Cloth Wipes are a must have for any cloth diapering family, but they are a wise choice for all Moms. They are economical, “green” and you have complete control over ingredients. Pictured in the photo (left to right) are Ruby Moon Wipes, Planet Wise Wipes, Kissaluvs Wipes, Homemade wipes made from burp cloths, baby washcloths, GroVia wipes and Thirsties wipes.
When I started cloth diapering, I had a few disposable wipes to finish up, but it was a pain! I was in the habit of balling the wipe up inside the diaper to pitch it, and I now had to remember to pull it out and throw it away. Not only that, but they were expensive! I was using the “sensitive” brand of wipes (which weren’t so sensitive after all) and my price to buy was 2.5 cents per wipe. Sometimes I had to use 4 or 5 wipes at a single diaper change, so I was throwing 25 cents or more in the trash every time I changed a diaper!
I started out cutting up some burp cloths I had (that were too thin for my liking as burp cloths.) I doubled them over and zigzagged the edges to keep them from fraying. You can use scraps of all kinds of material to make wipes, making your cost $0, or you can spend several dollars per wipe for cushy wipes in cute fabrics. Plenty of people have bought packs of baby washcloths for a dollar and change for 6, and used them as wipes!
OK, so what do you moisten them with? Again, you can get cheap/free and use water, or you can spend more, and buy pre-made solutions.
Lots of work at home moms (and other companies) make wipes solution bits, that you can dissolve in water and use to moisten your wipes. Most contain a mild soap, sometimes essential oils and things like tea tree oil or grapefruit seed extract, which serve as an anti-fungal, and keep your wipes fresh. These bits are my preference. They are easy to use and very economical.
You can also make your own solution. A quick google search will yield tons of “recipes,” most of which contain some variation of: soap or baby wash, water, oil and essential oil. There are recipes that include aloe vera juice, chamomile, honey and other ingredients to serve specific purposes. Homemade solutions can be used to moisten select-a-size paper towels (cut the roll in half) for a frugal disposable wipe solution as well!
OK, so you have wipes, you have solution, now what?
You can pour your solution into any number of spray bottles, a peri bottle, or for a really spoiled bum, warm the solution and store it in a thermos! I spray my son’s bottom and then wipe, but you can spray each wipe as well.
An 8 x 8 wipe folded in half also fits perfectly into a disposable wipes case or wipes warmer. The blue bag pictured is a Planet Wise travel wipes case. It’s waterproof, with a locking zipper and it’s great for travel! You can pre-moisten your wipes, or moisten them as you go.
Here is a quick video tutorial showing how to fold wipes so they pop up in your case just like a disposable wipe:
I’d love for you to visit my blog, Fitteds and Pockets and Snappis, oh my! where I have a review and giveaway for Ruby Moon cloth wipes and wipes solution bits, which is open until 9/13/10. The post also includes a step by step photo tutorial of using wipes bits.
I hope this gave you some insight into the world of cloth wipes! What other questions do you have? Do you already use cloth wipes? What do you use? How do you store and moisten them?
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Yay! A friend just made me about 130 wipes from old receiving blankets. I’m having twins and have a toddler still in dipes- and have been wanting to give these a try. Once thing I have heard was to stay away from a solution of tea tree oil for these. I haven’t looked into it too much, but thought I’d throw it out there in case someone may know why..
Thanks for the tips on storage and other types of solution!
I prefer to avoid lavender & tea-tree oil when possible simply due to the potential link to gynomastica in boys. I’m not sure if the info saying TTO mimics estrogens is why she is saying that, or some other reason?? I don’t think a few drops to a full batch would really hurt. *shrug*
OK I did a little more searching and it sounds like there are a couple people that think that using TTO in low doses, regularly, could create resistant bacteria, kind of like if we were all on a low dose of antibiotics all the time.
Yes, that’s it…thank you!!
With my first, I had space on the bathroom counter for changing and just used washcloths that were a different color from ours. I ran them under the tap to get them wet. After they were used, they went into the diaper pail, got washed in the laundry and used repeatedly. It worked great.
Easy, cheap, chemical free…yay!!
Great post, Maria! I blogged recently about DIY wipes too:
http://mommysfirsts.blogspot.com/search/label/No-Sew%20DIY%20Project
Great post Hannah! That is cute fabric!
Thank you so much for showing me how to do that! I had no idea how to make them pop up!
I am having my first baby in a couple months, and I am excited to try cloth diapering, but I have to say I am very hesitant about cloth wipes. Thanks for a bit more explanation and thoughts about them. I guess it makes sense if you’re doing laundry anyway, it’s easy to just throw them in there too… we shall see
Way cool! Some extremely valid points! I appreciate you penning this write-up and the
rest of the website is extremely good.