Wednesday, 11 March 2009

• Homemade Baby Wipes

  Well, I know a lot of people are really pinching their pennies and trying to save where they can, so I thought I would do a post on making your own really cheap baby wipes. And I do mean cheap. I know this may not be the greenest idea, but I think it's probably greener than commercial wipes. Personally, I like these better than regular wipes- they are more textured and not as stiff and slick as Wet Ones- they do a better job of wiping and you don't go through them as fast.

  So here's a little how-to with, ala the Pioneer Woman (and if you aren't a regular reader of her blog, www.pioneerwoman.com, I HIGHLY recommend her!), pictures. Sorry for the overexposure- I wanted to get it done and I hate flash-ey looking pictures, so there.

  Here's what you'll need:

  

  1 1/2 c. hot tap water

  1 Tbsp. baby oil

  1 Tbsp. baby shampoo/baby wash

  1 roll paper towel, cut in half (you'll only need one half)

  A container big enough for the half roll of paper towel with a closeable lid. I have a square Tupperware Modular Mate with a hinged lid that works perfectly.

  And yes, I do realize that, in the picture above, I have baby lotion, not baby shampoo. I grabbed the wrong bottle. We'll see the right stuff late on.

  So now that we have all our supplies together, we're gonna take the cardboard out of the middle of the roll of paper towel. DO THIS FIRST, BEFORE YOU MAKE IT WET! Trust me, it'll be a lot easier!

  

  Here's my half roll. An electric bread knife is wonderful for cutting this, but I don't have one so my husband uses his bandsaw to cut my rolls for me. Works great. Oh, and you want to have good paper towel for this. Not off-brand junk. The off-brands don't hold up near good enough. But don't worry- you'll still be saving money with buying Bounty or whatever. Remember, one roll gives you two boxes of wipes.

  

  Cardboard coming out.

  

  It's ok if some of the paper towel comes out of the roll or tears off in the process of pulling the cardboard out.

  

  This is how we fix it. Just stuff it back down the middle of the roll.

  

  Now we've got the cardboardless roll of paper towel in our container. You can set that aside for a little bit.

  

  Next we need our 1 1/2 c. hot tap water.

  

  See, 1 1/2 c. Never mind the waterspots on my measuring cup. We have incredibly HARD water.

  

  Our 1 Tbsp. baby shampoo.

  

  

  Stir it into the water.

  

  And then our 1 Tbsp. baby oil.

  

  

  Stir it into the water.

  

  Here's what the concoction should look like. Nice and bubbly and soapy and good-smelling.

  

  

  Pour the warm liquid evenly over the paper towel. Make sure to get all the way out the edges. Be liberal. Use all of it.

  

  You can kinda see the wetness here.

  

  Now, close the lid and let it set.

  

  See that condesation in the corners?

  

  That's what we wanna see- everything getting all nice and steamy in there. Now just let it set for the liquid to seep all the way through the paper towel. Overnight is best, but if you need them a half hour later, there should be enough towels that are moist for what you need them for. This box will last me a good week and a half, maybe two. One roll of paper towel provides me with enough wipes for almost a month. And that's NOT stretching it! Sure, I buy commercial wipes, once in a while, for the baby wipe case in my diaper bag, but nowhere near as many I'd be buying otherwise. And how much is a box of wipes? $3? I really have no idea, but I buy my roll of Bounty (at the discount grocery store) for about $1.50. And anyone with a baby already has the other ingredients. The container may be a little harder to come by, but moms are known for their ingenuity. Any container that's big enough and has a lid that seals should work. And time? Well, it usually takes me less than 5 minutes to make these. Yeah, that's cheap.

  Anyone else out there make their own wipes? Shampoo? Do you knit little socks for your baby? Sew their sleepers? Ok, joking there.

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