag – any generic kind will do
Diaper genie
Step 1.
Remove all wrapping from the empty diaper genie refill, so all you have left is the blue plastic ring part
Step 2.
Take one recycling bag and put it through the middle of the ring so the opening of the bag is near the ring.
Step 3.
Fold the open ends over the ring and secure with the elastic band.
Step 4.
Stuff the closed end of the bag into the genie the same way you would using a Diaper Genie branded refill, place ring the in top compartment. Tuck in the extra pieces of the bag that might stick out.
Step 5.
Fill with diapers!
Mother's Realm 
Omg, thank you so much for this. I am almost out of the refills for my diaper genie. I was going to buy the 3 pack from toys r us because I can get 2 of the 3 packs for $35. But I’m like $35 is a lot for refills. So thanks you for sharing this!
I am so glad you liked it and found it helpful! I hope you buy yourself something nice with all the money you will save this year!
I think this is great….just a note….for those who have the cat/ dog version of this…try it using small bags…I.e. Dollar store bathroom refills…works also. Have a great day.
Great tip!
Going to definitely try this with the littler locker for our 2 cats as I hate buying the refills. Thanks for the idea…off to Dollarama I go!
I think it will work great! Let me know how it goes.
Ooo that sounds like it would work. I love my Litter Locker!
Totally doing this! Thanks for posting this fantastic idea…I only wish your husband had come up with it sooner!
Me too! After 2 years of buying the refills and I don’t even want to think of how much was spend to essentially store poop, I was so glad this alternative worked!
can you please link to the recycle bags you used? this is such an amazing cost saving idea and want to jump all over it!
Believe it or not, I can’t find the exact bags I use online ( I know, I thought everything was online!) The closest I could find are from Glad, basically the same but I use the generic store brand.
http://www.glad.ca/products/trash/recycling-bags/easytie-regular-recycling-blue-bags
I am sure any brand of bag would do, I just like to find the cheapest, it is after all for holding dirty diapers! Hope you save lots of money!
You could even use free grocery bags!!!!!!!!!!
Hi, I log on to your new stuff like every week. Your story-telling style is awesome, keep doing what you’re doing!
mcook26@msn.com: what are these recycling bags you’re speaking of? Thank you!
Not sure where you live, but we have clear blue bags that we use when we put our recycling out (our cans and plastics).. they are basically large garbage bags but cheaper 🙂
But Will the garbage man take the blue bags if there is garbage in it?
When I lived in the city, we could put diapers (not wipes) into our green/compost boxes for pickup, so I would just toss the whole bag into that container. Now that I am in the suburbs, all diapers go into the garbage. I haven’t tried just putting the the diaper bag out alone I usually add it to a bigger black bag that is going to the curb. I know, diapers wrapped in plastic wrapped in plastic, but that garbage bag is going out anyway. I don’t see why it wouldn’t be picked up with the garbage though…
Thank you, I have 2 in diapers!!! This is such a great idea to save. Those refills are expensive!
Kids are expensive enough… getting rid of their diapers shouldn’t be! Hope you save enough to treat yourself to a mommy treat!
I don’t know how more people haven’t figured this out on their own. I think it took me a while with my first (back in 2008) but I just kept my last ring one day and started putting my kitchen garbage bags in when I ran out one day and didn’t have a car to get to the store. the diaper genie company is going to hate you for this post. lol.
I know right? But still I see so many people buying packs of refills! When my husband first did this idea, it was like “wow, how did it take us this long to figure out!” Glad to hear you are saving money too 🙂
I have been trying to do the same with the Costco 13 gallon trash bag, but found a problem, that once a few diapers go down to the chamber, they drag and expand the bag to the level that the locking shutter inside diaper genie could not close. So you can imaging the smell. I think the original narrower bag was designed to avoid this. Anyhow, have you guys encountered similar problems while using regular bags? I guess these blue or clear thinner bags would be better than the heavy duty ones.
Hey thank for stopping by. I have never tried the method with a regular trash bag, so I am not sure if the thickness is causing the problem or not, but I have not had that problem with the thinner blue ones. I will admit though, when I try to over-stuff it out of pure laziness then I definitely notice a funky smell happening when the flaps won’t shut properly!
Great tip! I also found Target makes their own brand refills that work for the diaper genie that are slightly cheaper and work better. They are about $18 for 3
clear bags are used in Nova Scotia as this is garbage…
Yes, garbage here too, just found those bags work the best!
I did this for a year or so but found that the actual refills work much better at keeping the stink contained, which is the whole point of using one of these vs. a regular garbage can, that I went back to paying for the real thing. Nice idea though!
That’s too bad that it didn’t work for you. I have been doing this for at least two years now and have never had a problem. But we all need to do what works for us – hope you are find them on good sales:) Thanks for reading.
Febreeze makes a stick on air fresh er you could stick to the inside of the lid to help smell issue
Great Idea!
Reblogged this on A Game of Diapers and commented:
Having had three kids in Diapers at once, we have gone through four diaper genies and lord knows how many refills. I am so surprised it never occurred to me to try to make my own. If you do purchase them get them t Walmart, they sell at 3 for $22 (CDN) which is the cheapest I have found. Enjoy!
Costco sells 4 for $25.99. But sometimes on sale for $21.99. Like this week
Thanks for sharing that tip!
I have heard they have good deals but there is no Costco anywhere near me, so you are lucky! Thanks for stopping by.
This. Is. Brilliant. I’m not sure why I have never tried this. But I’m going to.
I’ve been doing this with my Diaper Dekor, but I didn’t think of the rubber band–that makes it even better 🙂 Yay money saving.
Thank you!! I have an idea for the stink-use some carpet powder or other odor eliminator powder. I haven’t tried this yet-but I will. 🙂 With twins, we change the genie almost every two days so I’m not really worried about the stink.
Baking soda or kitty litter odor absorbing powder (at dollarama) would work! I use it in the garbage pail I put my cats dirty litter in.
Good idea. I’ve tried it with my kitchen garbage bags. But find there is still a smell around my diaper giene. The diaper refills just have an odour block that regular garbage bags don’t.
would they be good for kitty litter
Omg thank you so much for sharing my refill is almost empty and I hate spending that ridiculous amount of money just for diaper disposal. Fabulous idea!!!
This an awesome idea and I considered doing it but yes I do worry about a possible stink. I have read the other comments. I am from New Brunswick, Canada. I found a cheaper generic ring, costs $4.99 still a bit expense, if you have two in diapers. I only have one so I can afford this price. I have only owned my genie for 4 months, and was lucky to have someone pay it forward to me. Every once in a while toys r us will have a sale you can purchase 3 for $12. (limit 9) this brand name is Nursery Fresh, holds up to 272 diapers and fits Diaper Genie II, II Elite, Elite, Essentials.
That’s fantastic, any money saved is great! Thanks for sharing Denise.
Another good product for disposing diapers is the scented baggies they sell at the dollar store for your pet’s waste, You can’t smell anything once the bag is tied.
So happy I came across this post. Preparing for baby #3 in a couple weeks and am looking to save money wherever I can. Thank you for posting!
Congratulations and welcome to the world of 3 kids. Thanks for stopping by!
Or you could just use the FREE bags you get from the grocery store…
Well, typical shopping bags are quite shallow, so not sure how many diapers you could get in with the bag hanging low enough for the inside panels to close fully – which is really what helps with the smell- You should be changing it very often, but I guess it would work., I honestly have never tried. I do try to to bring reusable bags or grocery boxes to keep the plastic shopping bags out of the house.
thanks for sharing. i will definitely do this. I only have two refills available here right now, I’m planning to shop next week to wallmart, but with your great idea not not anymore. lol thanks.
Thanks for posting this. I started doing this about 3wks ago…OMG why did I not think of this 2 kids ago!!! I worried about smell to so I bought the recycle bags that had the odor guard in them…I also bought a 5 pack of Arm & Hammer (Munchkin) diaper pail deodorizer pucks that were like $4 or something like that that lasts 3 months each.. i don’t have any smell whats so ever from my genie now.
Awesome! going to check out the deodorizer pucks if my pail starts to get funky!
Excellent article. I absolutely appreciate this site.
Thanks!
This is great! Thanks so much for sharing, and I referenced you in a hint on how I found kitchen trash bags work well in Diaper Dekors too:)
Thanks so much! I will definitely check out your site, I am always looking for great hints!
I just used this for my Litter Genie by using a 13 gallon garbage bag. Worked great! Thanks for the tip and for saving me some $$$!
That’s Great!
Wow so glad I googled cheap version of diaper genie refills! I have a 13yr old with C.P. who was born at 24 weeks and still needs to wear pullups….this is gonna save me TONS OF MONEY! My husband is gonna love a dad thought of it lol
Now if only you found it sooner!! 🙂 Yes, my husband loves that he thought of it before me… I guess the money it saves me makes up for all the diapers I change compared to him! Have a great day.
I’ve been doing this for a little while with glad blue bags but have found we can smell the diapers much sooner than with the diaper genie. I’m trying to come up with something to reduce the odor. But even changing them sooner is still cheaper!
for the smell, some readers have given some greater suggestions, like using stick on air fresheners (like Febreeze) inside the lid!
Hi!!! What is the measure of the bags you use? I live in Mexico, I’m about to have my first child and just bought this product. Thank you!
I just did a similar post, but for the Munchkin diaper pail.
Well, in all fairness, it was sort of about the diaper pail. It was more a commentary about how much single-purpose, possibly unnecessary stuff we buy for our kids.
http://theunpreparedfather.com/diaper-pail-money-saver/
Keep up the great work!
Dave
Thanks for reading! On my way over to read your blog now! Take care 😀
Thanks! I hope you like what you read 🙂
I just did a google search on “generic refills for diaper genie” and your blog came up! My babe’s only 4 months, and my dogs have just discovered the sweet sweet smell and taste (YUCK!) of my baby girl’s poop… (YUCK again!) So I decided to invest in a diaper genie to keep. Them. Out. But they are so expensive, and the refills are even more expensive in the long run. So I was sooooo excited to see this blog! So, now I decided to get the diaper genie for sure. I found someone selling one (hand me down) for $5… SCORE! so now that I will be buying that, I have two questions for you… 1. What size bags are these? 13 gallon? and 2. Do you twist the top of the bin after each diaper is in to conceal the smell…and that works with these bags?… Is that even how a diaper genie works?? haha I’m new to this whole parenting thing. 😉 Thanks in advance!
Glad you stumbled upon my post! Yes, dogs can be so gross sometimes, I have one too, luckily he’s never gotten into the diapers (as far as I know!!) score on finding a 2nd hand genie! The bags are the typical large garbage bag size… Not sure of gallons, sorry 😦 I don’t twist the bag, the “flaps” inside the bin close enough to keep the smell concealed. Some people have posted some good suggestions about air fresher things inside the genie if you get concerned about the smell, but I’ve never had a problem!
Congrats on your little human!!! Enjoy the ride 😉
Hi I think I am going to try this with compostable bio bags. My one question is do you have to take it the ring and redo for every new bag? It would seem so. It’s there an easy way to remove the full bag to avoid smell leakage?
Thanks!
Hi I am going to try this with compostable bio bags. I am wondering though so you have to remove the ring and resetup for each new bag? If so what’s the best way to remove the old bag to avoid smell leakage?
This is EXACTLY what I was looking for! THANK YOU!
Good idea, but don’t you now end up with a bunch of big garbage bags that are half full? You obviously can’t fill them all the way as the flapper wouldn’t close. That aspect of it seems wasteful… I like how you can tear off the genie bags at the exact spot it’s full and tie it off. Keeps plastic use to a minimum.
Hey! Thanks for your comment. Good point, the bags are not ever actually full. Unfortunately nothing about diaper genies is environmentally friendly is it? If there was a way to save money and plastic that would be fantastic! — cloth diapers I guess? Again, thanks for posting, take care 😀
HI mothers realm,
My son was born on 11/15/2016, and for one of my wif and I git from the baby shower was a diaper pail. We received a few refills for the pail so we didn’t have to buy them. I just ran out of all the refills and was looking online to purchase new ones. They are quite expensive indeed. I came across your post and thought why not give that a try. It works amazingly!!!!, thank you for the tip!!!!!! Now we don’t have to go and buy those expensive refills!!! Thanks for the idea!!
So glad you found my post! Enjoy your time with your little one– it’s true when they say they grow too fast!
Drawstring 13-gallon kitchen bags with Febreze work well and combine with air freshener in bottom of pail plus stick inside top of lid.
The sticky air freshener is a great tip!