Making our own diaper wipes is something that Pa and I have wanted to do for awhile, especially after realizing that the natural kind we were buying at Sam’s Club cost about $15! We felt strongly that this was one more item that should be easy enough to make at home.

When it comes to researching things like this, what did people do before the Internet?

Joyful Abode was definitely my inspiration for creating the cloth wipes- mine are not beautiful but so far, they work.

I also used receiving blankets.   You could easily use baby wash cloths too- those tend to be something that people have an abundance of- or at least I do. I cut up old ones that a friend gave to me.  I tried to keep to the same measurements as Joyful Abode but some of mine were definitely smaller.I dusted off my sewing machine that I hadn’t used in about 8 years- what was I thinking- and settled in with my girl Lula and cat Frankie.  What a cozy scene this evokes, right? Wrong. Turns out Lula was scared of the sound of the sewing machine!  So much for that idea.  Fortunately, babies evolve quickly and a few days later…success.I loved Joyful Abode’s idea for a zigzag stitch to finish the edges of my old receiving blankets (no serger here!) but once I did a few, it seemed like they still might fray after a wash or two due to how thin they are. Rather than redoing them later, Pa suggested I just do an easy fold over seam to keep them from fraying.  No pinning necessary and these certainly don’t have to be perfect!  Frankie supervised the process to ensure I didn’t mess them up too badly.Finished product- not too shabby.

Finding a solution for the diapers took a little longer.  I found many recipes that used tea tree oil but I read that many babies are sensitive to tea tree oil and I was reluctant to experiment (plus I didn’t want to buy anything).  I decided to use this recipe since I already had the ingredients available.Fearful of mold and since we will be tossing our wipes into the washer with our diapers every other day, I only wanted to make enough solution to last for two days of wipes.  I ended up halving the recipe that I linked to above.

oil and water

It seemed to be plenty and the solution definitely soaked through all of the wipes. When I made the solution again, I ended up using 1 & 2/3 cups of hot water, 1/2 tablespoon baby oil and 1/2 tablespoon generic baby body wash to stretch everything further. I’ve been using this solution on Lula for almost a week and I am pleased with the results!  I have noticed that with the last solution I made, the wipes don’t smell as fresh so I may add in a little more of the body wash and see if that remedies the problem.  We are still using store-bought wipes for poopy diapers.  Pa and I can’t seem to get Miss Lula clean with less than four wipes, plus, I would be rinsing the homemade wipes free of poop and I am not willing to do that much extra work.  Since she poops every second day or so, I feel okay with using 12 store-bought wipes a week…for now.

There was a fair amount of up-front work involved in this project.  Just getting the wipes cut and hemmed seemed to take forever but now that it’s done, it’s so easy to keep up with.  The best part to me is the fact that we are saving so much money, but I have to admit, there is also a great deal of satisfaction that comes with DIY projects like this one.Have a great weekend!