Today’s review and giveaway is for a very popular cloth diapering accessory called the Spray Pal. The purpose of the Spray Pal is very simple: to significantly minimize splatter while spraying a dirty cloth diaper in the toilet. The flexible polyethylene shield is made in the USA by a husband-wife team, and was invented in 2011 after their daughter started eating solids. As you probably know, that’s a notoriously messy milestone when it comes to diapering.
We received a complimentary Spray Pal from Jen to test in our home over the summer and it’s been a very useful companion to our diaper sprayer.
The Spray Pal opens up flat to make clipping your diaper inside very easy. The new and improved clip accommodates even bulky diapers and doesn’t have any sharp teeth to snag or tear fabric:
After the diaper is clipped inside, snap the Spray Pal closed to form a 3-sided shield. Set it inside the inner rim of the toilet. Both the toilet lid and cover should be raised up.
Turn on your sprayer and get to work on the dirty diaper. I’m using our sink-mounted qdSpray, which allows you to adjust both water temperature and pressure. If anything dirty happens to splatter on the inside of the shield, you can quickly spray down the inside of the Spray Pal when you’re done with the diaper. You can see from the picture that there is plenty of room inside to maneuver the sprayer around, so you can easily reach any part of the dirty diaper.
Unsnap the Spray Pal and fold it flat against the diaper to squeeze excess water out. This step is optional. (Does it get the inside of the SprayPal dirty? Yes, sometimes. See question #2 below)
Lift Spray Pal out of the toilet with diaper still attached. Hold over pail or opened wet bag; unclip the wet diaper and let it fall in. It helps to have your container close by to minimize dripping.
When not in use, I keep the Spray Pal snapped close and stored upright on an old towel next to the toilet. About once a week, I wash the towel with my diapers. Need some other storage ideas? Try a drawstring wet bag or bucket. You can also keep in a closet or cabinet, but it helps to have something underneath to catch drips since the Spray Pal is wet inside after you use it.
The concept behind Spray Pal is very simple, but it took me a few tries to work out the best routine and answer some of the questions I had. Here are some things you might be wondering about, so let me share with you what I learned.
1 – How much can the clip hold? I was very impressed with this feature. The clip was able to accommodate a trifolded prefold diaper plus an extra doubler at the same time. It also held a plush fitted along with two additional doublers. The clip is wide enough that you can clip a diaper and insert side by side, with some overlap, so you can spray both instead of having them clipped one on top of the other.
2- How do you keep the Spray Pal clean? You’re dealing with number two diapers, so the Spray Pal is going to take some hits. The inside of the shield will sometimes get some poo sprayback, or yukky stuff from the diaper will rub off when you press the Spray Pal to squeeze out water. Spraying it down, as mentioned above, may be all you need. You can also spritz with a disinfectant or use a sanitizing wipe on the inside.
Keep in mind that if you have a curious toddler or crawling infant in the house, they might get curious about the Spray Pal. For that reason, I clean the Spray Pal every time it gets soiled, just in case they get into it!
3 – How do you clip the diaper inside if the whole thing is dirty? Every once in a while, you get a really nasty diaper that’s so bad you can’t find a clean place to clip. Yuk! If this happens, try securing it to the Spray Pal by pinching a portion of the clean waterproof PUL outer of the diaper and clipping that onto the Spray Pal instead.
4- Does the Spray Pal work with different styles of cloth diapers? Yes, although some are easier to spray than others. Be careful with diapers that have a long soaker attached, or it may flop down into the potty water. Be sure to clip a pocket diaper at the CLOSED end, or the pocket will fill with water from the sprayer!
If you’d like to add the Spray Pal to your cloth diapering routine, it can be purchased online for $25, along with other accessories like sprayers and wet bags. Spray Pal also has a limited selection of cloth diapers for sale, including some beautiful exclusive prints. Buying a Spray Pal also helps out their family; because of being born prematurely, their son has ongoing health concerns and that means constant medical bills.
You can find a lot of great user tips and videos on the Spray Pal website and connect via Facebook and Twitter.
And there’s a giveaway! It’s open to US residents only and ends on August 21st.
