Cloth Wipes

I've mentioned on here before that we cloth diaper.  Well, recently, I decided to cross over in to the cloth wipe territory as well.  It just made more sense to me.  When you change a disposable diaper with a disposable wipe, you just put it all together and toss it.  When you use a cloth diaper with a disposable wipe, you have to separate it (doesn't sound that complicated, but those few seconds could be a lot with an incredibly wiggly, half naked boy!).  When you use a cloth diaper and a cloth wipe, you put it all together and toss it in the bag.  At first, while I was just experimenting, I used baby washcloths as well as a few of Robby's old receiving blankets from the hospital that I cut up.

The problem with those were they weren't the softest on his bum and they were a bit thin for my liking.  There are specific cloth wipes that can be purchased, but I didn't want to spend $12-20 for 10 wipes.  I talked to my mom to see if she could make some for me.  She just got some flannel fabric and cut them into 7 1/2 inch squares, doubled them with wrong sides together, and stitched around the edges to make 7 inch squares.

I put the wipes in a pop-up wipe container that I used before.  In order for them to pop up correctly, I fold them a certain way.  Here is a picture-by-picture of what I do:

 Lay two wipes together, overlapping halfway over.

 Fold the bottom wipe over the half that is overlapped.

 Top with the next wipe, overlapping halfway. (I'm almost as good with directions as I am with recipes, huh?! :-)

 You end up with a stack like this.  There are about 15 wipes wipes here.

 Here are the "ingredients" for the solution I use, as well as the wipes and the container.

You will need:

2 cups water

2 Tbsp baby wash

2-4 drops tea tree oil

Mix all together in the bowl.  Pour over wipes in the container or put in a spray bottle to spray on the wipe each time you change a diaper.

 Set the wipes in the container (I can't tell you how excited I was when these fit PERFECTLY in the container!)

 I pour about half of the solution on top, press down to get the middle wipes wet, then flip the stack over and pour the rest on what was on the bottom.  

 If the middle wipes aren't getting wet, you can lift up to expose the middle wipes and pour some solution, then press down.

Close the the first part of the lid, lift the first wipe through, and close the top.  They come out just like disposable wipes!

If you don't want to use cloth wipes but you do want to make your own wipes, you can use a roll of thick, deluxe paper towels.  Just cut the roll in half with a sharp, cerated knife, then pull the cardboard tube out.  At this point you can either put them in the container like that and pour the solution over them or you could tear each one apart and fold like I did the cloth wipes, put in the container and pour the solution over them.  I considered doing this but I really wanted something that will not cost us anything at all.  The baby wash is something we already have and the tea tree oil was given to us.  The oil will last a long time, as I only use a few drops (it is a natural cleaner and astringent so it keeps the wipes from mildewing while in the container).  This container of wipes lasts 3-4 days (I don't always wipe him for wet diapers).  I hope this helps anyone out there thinking of making the change to either cloth wipes or homemade disposable wipes!