Thanks for visiting! If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed or subscribe by email.
After getting fed up with poopy cloth diapers (even with my awesome flushable liners I use), I decided it was time to look into a diaper sprayer, which is basically a kitchen sink sprayer on a hose which attaches to the toilet’s water line. I wasn’t interested in buying one for $40 from the diaper companies, so we started looking online on how to make one ourselves. Unfortunately I only found a couple of tutorials, with no pictures!
So, Moondoggie will be offering his first guest post here on Gidget Goes Home with a step-by-step tutorial on making your own for about half the cost. These parts came out to around $20 at Home Depot and it took maybe 20 minutes to assemble. So without further adieu, here’s Moondoggie.
So Gidget told me one day that she was sick of sticking her hands in the toilet to get Chiquita’s poop off those cloth diapers. Before we started using cloth diapers, I would have never guessed that a kitchen sprayer next to the toilet would be so useful (when I told the guy at Home Depot what I was doing, he actually asked if I was making a bidet).
Anyways, here’s a list of the parts I bought for this diaper sprayer. We looked at several versions on the web that used barbed connections and hose clamps. You will find that all the connections in this design are threaded and (probably) less likely to leak.
-Kitchen Sink Spray Hose & Head Assembly
-Filter Connector Splicer (I think this is actually designed for a refrigerator water filter)
-Ander-Lign Compression Connector (1/4″ OD x 1/4″ MIP w/insert)
-“Adapt-a-Valve” T-fitting (3/8″ x 3/8″ x 1/4″)
1) The first thing you need to do is turn off the water that feeds into the toilet supply line.
2) Next, unscrew the toilet supply line from the valve. At this point, I should tell you to make sure that you toilet supply line is flexible. The rest of the procedure won’t be possible if you have a rigid toilet supply line. You can replace your supply line if necessary (or just check all the other toilets in your house until you find a flexible one - that’s what we had to do). It is helpful to have a small dish to catch any excess water that may be left in the toilet supply line.
3) Install the Filter Connector Splicer (fancy name for PVC tube with threaded ends) onto the 1/4″ branch of the T-fitting.
4) Attach the toilet supply line to the upper leg of the T-fitting. For those that haven’t done much plumbing work (which includes me; I am only going off what I have picked up since doing this project), the connection on your toilet supply line is most likely 3/8″ compression threads and that’s what I have assumed as I wrote these instructions.
5) Now you can install the T-fitting onto the valve.
6) Install the Compression Connector in the threaded end of the sprayer (you will notice that the 1/4″ pipe threads go into the tube and the 1/4″ compression threads will be free for now).
7) Install the PVC tube onto the 1/4″ compression thread side of the Compression Connector.
8 ) As a general note, I was instructed by the guy at Home Depot (obviously not an Olympian) not to tighten the compression fittings too much. Doing so may shred the washers and leave you with a leaky system. Also, I realized as I was putting the instructions together that it’s possible to install the parts in a different order and still have everything hook up correctly.
9) Once all the connections are properly tightened, turn the water back on to the valve. You will need to play with the pressure to get the right flow out of the sprayer. Also, you may experience some odd behavior from your toilet bowl and tank(running water sounds). I have found that it is just taking the tank longer to fill up (I am not a toilet expert so there may be more to that explanation that I am not equipped to offer).
That’s it. You can now use it to get that poop off without sticking your whole hand in the toilet. And if you are really brave you can start a water fight with your kids (not recommended for bathrooms with carpet).
Disclaimer: The following instructions are for inspirational purposes only, and are not from a plumber, but rather a simple DIY family. Feel free to try out and share this tutorial!
{ 1 trackback }
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
annie 08.25.08 at 7:39 am
I never knew you could do this. Is this popular in the cloth diaper world? Good job Moondoggie:)
Mom 08.25.08 at 7:46 am
Where were you, Moondoggie, about 28 years ago?????? We had to get that poop off the old fashioned way!!
gidget 08.25.08 at 8:30 pm
I used it today for the first time! awesome! The only bummer is that we had to attach it to the downstairs toilet and the diaper pail is upstairs… hmmm… might have to move it downstairs.
gidget 08.25.08 at 8:31 pm
@Annie, not sure if it is super popular but a lot of cloth diaper-related companies are selling them these days. It should be popular though because it’s awesome!
Linda Z 08.28.08 at 7:10 pm
Wow, I’m impressed with your ingenuity and Moondoogies skills!! I’m glad to be out of diapers here! We are all potty trained here! Well, except for Jason’s nighttime diaper!
GreenandCleanMom-Sommer 08.29.08 at 6:38 pm
Gidget, I am about to email you and announce YOU have won my cloth diaper giveaway! Yahoooo! This is so wonderful of you. I’ve grabbed this last photo for my blog but totally credited you 100 times over and even put the blog address on the photo. Is that cool? If not just give me a shout. I’m trying to drive people to this DIY idea. The email is on the way. Sweet blog.
Nena Stopnik 08.29.08 at 11:39 pm
This is so awesome! It’s so neat that you guys made your own. I like the way you think. I love that idea. Poopy diapers can be a nightmare. Every now and then, Drayden gets an explosive poop. Luckily, poop doesn’t gross me out. Mainly, I get bummed because I have to go through the work of cleaning it up. I have a sprayer in the kitchen and in the bathroom that I use for any major mess. I think the diaper covers have been incredible for both the bumGenius! and the Fuzzi Bunz. No major stains at all and definitely nothing I couldn’t get out with some sun. They have never leaked and they hold in the poop smell so well. In my experience, it’s the inserts that really get stained. I usually have to sun these and they still have a slight stain. I’m trying a couple of different things to get the stains out so I’ll let you know what I think. As long as there isn’t any smells, I’m happy. People are always telling me, “it seems like more work”, but I’m commited to cloth diapering and it totally works for me. I’m going to do a post on my experience up to this point soon.
Casey Towne 09.02.08 at 6:50 am
How much did this cost? I looking to save over a purchased sprayer. I used to clip my diapers into the bowl and let them soak and then flush. I then realized that this isn’t a great idea because I use a chlorine tablet in my tank and I was soaking my dipes in chlorine. (<—- That is what my mom did 30 years ago) Using the sprayer bypasses the tank and will keep the bleach off my cloth!
gidget 09.02.08 at 7:42 am
@Sommer, Yay! I’m so excited!
@Nena, I look forward to reading about your experience.
@Casey, It cost around $25 I think, give or take. Yes, you definitely want to avoid (inadvertantly) bleaching your dipes! The sprayer is quick and efficient!
Danielle 09.05.08 at 7:32 am
Yay! I hope to make one this weekend. I am tired of dunking. It is GROSS!
Kelly 09.17.08 at 1:36 pm
This is awesome! It cost me $26.50 at the Home Depot, and took only 15 minutes to install! I am so excited, and am certain that with this gadget my husband will even volunteer to clean poopy diapers!! thanks so much!
gidget 09.17.08 at 1:47 pm
@Kelly, Good for you! I’m so happy it worked out nicely and I hope you enjoy (as much as one can enjoy something that has to do with poopy diapers).
mickey 10.15.08 at 10:22 pm
Good design, except you might want to consider an inexpensive shutoff valve on the side of the kitchen sprayer hose.Those sprayer heads are not designed to have constant pressure . They will fail.
gidget 10.16.08 at 6:41 am
Thanks, mickey, I’ll look into that!
Brandi 11.19.08 at 4:48 pm
You’re right Mickey, those sprayers aren’t exactly designed to have constant water pressure; although, the commercially made and bought ones that cost $40 aren’t either. So, either way, you’re still getting the same product at about half the cost!
gidget 11.19.08 at 5:15 pm
Mickey & Brandi, We were actually able to find a little shut-off valve (like a ball valve built for an air compressor). It leaks a teensy bit at the connection, but I think we could just seal it to fix that, and this way we can turn off the water from going into the hose. Thanks for your take on it though, Brandi- i think you’re probably right, too.
Jeanie 01.04.09 at 12:06 pm
Great instructions. I was a little worried about the potential for a mess though. The shut off valve is a great idea for people with other kids. I can just imagine my 3 or 5 year old (or any of them really!!)making a huge water mess. Now I can follow your instructions and put a shut off valve to keep the older kids from making a mess. Thanks.