Cloth Wipes
This is the most brilliant thing since the all-in-one cloth diapers if you ask me.
I did not mention these during my cloth diapering week.
Ckeck this link here for back story.
And this link too.
The thing is, you don't have to go out and buy expensive or even cheap wash cloths to have cloth wipes. Although people do sell cloth wipes on ebay and this is an option for sure.
Otherwise, if you have old clothes, sheets, blankets, etc. that you are not using, you have cloth wipes!!
It's really easy to make your own cloth wipes too!
Step 1: Find some old fabric thing: clothing, sheet, blanket.
Step 2: Cut into whatever size or shape you like
DONE!
That easy.
Here is a link to some more specific and better instructions.
I like to use receiving blankets or old footie PJs that have that beaded or pilled up feel on them. Those do not usually require any extra stitching to keep from threads pulling. Cotton sheets or anything of a T-shirt like fabric or flannel will lose threads on the side that get everywhere or they roll right up, so they do need to be stitched. You can either do 2 together or just hem up the edges of each one. Or you can even use them a couple of times and throw them away after a wash or two when they start to fall apart. Then just make more!
I store mine in an old disposable wipe container with the lid off of. Keep them dry until ready to use. I then dip into a jar of water. Plain water.
I have experimented with several mixes and find plain water works best for me. You can put in a tiny bit of baby wash if you like but then it gets into the wipe. I wash my wipes with my diapers and this was adding extra soap to my wash cycle! And cloth diapers thrive best on the smallest amount of soap possible.
I also tried adding things like drops of tea tree oil or you could use lavender. I did not think it was necessary, but I am a fan of smell free things. If you have a large container for your water and do not go through it quickly, you may want to use the tea tree to keep it from getting yucky. (That's a technical term btw - yucky).
To transport your cloth wipes, simply use a resealable plastic storage bag and put a few in there flat, how ever many you think you'll need on your outing (plus extra just in case) and dampen them with your water/mixture. Done. I do not use any of the unused ones when I return, I simply put them in the bin of dirties since they sat in the moisture sealed up for a while. Bring an empty dry bag to bring the dirties back home with you, or take ones that you cannot use anymore anyway and throw them out.
Some folks are known to go as far as have family cloth for everyone in the household and never buy toilet paper. My husband vetoed that one before I even got the whole suggestion out of my mouth. But if yours would go for it and you don't mind the one extra load of wash, I say do it! To never have to shell out the bucks for paper that just gets thrown away immediately after use? Well, that sounds great to me.
If you are not using cloth diapers, you can still do this. It is easier and the load of laundry is smaller. If you are using cloth diapers, it only makes sense for you to also use cloth wipes!!
