A question I am asked frequently when folks find out we cloth diaper is, "Don't they smell?" I think it's kind of a funny question - human excrement never smells especially pleasant - but really, the smell of a diaper pail full of soiled cloth diapers is much less offensive than a diaper pail full of soiled disposable diapers.
I remember retreating to a mother's lounge at church with my newborn son. The small room - though equipped with comfortable chairs and a convenient changing table absolutely reeked. The small diaper pail in the corner had a lid on it, but the disposable diaper fumes hung in the air. My eyes watered, I couldn't breathe. We nursed elsewhere after that.
Soiled disposable diapers smell just awful to me - a toddler's saggy plastic diaper swinging between his legs reeks of artificially perfumed plastic and foul smelling chemical laden urine. Ever walk past (not down, just past) the baby isle at the grocery store & smell the waves of heavy perfume wafting from the packages? That heavy perfume, once wet, does nothing to disguise the odor - it exacerbates it. In contrast, wet cotton smells like wet cotton. Sure you can smell a bit of a wet pee-pee smell, you can certainly detect a poopie diaper with your nose but the smell is almost rose-like when compared to that kid in the throw-away diaper.
No Need for Poop Sausages
Cloth diapers don't need a diaper pail with a crazy sausage system (Diaper Genie), rolling the soiled diapers into little plastic cases in an attempt to block out the smell. When using cloth diapers, you simply do not need an expensive diaper pail that is built to seal off the opening tighter than a NASA gravity chamber. You can mosey on down to your local pharmacy or grocery store and pick up a good old trash can with a flip top lid. Purchase one as little or as large as you'd like.
The Practical Pail
Even cloth diapers, if allowed to, uh, "stew" in a pail can get a really strong ammonia smell going. So wash regularly - I do diaper laundry about every 2 or 3 days. Since you'll be shaking the solids out into the toilet before dropping the diaper into the pail, your primary concern is going to be that ammonia smell.
I do not recommend a wet pail, diapers really don't need to soak. Having a pail of nasty water sitting around within reach of my young baby just sounds like either a mess or a drowning incident waiting to happen. Line your large indoor garbage pail with a diaper pail liner you make from a pretty color of waterproof PUL fabric that coordinates with your baby's nursery or bathroom. You're just going to make a gigantic pillow case to fit into the pail. Easy peasy sewing project.
If you can't wash your diapers frequently enough you can do a few natural things to combat the smell. Many online cloth diaper retailers sell Citrus Disks and Diaper Buddies that you drop into the pail. I personally like the cheap and easy solution of pouring a few drops of lavender or tea-tree oil on a cloth wipe and dropping it into the pail.
You can buy a smaller pail for the bathroom to hold diapers that need a bit of rinsing. But whatever you do, don't worry that pretty little head of yours about needing an oxygen mask. Soiled cloth diaper odor is practically a fresh spring breeze compared to the toxic fumes that can knock you over when emptying the Diaper Genie.
Fixing Stinky Diapers
Okay, say you goof up and your diapers sit a bit too long in the diaper pail and get that strong ammonia smell. Or maybe you've used a bit too much detergent and your diapers smell "skunky" even coming out of the drier. There are some simple things you can do to remedy this. Pinstripes and Polkadots has compiled a wonderful resource for dealing with these types of issues:
Sometimes if I have a really strong smell in my diaper pail I've allowed sit for a bit too long, I add just a touch of bleach to the wash load and/or let my diapers dry out in the sun. I know, bleach is a big cloth diaper no-no as it can break down the fibers and shorten the life of your diapers, but it is very effective in killing of stubborn odors. Just use it very sparingly (no more than once a month) and only if other, more natural methods don't work first (hot washes with white vinegar and baking soda, for example).
