Are you looking for the best diaper pail to fit in a small nursery bedroom or you’re just wondering if the Dekor Mini Diaper Pail is a good fit for your home? I’ll take you through all the pros, cons and features of the Dekor Mini and let you know how it’s performed in my home after regular use with my kids.
Diapering can be an unpleasant chore, whether you’re using cloth diapers or disposable diapers, but having the right tools for the job like a great diaper pail can make your diaper days easier.
No one has paid me to write this review and this article is not sponsored in any way. All opinions are my own. For another mini diaper pail review, check out the PurePail Go
**This post contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.
Jump to any section using the table of contents below, or scroll through the full article for all the details.
- Table of Contents:
Diaper Dekor Mini Pros and Cons
- Pros
- Small size
- Decent smell containment
- Childproof lock
- Foot pedal
- Limited lifetime warranty
- Cons
- Holds small number of diapers
- Bag sometimes bunches and prevents trap door from closing
- Trap door is a bit flimsy
Pros
The small size of the Diaper Dekor Mini makes it desirable for use in many spots around your home. It’s great for a bathroom, a small nursery, and even for use at a secondary diaper change station in your home (I have mine on the main floor) and it’s ideal at a secondary care-givers home like the baby’s grandparents’ place.
It’s true that a small pail needs to be emptied more often, but when you think of what you’re putting inside the pail it makes sense to empty it often. I take out my kitchen garbage frequently when there’s something nasty in it and diaper pails are no different.
The Diaper Dekor Mini does a pretty good job at soiled diaper odor containment. You can jump to this section to read more about those odor-blocking features and how they work. In my experience, my Ubbi and Diaper Genie Complete are both better at odor containment but they are also much much larger.
The childproof lock is a must-have feature as your baby becomes a curious, mobile toddler. The foot pedal controls the top lid of the pail, which helps make the pail easier to use when your hands are full.
Cons
The most obvious benefit of this diaper pail is the compact size to fit a space discretely, but this comes with an obvious draw-back too. The Diaper Dekor Mini boasts to hold around 25 newborn diapers; my one-year-old’s diapers are double the size which means I’ve found the pail comfortably holds 10-14 large diapers at a time.
When changing the bag, if you’re using the continuous liners that are designed to fit the Dekor Mini pail, they sometimes bunch up near the top of the pail. When this happens, I’ve had a hard time getting the trap door to close after dropping in a dirty diaper because the bag liner gets in the way. That means if the trap door can’t close, smell can escape the pail easily. The solution is to open the can and push the liner away from the top of the pail. It’s not the end of the world but it’s inconvenient when it happens.
If you are using this diaper pail in a space with an unattended, curious toddler (think Montessori style toddler bed) it might be possible for them to figure out the childproof lock and play with the trap door on this diaper pail. To be fair, my toddler has also figured out how to open the front of the Diaper Genie Complete we own, so this can be a problem with many popular brands once your child gets older.
So far, it’s holding up to regular use just fine, but the trap door is not made from the most sturdy plastic and there is only a small plastic ‘arm’ keeping the trap shut when the lock is twisted into place.
Diaper Dekor Mini Price
The Dekor Mini is a great value at around $29 American ( or about $50 Canadian). The Dekor Mini Hands-Free Diaper Pail is a very reasonable price that I was impressed by when I first purchased it.
The Dekor mini diaper pail refills are also a decent price (you can check the price on liners here). They have an exclusive end-of-liner marking so you’ll know when it’s your last bag before you’ll need new refill bags. The Dekor mini refill is made of regular plastic and fits only the mini pail. You can not use the biodegradable refills for the Dekor Classic or Dekor Plus diaper pail with the mini.
Instead of the Dekor brand special bags, you could use small-sized regular kitchen trash bags but I find the Dekor refills are the best option because there is no bag waste. It’s an economical refill system because you tie a new knot in the continuous diaper pail liner whenever you’re ready to take the trash out. With larger garbage bags built for trash cans, you may find yourself filling only half of the bag before you want to take it out. For added cost savings, you could even use a grocery store plastic bag but they may not work quite as well.
Diaper Dekor Mini Features
Odor-blocking features:
The Dekor Mini has lots of great odor-proof features like: a carbon filter, it’s made of ABS plastic, has a self-closing lid, an odor-keeper trap door, and you can use regular household cleaners as needed if the pail becomes soiled.
User Friendly Features
Some great features make the Dekor Mini user-friendly like: a step pedal, one handed childproof lock, childproof liner cutter, ‘step drop and done’ technology, easy unloading of dirty diapers, easy reloading of liner bags, and it holds up to 25 newborn size diapers.
Why choose Dekor Mini Diaper Pail?
So why would you want a small diaper pail like the Dekor Mini instead of something larger like the Ubbi or Diaper Genie I’ve also tried out? The size of this pail is very handy for specific situations. Here are some places you might like using a small pail like this:
- Toddler room
- Good for overnight diapers, you don’t need a huge diaper pail in a toddler’s room if they are daytime potty trained.
- Small nursery room
- The Dekor Mini is a high quality diaper pail that fits in spaces many larger and taller pails won’t.
- Secondary change station in your home
- I have one near my pack-and-play on the main floor and would also consider putting one in my basement playroom as a secondary diaper pail.
- Bedside during newborn stage
- Keep the mini pail by your bedside during overnight diaper changes while your newborn is in a bassinet in your bedroom.
- Grandparents home
- If your baby’s grandparents have a diaper change station at their house, a small pail can be a great solution for this space.
- Bathroom
- Bath time diaper changes can get hectic, especially if you have more than one child in diapers.
Dekor Mini Diaper Pail FAQ’s
Can I use regular trash bags with a Dekor Mini?
Yes, you can use small standard trash bags if you don’t want to use the liners that are built specifically for these pails.
What size trash bag does a Dekor Mini use?
Extra small trash bags fit the Dekor Mini pail. 17 x 20 inches or 42 x 51 cm sized trash bags will fit well. Alternatively, you can use the Dekor Mini continuous liner refills.
How do you change the Dekor Mini dirty bags?
Open up the front access door. Pull out the liner full of diapers and use the built-in childproof bag cutter. Tie a knot in the top of your dirty diaper bag. Tie a knot in the bottom of the continuous liner for the next load of diapers.
Does Diaper Dekor Mini keep odors in?
It has some great features to help block odors from escaping like a trap door, lid and charcoal filter. If I’m directly next to my diaper pail some bad odors still escape but I don’t smell it in the rest of the room.
Is the Dekor Mini worth it?
The Dekor Mini is a reasonable price that is worth the cost. Some standard bathroom-sized metal step-pedal garbage cans are actually MORE expensive than this pail that is actually built for the purpose of diapering.
Should I just use a regular small trash can instead of a Dekor Mini?
The Dekor Mini has a childproof lock and charcoal filter as well as a lid and trap door for extra odor containment. It’s reasonably priced and is my top pick for a small secondary pail instead of using a regular trash can.
Does the Diaper Dekor Mini convert into a regular trash can?
Yes, once your household is out of the diaper phase, you can convert the Dekor Mini to a regular step-pedal garbage can by removing the trap door.
Can you use the Dekor Mini with cloth diapers?
The Dekor company doesn’t currently sell a cloth diaper bag liner that would fit the Dekor Mini, however if you don’t mind using a plastic liner bag or you have a cloth liner bag that fits this can then yes, you could use it for cloth diapering. The Dekor Classic and Dekor Plus are both great for cloth diapers.
What’s the warranty like?
Diaper Dekor pails have a limited lifetime warranty, which means any breakage due to normal use is covered (under the company’s discretion) and they may replace it free of charge.
Would I buy this product again?
I honestly wish I had this product a lot sooner in my parenting journey. There are so many times when a small diaper pail like this would’ve come in handy. I would definitely buy the Diaper Dekor Mini again.
It’s been excellent having it on my main floor so I can change my baby while playing with my toddler and not have leave the room to dispose of a diaper. It would’ve saved me a ton of hassle in my kids’ bathroom because I used to have a standard open garbage pail in there until my dog started getting into dirty diapers left in there (gross). I would’ve loved having it in my bedroom for middle of the night diaper changes during the newborn bassinet phase…
Not to mention, when my family is completely done with diapers someday, I can remove the inner trap door and use this pail as a small step-pedal trash can, which none of my other diaper pails can do.
More from Mama’s Buzz:
PurePail Go Mini Travel Diaper Pail Review
What Do You Put In A Diaper Caddy? (Essentials Checklist)
Do You Need A Diaper Genie? Is It Worth It? And Alternatives
Keekaroo Peanut Changer Review (Is It Worth It?)
