The diaper pail finally twists the bag shut

The diaper is in one hand. The lid is up, the bag is gaping, and you are using two fingers to shove the whole thing down past the rim without letting any part of you touch any part of the rim. It is 2 a.m. and this is the two seconds nobody warns you about. Munchkin's new CycloSeal pails, up on its site today, do that part themselves.

What the twist does

Drop the diaper in. Close the lid. The bag twists shut on its own — Munchkin's own diagram shows the opening spiralling closed as the lid comes down — so there is no pushing and no reaching. The brand's line for it is "no pushing dirty diapers into the pail, simply drop and you're done," which is the rare piece of packaging copy that describes an actual problem. The seal is what holds the smell, and Munchkin claims twice the odor control of the original Step pail, with an Arm & Hammer lavender baking soda puck in the lid doing the rest.

Two pails, one mechanism

The Step Pro is $74.99 and behaves the way you expect: foot pedal, 27 inches tall, 12 wide, 12.5 deep, out of the box already assembled. The Touch Free Pro is $119.99 and opens on a wave of your hand, which matters more than it sounds when both of yours are full. It also carries a child lock on the sensor, a film cutter built into the frame, a door wide enough to change the bag without a fight, and a tip-resistant base for the year your toddler decides the pail is climbable.

The refills, once

Both pails take CycloSeal refills and only those — generic liners will not fit, which is the trade every sealing pail asks of you. A refill ring holds up to 272 newborn diapers and costs $14.69 for two or $47.99 for eight. Twenty Toss bags are $21.99. Each pail arrives with a starter ring, a Toss bag and a puck, so nothing else is needed on day one. Both are listed now at munchkin.com.

The one we'd buy

If the pail you own already works, this is not the week to replace it. Buying your first one, or replacing one that has started to smell like a decision you regret? The Step Pro at $74.99 is the good one. The twist is the whole upgrade and both pails have it; the pedal costs you nothing and $45 is a lot to pay for not touching a lid. Spend up to the Touch Free Pro only if the pail lives somewhere you pass with both arms full, in which case the wave sensor earns it back by about week three.

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