Cloth wipes

I have loved my experience cloth diapering so much that I recruit people when I can. After two months into BabyD's life, I realized that I was just being silly still using store bought wipes. One, I was spending money that I was just throwing away. Two, we still had to keep the stinky waste around in our garbage. Three, I was putting chemicals on my baby's cute little tushy. Four, I hated the perfumey smell of the wipes. So why was I doing it?

I brought up the idea to D about using homemade wipes. He wasn't overly receptive. He liked the wetness and thinness of the store bought wipes, although he hated the smell. He was tentative and thought that using cloth wipes would be harder than the store bought version. The final straw was when I calculated how much wipes would cost. Figuring one wipe per diaper at our rate of ~10 diapers per day for the Walmart brand of wipes, it would cost ~$100 per year. Now if I did disposable diapers and was spending the ~$1000/yr on diapers, then maybe I wouldn't mind $100/yr.

I began researching what to do next. I found that many people do different things. Some use washcloths, some use paper towels and some make them out of fabric. That day I took a look at my flannel remnants from other of sewing projects for BabyD. I made 35 wipes in varying sizes (depending on the size of the remnants). Next area to tackle was how to wet the wipes. There are store bought formulas, but I couldn't bring myself to pay $10 a bottle for a solution. I wasn't doing this only for the goodness of the environment and my baby's booty, but for my wallet too. I found online many different recipes for a wipe solution. Next was the method of applying the solution. Some people pre-wet the wipes and have them in a container at the changing station. Others used a spray bottle to wet the wipes when needed. I decided to go with the spray bottle method. I was trying to recruit D to using the cloth wipes and I didn't want an imperfect wetness level to scare D away from the idea.



I think they turned out great. I love the fun fabric and I like my little spray bottle. Some of the wipe solution recipes I found online were a little complicated and on the other hand, some people just used water. So I decided to compromise. I filled up my spray bottle up with water and added two drops of baby bath wash. So far I like it, no complaints. We have enjoyed the use of our wipes and D is even on board. I bought a second spray bottle so I can keep wipes in my diaper bag for on the road use. There have been no changes to my laundry routine with the addition of the wipes. They don't take up much room and I am fully rid of disposable products!!