How To Make Your Own Baby Wipes

Baby wipes have always been a favorite of many preppers, campers, backpackers, etc. One big problem with wipes is that they create a lot of waste. Unless you’re letting them dry and then burning them, you then have to carry around the used wipes.

In the case of reusable wipes, while you’d still be carrying around ‘dead weight’, with the reusable wipes you can clean and reuse. So essentially, they aren’t really dead weight as they have multiple uses, even after they’ve been used as a wipe.

During COVID-19 pandemic, there’s been a shortage of wipes. People are buying and using them for all sorts of purposes. Of course, people with babies and young children need wipes for wiping bums.

Whether you have kids or not, wipes are incredibly useful to have around. Making your own wipes is really easy and costs very little! These items can be found in any store or online. Wipes aren’t necessary great for full on bathing or an alternative to bathing, but they’re great for quick cleanups.

How To Make

Supplies:

• 100% cotton fabric squares, can be found from Walmart or any hobby or fabric store
• Sewing machine or hand sew or don’t worry about (details below)
• 1/2 cup Witch hazel
• 1 1/2 cups Distilled or filtered water
• 5-10 drops/ 2 tbsp of Vitamin E oil or 2 tbsp aloe vera gel
• 5 drops of Lavender essential oil
• 5 drops of Tea tree essential oil

Many people like to add castile soap or other liquid baby soap to the mix, but I’ve done without and it’s worked fantastic without it.

If you’d like to add soap to the mix, try adding 1/4 cup to get started and see how you like it.

Some people also add olive oil or coconut oil to it, but again, I never found that to be necessary. The vitamin E oil and aloe vera gel tended to be good enough.

If you’d like to add olive oil, add 1/4 cup to the mix to see how you like it.

Play around with the mixes and see what works best for you!

You can leave the fabric squares as is, or you can cut them up into smaller squares and hem the edges. If you leave the edges un-hemmed, they will fray over time after each wash, just an FYI.

Combine all ingredients into a spray bottle and shake up before each use.

Spray the fabric squares with the spray bottle as you use. You can also pre-moisten all the fabric squares and place them in a bag. I would recommend keeping extra solution in a spray bottle ready to go in case they dry out.

Alternatively, you can make disposable wipes by using the mixture above, but instead, cutting a paper towel roll in half and pouring the mixture over paper towels.

How To Clean

Once you’ve used a wipe, place it into a solution of bleach/water or simply soak in water. Clean them by hand or in the washing machine (by themselves, with no other clothes) within 3 days of using.

How To Store

Just like regular wipes, these will dry out if left outside of a container. I would suggest repurposing an old baby wipe container or placing them in ziploc bags to keep them moist.

I would not recommend storing the moistened wipes for long term use. Anything that has water in it is subject to mold. However, these will last quite a while, a month or more, as moistened wipes, as long as you’re regularly using them.

Experiment

These wipes can really be made anyway you want. Experiment with the ingredients and if you can’t find an ingredient, think about some alternatives that could be used. If you don’t feel comfortable using a certain essential oil (or no essential oils) then don’t! Again, play around and make sure they work for you and your needs. If they aren’t working, try out a new recipe. Just be sure to write down the changed recipe so you can remember how to recreate later on!

Have fun and enjoy!

Have you ever made your own wipes?