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Monday, May 14, 2012

Wipe Away!

Cloth wipes.  If you use cloth diapers, you might as well use them too.  After all, it is no fun picking disposable wipes pieces out of the aplix in your diapers.  Sound complicated?  Nope, it definitely is not.

So what do you use?  There are a lot of different brands of wipes out there made out of a lot of different materials.  My favorite?  Single-layer flannel wipes are the most similar to disposables.  Bumkins flannel wipes are not very expensive, about $7 per dozen.  They maybe aren't the cutest wipes, as they are a natural tan, but the rainbow serging helps make up for the lack of prints.  They are soft and the serging holds up great.  For people used to disposable wipes, I would definitely recommend the Bumkins.

And now for the solution.  I have heard of some moms that just use plain water, or water with a little baby soap.  I use a variation on that.  And I like my variation because it not only gets baby's bum clean, it also uses coconut oil for slight diaper rash prevention.

I don't really have an exact recipe.  I mix my solution in an empty baby wash bottle (9 oz).  I put in three squirts of baby wash, like California Baby (or one squirt of Dr. Bronners Castile Soap), a three second pour of coconut oil (should be about the same amount as the baby wash), and 3 drops of Tea Tree Oil.  Then, I fill up the rest of the bottle with hot, purified water.  Shake, and dump over the wipes.  Let it sit for about 20 minutes and ring any excess solution out of the wipes.  Store it in your mixing bottle to use next time, or put it in a mini spray bottle for the diaper bag.

Why hot, purified water, you ask?  I actually use reverse osmosis water, but distilled would work also.  Basically, you want it purified to help get any sediments or bacteria out.  The water I use is actually also boiled first.  It comes from the RO system into a water heater used to make tea, so the temperature is usually around 160 degrees.  You also want hot water to make sure the coconut oil is in liquid form instead of solid.  Oh and the tea tree oil should help prevent future bacteria growth.

I store my wipes in a disposable wipes container and fold them so they pop up.  I found the Huggies containers work well for this.  More on the folding some other day.  With the recipe above, I find I can make about 20 wipes or so and not need to wring out excess solution.

So, cloth wipes anyone?  I like these because they clean my baby's bum quite well and I can also use them to wash her face and hands without worrying too much about her ingesting a lot of chemicals.  Yes, there might be some, depending on what baby soap you use, but at least I have more control over what's going on her bum - I know exactly what is in the solution.

So, are you ready to get wiping?


4 comments:

  1. I also use a squirt of Dr Bronners. I haven't made solution with coconut oil yet. I may have to try that!

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    1. I find that the coconut not only helps prevent rashes, it also seems to help the wipes "glide" a little better. Let me know what you think if you give it a try!

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  2. I use homemade flannel wipes as well as cheapie baby washcloths. I typically store them in an old wipes container. I store them dry and wet them with water when I need them. I don't like storing them wet. I do make a wipes solution that I keep in a bottle and use when I remember. lol It's just water, Dr. Bronner's and a dab of jojoba or coconut oil. :-)

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    1. I thought about doing dry wipes and spraying with solution, but my daughter is so squirmy, the prewetted just makes it much easier. :-)

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