Cloth Wipes

This is a companion article to my previous one about using cloth diapers. Today’s experiment: Cloth Wipes.

For me, this was a natural decision since I was using cloth diapers. Why pay for regular wipes when I wasn’t buying disposable diapers? Also, when I was using the cloth diapers, I couldn’t just stick the disposable wipes into the cloth diaper while I was working because it would eventually go into the washing machine too. Using cloth wipes has been cheaper and also more convenient for me. I just throw the used cloth wipe into the pail along with the dirty diaper and wash them along with everything else.

These are SUPER EASY. I am not a seamstress, but I was able to do this project. At first, I tried to do it by hand. I finished one square, which took me days to sew, and decided to find someone with a sewing machine I could borrow.

You can use terry cloth or flannel for this project. Either one will be soft of the baby’s delicate skin, but also be absorbent and clean up the mess. I used flannel as we had a plethora of flannel receiving blankets given to us when Phoebe was born.

1. Cut the cloth into 8-inch by 8-inch squares. If you have large hands and want the wipes to be bigger, simply increase the inches until you are happy with the size of the square.
2. Sew the edges of the squares with a zigzag stitch. This prevents them from fraying when you wash them.
3. Make enough so that you have sixty wipes.

Umm, that’s it. I know, easy.

If you want to, you can sew two pieces back to back to make them thicker and more absorbent. Or you can sew one piece of flannel with one piece of terry cloth to have a better scrubber on one side. That is up to you.

I simply sewed up the sides of “one-ply” pieces of flannel. These work fine for me and I’ve never had any leakage. I keep my cloth wipes in a used disposable wipe container.

When the baby are little and are just eating breast milk, they’re very easy to clean up with these wipes. When they start eating solids and it’s nicer to use a wipe solution. I spray this solution onto the square depending on how much liquid I think I’ll need.

Wipe Solution

  • 1 tbsp liquid castile soap (preferably one without added essential oils for the sensitive)
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 drop tea tree oil
  • 1 cup warm water

Use a funnel and pour these ingredients into a small size travel spray bottle that is more than 8 oz. (I found one in the travel section at Wal-Mart.) Make sure to buy one that is not clear so that the tea tree oil will not lose effectiveness by being exposed to sunshine. Shake and you are ready to go.

I love these wipes because they never irritate my daughter’s skin and I always get just the right amount of liquid on them.

Ready to borrow someone’s sewing machine? Will you use these yourself or make them for a friend?