The beginning of chemical-free-dom often begins with our baby’s hind end…
Homemade Baby Wipes.
There are two camps on homemade baby wipe rags. The disposable and the non-disposable. On the left side of the menacing pic above, you see the paper-towel-roll-cut-with-a-knife version (cut roll once shortways and once long ways. 1/4 roll per batch solution). On the right you see the (MY) cloth version. (TL has these GORGEOUS hand sewed flannel jobbies, but I use scissor-cut-up-t-shirts.)
I have to tell you right off, that my preference between cloth or disposable homemade wipes has little to do with my feeling about The Planet or The Wallet. It has more to do with how I feel about The Poop.
When my kids are little and have that cute little milk diaper or an early-stage solid food & milk poo, I’m all about the cloth. But once they graduate to Toddler Poo, which is remarkably similar to Grown-Up Poo, I’m NOT into the cloth wipes. Revoke my Eco-Awesomeness Card or whatever. I’m just not down with the developed-digestive-tract-omnivore-feces.
Okay, now that we’ve gotten through the uncomfortable part, we can move on.
After you’ve cut whatever type of wipes you like (and PLEASE don’t try to make them uniform, for crying out loud, they’re BUM wipers, right?) and stacked them into the box, you’re ready for phase two: SOLUTION TIME.
Every solution has one or more of a few basic components:
1) water (necessary)
2) cleaner (almost necessary)
3) something lotion-y (perk)
4) something a bit anti-bacterial/fungal (perk)
There are BOATLOADS of options on the net. But I prefer a mix of:
1) 2 cups water
3) 2 T squished up aloe juice (I have a plant in the house)
4)5 drops tea tree oil.
Now, I can count. I left out number 2, because I don’t put soap in mine. Uber-sensitive skin in my house. But, if I ever do try it, I’ll go for 1/2 T melted homemade soap.
However, you can add a myriad of things depending on your preference and resources:
1) WATER: filter water, distilled water, bottled water, water you cooked up in a lab yourself.
2) SOAPYNESS: baby soap, homemade soap, no soap, baby shampoo
3) LOTION: calendula oil, lavender oil, aloe vera gel, aloe plant juice, baby lotion
4) ANTI-BACTERIAL: tea tree oil, bit of vinegar, other essential oils that are anti-badstuff
The next decision is between, always-wet-wipes and wetted-at-the-time-wipes. I tend to use wet-at-the-time for my cloth wipes, but once baby has graduated to the afore-mentioned Advanced Poo, I do the wetted-all-the-time-disposable wipes.
The reasons are the following:
1)Tiny babies don’t need a lot of wipes and mine start to turn ICK before I use them all. That, and I like the idea of FRESH wipes on the baby booty. So, I keep the solution in an old mustard bottle and wet as I go.
2)Once baby has, ahem, GRADUATED, I switch to the disposable wipes. And I just soak those bad boys with solution and leave them in the box. NO WAY I won’t use them in time. (The size of the baby is directly proportional to the amount of wipes used by Ivory on said bum.)
So, there you go. Google some other options, but as long as you have water and a few drops of something to condition, clean, and/or de-funk the baby booty, you should be fairly satisfied with the results.
I absolutely love this post! I’ve always wondered how to do this. Thank you so much!
Would you be interested in a link exchange with my newest blog? It sure could use a little link-love to get up and running and your blog seems to be a somewhat similar niche.
I love your blog. I don’t even have a baby anymore, yet I had to read this whole post on something I know I’ll never do because somehow you even make baby wipes interesting and entertaining. Now that’s talent! 🙂
What a great idea! You know, those would be so handy just to have here on the farm. My hands seem to get into all sorts of stuff here.
Thanks for sharing.
Kathy,
Sure! I’ll put you on the blog roll.
Ivory
Carol,
You have made my week! I’m so glad you’re enjoying it. Hey, there’s a Carol that’s invited me into a yahoo group. Is that you?
Ivory
ga.farmwoman,
I tend to use wipes for ‘facial cloths’ in the evening. I hadn’t thought of keeping them in places where my hands get dirty!
Ivory
So when you have all the wipes in the box and you want to make the wet all the time ones you just dump the solution on top of the stack of papertowls or whatever you use?
I’ve been recycling old receiving blankets as my wipes. I just cut them to the size I think they should be and soak them in either water (super sensitive skin here too) or a little castile soap, oil, and lavender oil, tea tree, or chamomile oil. I’ve also been using receiving blankets as flat fold diapers to do more recycling.
Ok, I realize this is an old posting, but do you keep this aloe mixture in the refrigerator? Other places I have searched recommend that, but I’d like your thoughts on this since you are actually using it. Thanks!! PS…I’m going to the Salvation Army to get some old flannel sheets to make my wipes!
Holy moly I am loving your site and writing style. Looked through most every link on the right. Thought I’d offer my experience/preferences here. I like to pop a vitamin E into my mixture to prevent spoilage. No idea if that’s scientifically sound, but it hasn’t failed me yet. I just cut a select-a-size roll of Viva in half, stuff it in an appropriately sized container, and pour my mixture over the top. Once it’s well-saturated I just pull them out from the center, so no tearing and folding. Also, I brew a bag of chamomile tea for 15-20 mins. Otherwise similar to you, with a little liquid Dr. Bronner’s and some grapeseed oil. For a half a roll I use 1.5 cups liquid and about 1/2 tablespoon of the soap and oil.