If your babies have skin like mine, most disposable wipes are not an option. At least that is what poor Kathleen’s bottom seemed to be telling me after a couple of days of using sensitive ones. I’ve always just used a cloth and water. However, there is a reason why wipes are popular; they really do the job quite well. So after planning to make my own wipes and solution with each baby, I finally got around to it with my third. Actually these are handy to have in your car or purse even if you don’t have children.
Wipes ready to go!
The Wipes:
7X7 in serged flannel squares
Okay, so you could actually use whatever you want, old t-shirts are brilliant because they don’t need any sewing. I jumped at the chance to use up some of the excessive amounts of white flannel from two years ago when I made an embarrassingly large miscalculation for a quilt that still hasn’t been made.
I wanted mine to fit into a plastic disposable wipe container so I cut 7X7 inch squares and sewed the edges with the serger. Folded once they fit nicely in the container.
Homemade Wipe solution:
You will need
4 c. Distilled Water
1 tbs Castille Soap
15 drops Lavendar
4 Tbs Collodial Silver (or Vinegar)
1-2 Tbs Oil (Almond, Coconut, or Jojoba)
Mix everything and warm lightly on the stove; I just find this helps everything mix nicely but you could just shake it up in a jar unless you use coconut oil.Use as much as you need to dampen the wipes in the container or Ziploc. I use about one cup to wet 50 wipes. Store the remainder in the fridge and give a quick shake when you want to use it.
Soaking the wipes
A few notes:
– I used distilled water because we have very hard and mineral filled water, which is not a bad thing but I worry it is a breeding ground for bacteria thus mold in my wipe container.
– You can also use whatever essential oil that you like, but lavender is safe for babies, easy on sensitive skin, is a calming scent, and has antibacterial properties. Tea tree is a great one if it is for your own personal use.
– I have been using the colloidal silver to fight thrush but you could leave that out.
– If you would prefer dry wipes, you can also just carry the solution in a small spray bottle. I have found that to be nice and compact for in my purse (although, I wouldn’t recommend using the same bottle, even thoroughly cleaned, that you used for your homemade bug spray. Hello citronella!).
a dry compact option
And finally, a question for any cloth diapering gurus out there; I am not sure how to get my diapers clean with the our hard water that I mentioned. I have always been really happy with Nature Clean soap and an occasional stripping, but now nothing seems to work. Suggestions?
I think they recommend adding water softener to your wash. Calgon is safe with cloth diapers I think, but you might want to double check. Also, Rockin’ Green (soap specifically made for CDs) makes a detergent specifically for hard water so might be worth a try (if it’s easy to get?).
Thanks Sophie, I honestly never thought of water softener so I will look into that.I have tried the Rockin’ Green before and didn’t like it but haven’t try it here, might be worth seeing if I can find it.
Baking soda helps too. Just sprinkle some in with the diapers and your soap. Probably about 1/4 cup. I don’t measure myself I just pour some in.
I cant wait to try this,I to have a stash of unused flannel from a quilt project so it works out perfect.you can get Rockin green at Spoil me rotten in Berwick,and I’m sure she has the hard water kind.
I have to get my cloth diapers ready for wear…I guess I’m supposed to wash them 1/2 dozen times….do I dry in between washes?
I bought down East detergent,hope it works ok.
glad your back..
Oh thanks! I am coming that way on Tuesday so I will check it out. On washing the diapers, I think it depends on what kind you have. It has been a long time since I have had new diapers (almost four years!) but I think that I did dry them in between.
We used a squirt bottle filled with water and tea tree oil for the first couple of months with our first. After that we just switched to water and if needed, a bit of soap.
We use cloth diapers and wipes (we made our wipes by using pinks to cut out the squares–they have frayed down to significantly smaller than they started so we are serging a new set for our baby-on-the-way). Our water is hard (to the point of destroying our dishwasher) and we have a high efficiency front loading washing machine, which is not the best for washing cloth diapers. We have found that adding sodium percarbonate makes all the difference in the world. We buy it by the 50 pound bucket and it lasts about a year.We use a tablespoon of detergent (the natural stuff with no whiteners or brighteners as they reduce absorbency) and “some” sodium percarbonate–maybe a 1/4 cup or 1/3 cup or 1/2 cup. Not sure. If the diapers start to stain after awhile we’ll do an overnight soak in the tub with sodium percarbonate and they come out as clean as ever (we use unbleached cotton prefolds so they are never white per se, but clean appearing). I’ve heard of using vinegar in the rinse cycle as well but we never have.
Good luck!
btw, just found your blog and am really enjoying it!
Thanks for the suggestion, I will look into it. I have used vinegar and baking soda in the past whenever I felt my diapers needed a stripping but it isn’t working now so I am glad for any possible solutions!Thanks so much for visiting!