making baby wipes

Lauren - posted on 11/15/2009

when i was in my last few weeks of pregnancy i started making a pile of these.. i made about 40 all up, 5x5cm squares one side terry towelling and the other a fleecy cotton. I used up an old pair of PJ pants that had a hole in them for the fleecy cotton side and the terry side was 1/2 metre of towelling i bought at the fabric store. it took some time to sew but i am so glad i did.. we use cloth nappies and just have a bowl of water by the change table, clean with water (and sometimes a squirt of baby lotion) and then the wipe gets chucked in the nappy bucket and washed with the nappies. So easy!

making your own is way cheaper than buying them IF you have a machine to do it with - any type of clothing that is past its wearablilty but is soft on the skin is perfect.



Cost: the 1/2 metre of towelling prob. cost me about $4 everything else was free.. so for me, wipes cost nothing!

Jub - posted on 09/24/2009

While pregnant, someone gave me a big roll of those Chux wipes. Five months after the birth and I'm still using the roll! I just rinse them in water and wipe baby, then rinse the wipe and chuck it in the wash. The more I wash them, the softer they get too.

Cierra - posted on 09/24/2009

I just used regular wipes while they were baby-babies because my mother in law coupons and gave them all to us free. I now take my cloth diaper son (17 months) to the bath when he's poopy and just clean everything all at once (much easier for me) and no residual stink either.

Elisi - posted on 09/08/2009

I make my own wipes as well. I don't know if you are still looking for a recipe or not, but the one I use is very simple and you definitley already have all the ingredients.

1 1/2 cups water
3 Tbsp baby wash (whatever you use to clean baby is fine)
1/2 paper towel roll core removed

You just mix the water and baby wash and then I use a rubbermaid container (the food storage ones that are kind of rectangular it has a #6 on the bottom) and pour the mixture over your cut paper towel, and let it soak in.

It definitely takes a little bit of work to cut the paper towel in half, but I use an electric meat knife and that works really well. My husband has been thinking about trying out his dad's electric saw, but I don't mind using the electric knife. I haven't actually figured out the cost savings but my LO is 8 months and we have not had a single rash yet.

Lidia - posted on 01/18/2009

I bought some cloth wipes from the same store that I got my diapers from. They are by swaddlebees, and are excellent. I can use one wipe for most diaper changes, and they go right into the wash with my diapers. I just found a link to the online store:



http://swaddlebees.com/products/Diaper-A...



Hope this helps!

Kiyomi - posted on 11/19/2008

I make my own paper towel wipes for my LO and have for the past two months or so. It has saved me a bundle. My recipe is:

1/2 roll paper towel w. core removed

2 c. boiled water

2 Tbsp. baby wash

1 Tbsp. baby oil

1 Tbsp. baby lotion



wash, oil, and lotion are all unscented as scented ones can cause reactions on sensitive babies. I like this recipe b/c it uses ingredients that are fairly common in a house with a baby.

Wendy - posted on 11/19/2008

I have used cloth with all of my kids, including my oldest who was born when I was living in an apartment w/ no washer/dryer. I used cloth wipes with all of them. When my oldest was a baby 1 ply flannel wipes were VERY cheap. I don't know why the price has gone up so much on them. Anyway, the ones I had for him have long since worn out. I made wipes for my 4th baby using leftover scraps and bits of fabrc. I sew, so I have plenty of that. But JoAnns usually has a big flannel sale around Christmas sometime, maybe right after? Or you can buy a knit fabric and just cut it up, no sewing needed. I have a serger, so I serged all of my wipes. My favorite are the ones made from bamboo/organic cotton interlock.

I use plain water with my wipes and use some soap--my own homemade--if needed.

Rebecca - posted on 11/18/2008

thanks everyone! i'm looking into this to see if it's worth while in terms of time, cost, etc. i know for cost it's probably best to use cloth wipes but we don't have a washing machine in our apartment and already are washing 2 dozen or more diapers plus covers every other day. not sure if i want to add to that! but i'm interested to give this a try and see how it goes. thanks again!

Robyn - posted on 11/18/2008

I`m using the following receipe:
1 ½-2c. Water
1/4c. Aloe Vera Gel
1 TBS Calendula Oil
2-3 Drops ea. Tea Tree Oil & Lavender Oil

Wipes are easy enough as simply using the small cloth wash wipes (you can buy them in large packs for a great price) which are easy enough to wash with cloth diapers (if you`re using those), other people may choose to use paper towels. When I use cloth wipes, I store them in a disposable wipes container mixed with the above recipe. Leftover baby wipe recipe can be stored in the fridge (keeps for quite a while, although I find it gets used up quickly).

Just a forewarning that I`ve read the tea tree oil can cause sensitive babies to react, although I`ve never had this problem with my son. Also some people suggest to add baby shampoo to the mixture, but I`ve also read that it may not be good on baby`s sensitive bottom. Hope I`ve helped! :)

Rebecca - posted on 11/17/2008

I have a couple of recipes for both paper towel type and cloth. Never tried them out, but I can email them to you if you want.

Brenda - posted on 11/17/2008

Hello...not sure if this will help or not. When I was pg I had BIG plans to cloth diaper...so I made about 50 wipes. They are "2-ply" I just sewed two pieces of flannel together w/ a 1/4 in seam allowance and then turned them right side out and did a zig-zag top stitch all around the wipe. My finished wipe was about 8 by 8. This would be much easier w/ a serger type sewing machine that finishes the edges w/ out having to do the sew and turn.



Now with all that said...I didn't end up cloth diapering (bowing head in shame...lol) but I use the wipes all the time...they're great...I have used them for they're intended purpose a few time but mostly I use them for wash cloths.



Cost wise you're just in time to take advantage of some pre Christmas sales...not sure where you are but Hancock fabrics and JoAnn fabrics usually have a 99cent a yard on flannel sale the day after Thanksgiving...go early and be prepared to stand in line but you can't beat the price!