I love making DIY versions of many personal care items like this DIY Eye Makeup Remover, Alcohol-free Hair Spray, Homemade Body Wash and Nourishing Hand and Body Cream, but when you think about it, babies are so vulnerable to toxins that it makes sense to do whatever we can to make sure we only use safe products on them.
There's something really cute about a baby's bum, and I'm certain that I'm not the only one who thinks so!
Those plump little bottoms show up all over advertisements, greeting cards, and online memes.
But cute as those chubby cheekers are, they are also very sensitive and deserve gentle care when it comes to diapering.
These homemade baby wipes are a simple way to give a tiny tushy the care it deserves.
Store-bought diaper wipes are typically made with:
- questionable preservatives
- scents, and
- other ingredients, sometimes even causing horrible reactions.
Though they seem to be the most convenient option, a quick glance at the ingredients list might make you rethink that initial convenience.
Homemade wipes, on the other hand, are just as effective while being a more frugal, gentle, and natural option.
They're so easy, too!
It involves minor work on your part, but once you have the ingredients in your home (and you just might have them all already), you don't have to run to the store to buy more packaged wipes.
I've been making my own baby wipes for three years and have used various solutions to wet them. I've finally settled on this one since it is incredible easy, effective, and gentle.
I love knowing exactly what is being used to clean my baby's bottom!
You can use this solution on cloth wipes that then get washed with cloth diapers, or on paper towel wipes.
Old t-shirts or sweatshirts make great cloth wipes (no hemming required!), as do baby washcloths. My cloth wipes are made of an old t-shirt sheet set that says "Pillow Talk" with cartoon pictures of telephones.
Classy, I know.
You can also make disposable wipes by cutting a roll of thick paper towels in half with an electric carving knife, making two shorter rolls. Then take out the cardboard roll, and you're set!
Easiest DIY Wipe Ever
This is really getting simple, but you can even just put some damp paper towels or rags in a wipes container that you refill on a daily basis. Works pretty well and no fuss at all and it's the cheapest option out there for sure.
Ingredients
- An old baby wipes tub (or other container of choice)
- Enough cloth or disposable wipes to fill the tub
- 3 cups water
- 2 tablespoons olive oil (or other liquid oil of choice)
- 2 tablespoons liquid castile soap
- 10 drops essential oils, optional (I like lavender for babies. See Which Essential Oils Company is Best?)
Instructions
- Fill the repurposed wipes tub with either the dry cloth wipes or one half of a dry paper towel roll.
- In a large measuring cup, combine the water, oil, soap, and essential oil (if using). Stir quickly to combine.
- Pour over the wipe.
- Voila! You're done!
If it seems like there's too much moisture in your wipes, you can add more dry wipes at the bottom of the tub and press down to allow the dry wipes to absorb the excess solution.
You may also find that your tub does better with only two cups of the solution, so you could cut the oil and soap back to a scant 1 1/2 tablespoons each.
You can be confident using these wipes, knowing that your baby's bum (or even the hands and faces of older little ones) are being gently cleansed without any harsh chemicals.
Do the ingredients in packaged wipes concern you?
Have you ever thought of making your own baby wipes?
Kristen Smith is a Christian, wife to her best friend and high school sweetheart, and mother to a growing brood of sweet little people. She and her family enjoy rural life in northeast Ohio. Her days are spent keeping the home, homeschooling, making real food, gardening, blogging, studying herbalism, working from home as a Lilla Rose consultant, and doing what she can to live a more natural and God-honoring life. Connect with her on her blog, Smithspirations, where she writes on topics relating to faith, family, and natural living. You can also find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
I love this idea! can’t wait to try it!thanks for posting!
Thanks! Hope it goes well for you!
I used this to make my last batch of cloth wipes. Once used, I just toss the dirty ones in an old huggies wipe container until ready to wash. However, I am finding that the wipes (organic flannel from bumgenius) turn blue after awhile ... any idea to why? These are all chemical free ingredients.
Hmm... I'm not entirely sure on that one, Tara! My first thought would be possible mold. Does it look like that could be happening?
My question is...what do you do with the dirty wipes when they've been used and are very soiled?
I use cloth diapers, Lisa, so they go right in the wash with my diapers. If I did disposables, I'd probably opt to wash these separately from regular laundry every couple of days or just use paper towels as mentioned in the post.
Does that answer your question?
Take a 3 quart Rubbermaid or the like container, cut a roll of quality paper towels (stronger) in half - and put 1/2 half in the container. Pour your solution over the roll - or pour the solution in first and let it soak up. In about 10 minutes remove the cardboard center and pull the wipes from the middle. Works like a charm. I used 2 1/2 cup of warm water, a tiny bit of my non toxic all purpose cleaner, Melaleuca Oil in a water soluble form and a cap of a nontoxic bath oil (with Melaleuca Oil in it). Great cleaning, nurturing the skin and germ killing peace of mind. 🙂 Inexpensive, too. (You can cut a star in the lid of the container for pull through.)
Sounds like we do pretty similar things, Joy! I like to use the cloth wipes since I cloth diaper, but if I did disposables this would be my pick.
When I did this a few times, I could never get the paper towels cut in half very well without making a terrible mess. I'd have shredded paper all over the place. Then I read about using an electric knife to get right through them without a problem. I thought that was smart!
i have no idea where to get castile soap in my country, i don't think they're available here, any ideas on the replacement? or if i don't use it, is it still make the same function baby wipes?
Hi Karin!
You can make the most basic wipes using plain old water and nothing else. Any basic soap would work, too, you just would want it to be a pure soap that doesn't have extra colors, fragrances, or other ingredients that could irritate very sensitive baby skin.
Also, I usually order the soap online, so you could try that, too.
I have used something very similar for our wipes. I basically do the same recipe, but I omit the oil because I wash the wipes with my cloth diapers.
Hi Krista! I also do cloth diapers and do wash these with the diapers. I've never noticed any build up of oil in the fabric, though. It's a very small amount of oil when compared with all of the water, and the soap actually makes the oil blend right into the solution so it isn't just pooled up in places. I'm just mentioning that based on my experience in case you ever want to try it, but I know how much we all look out for the well-being of our fluff! 😉
We just used cloth wipes and plain water. We kept the water in a bottle with pop-up spout (intended for drinking water) and used it to moisten the wipe just before use.
That works well, too, Becca. I like the extra, but gentle, oomph that these have, and the oil helps them to be very soothing. I do often use plain water during the newborn days. Anything to make things extra simple!
I make something similar when I travel with my dog to clean her paws after doing her "thing" at rest stops. Don't want her dragging mysterious gunk in my car, ya know? So to make it more antiseptic, I use Tea Tree Oil. And even if I have to leave the box in the car after the trip, I don't have to worry about germs in the wet wipes since there is water.
Great idea Karen!!
I have been wanting to do something like this! Question from someone who does not do cloth diapers (but wish I had) where do you store the dirty cloth wipes until they are ready to be washed?
I put them in w/ the diapers. I have cloth if you are interested. LOVED it. Saved sooo much money!
I also put them with the diapers, Candace. They all get washed together!
Before I did cloth diapers I even considered starting with cloth wipes. You can buy small wet bags to store them in and wash them as a small load.
I've used homemade wipe solution since my now 17 month was brought home from the hospital. My recipe is similar. What I find works well is to put the solution into a washed out foaming soap container. I pump the amount of solution I need, depending on the diaper mess, right onto the paper towel. The solution lasts forever and works great!
I do the same thing with my cloth wipes when I don't have a big tub of them made up, Rena!
I buy organic cotton unscented baby wipes, wash the toxic stuff out of them well in the washing machine, dry them and keep them aside. When I need a handful, I put them in a container, and wet them with castile soap and water. That's a good idea about the paper towel, but I like the strength of the more fabric-y ones you buy in store. Why can't someone just sell them without all the toxic stuff on them? The way I do it, we have never had a diaper rash issue once.
I wish they'd sell them that way too.
There are blue paper towels that a friend of mine uses in his shop that are extremely sturdy and might be a good step in between the wipes you are buying and washing and regular paper towels. They wouldn't be organic, though, if that is important to you. They would probably be in a hardware store or Home Depot/Lowe's type of place.
While I too wonder why anyone makes organic cotton wipes and then soaks them in anything toxic...of course "they" sell organic cotton fabric that is not soaked in anything! It's just sold as fabric, instead of as wipes. If you want disposable wipes, they don't need to be hemmed--buy a few yards of organic cotton fabric, wash it once, and cut it into squares. This would almost certainly be cheaper than buying baby wipes. Here's one source:
https://www.dharmatrading.com/fabric/cotton/organic-cotton-fabrics.html