Do you ever feel like you throw most of your paycheck in the diaper bin? We have 1 in diapers daily and two in nighttime diapers so I feel like I buy the BIGGEST box of diapers and wipes every week. Where do all those wipes go? We use baby wipes for almost everything in our house. They clean up after arts and crafts, they clean up after messy snacks, who knows what the kids use them for, and then there is the real reason for them, the baby bottoms.
At our house we use so many of them in a week, I decided there has to be something better out there. I have got to cut expenses, and so it is either get rid of the kids or find a cheaper alternative to baby wipes. There are many ideas or recipes, I guess, out there for making them on your own.
Here is an easy version that anyone can do:
1 roll of paper towels (Bounty, Brawny, something strong!)
4 Tablespoons baby oil
2 Tablespoon baby bath or tear free shampoo (we like the lavender)
4 Cups water, boiled and cooled
Old diaper wipe container
You can make 2 boxes of wipes from each roll of paper towels. I buy brawny for around $13.68 at Wal-Mart and can get 16 boxes out of a package of paper towels. That brings it to about a whopping $0.85 per box. If you like the aloe or scented wipes, use a scented baby bath or add a few drops of aloe to your water.
Here is how you do it. Tear apart the entire roll of paper towels into single towels. If you fold them on the short side into thirds, they will fit nicely into the wipes container. If you fold them accordion style, they will pop-up out the top of the container like most wipes do.
After you have all your towels folded, you need to mix your water. Mix water, baby oil and baby bath together. Add ¼ of your towels to each container and pour 1 cup of liquid in each. Then add another ¼ of the towels to each container and add another 1 cup of liquid to each. I normally let them sit for an hour or two and then flip the wipes inside the container over to help the liquid distribute evenly.
Voilà! You have wipes! Want to really feel proud of yourself for saving money? Try the same thing with wipes for your kitchen and bath. Just substitute Mr. Clean (1 Tablespoon) and a few drops of bleach! You can keep them in a baby wipe container, or in any airtight container. Just make sure you label the cleaning ones!
This also works for those of us that would rather lessen our waste. We splurged on cloth diapers for our daughter when she was born in 2020 (perfect timing, I know lol) and asked for them on our registry. We also stocked up on the cheap, soft washcloths. Using the water mixture above, layer your baby washcloths in your diaper container. Even with a super messy diaper you can easily rinse them or toss them if it's especially horrid, as they are fairly cheap and being able to reuse them will keep lessening the cost as you go.
Enjoy the money you are saving, go get a manicure, you deserve it! After all, you did work hard making those wipes (wink, wink)!
