In honor of my SIL who is about to have a baby any minute (well, any day) today I will talk about baby wipes.
With Princess (5 now) I used almost entirely homemade wet wipes. They are easy and economical to make. I did buy the store made types because the daycare required them, and they were easier to have in the diaper bag. Yet again, I get to prove to you my frugal fallibility, because somehow with Buddy I just never got around to making them. For over 2 years. It is one of those silly things where I know I could save more money and somehow just keep neglecting to do it.
The wet wipe recipe is easy. You need a container to put the wipes in. I have heard that some people actually tear off the individual paper towel squares and fold them to fit into one of those rectangular wet wipe containers, but that is WAY to fiddly for me. I use a a round that will fit 1/2 of a roll of paper towel. The only other things you need are papertowel, baby shampoo and baby oil. That is it. I bought one of those cheapo baby wipes that come in the canister, used them up and then used that container. You can also buy a “Tupperware†type container of the right dimensions and cut an X in the top with a sharp knife to feed the wipes through.
Baby/Wet Wipes
1 Container
1C warm water
1TBS baby oil
1TBS baby shampoo
1 roll Quality paper towel (most store brands are too thin)
Take a knife and cut the roll of paper towel in half.
Squeeze half roll of paper towel into your container.
Mix water, baby oil and baby shampoo. Pour over paper towel and let sit for a few minutes. When the cardboard tube in the center has wicked up some moisture it will pull easily out of the middle. Start pulling the wipes up from the middle of the roll, and feed it through the hole in your container. (If you are going the fiddly rectangular container route, then just fold them, place them in the container, and pour the mixture over them)
You can adjust this recipe to make the wipes more or less moist. The first bunch might come out a bit too moist. You will want to let the wipes sit for a few hours before using so that the liquid can soak through all the paper towel. If at the end of the “soaking†period there is still liquid pooled in the bottom of the container they it is probably too wet.
This same process can be used to make your own “cleaning†wipes with Lysol cleaner etc. I made two and keep one in each bathroom to do touchups. Just make sure you don’t get the two types of wipes confused! That would be bad 🙂
Oooh!! Congrats for your SIL!! Kay. I’m ‘learnin’ the ropes’ over at the site. Changed a few things…still rusty. About the wipes? I’ve done it when the girls were toddlers….didn’t really work for me….probably didn’t mix right? Oh well!!! Keep us posted on the baby!! And thanks for the tips here. I’ll use them NEXT when GRANDKIDS come on the scene!!
Working so hard ;even on your Birthday. Reading your blog is like visiting with you. Love, Dad.
I’m in awe. I would have never thought of that. Of course, I’m a single guy, so it’s sort of out of my area of need. But I’ll keep it in mind for later.
An even more frugal alternative: simply use soft wash clothes and warm water when you’re at home. Or run the baby’s tush under the faucet, and use a dry towel to dry him afterwards. When you’re out, either pop a few dampened soft wash clothes in a ziplock bag, or buy small packs of wet wipes. You’ll need lots of wash clothes of course, but they’re small and you can fits lots and lots in the washer. Wash them with towels and other soiled baby gear on the hot program.
This is all we ever used with our baby, and we were entirely happy. I also have friends whose babies had sore bottoms until they gave up wet wipes and started using cloth and water instead.
After all, our grandmothers didn’t have wet wipes!
This is a very interesting approach, but I’d like to see the cost of the supplies. Was it really worth it?