HOW DO I MAKE MY OWN BABY WIPES?

If you are a part of social media in any capacity or have been following the news, you’ve no doubt seen all the panic over the lack of diapers, wipes, and toilet paper missing on our grocery store shelves. You may be wondering, how do I make my own baby wipes? Well I’ve got you covered! Let’s go over how to do some DIY disposable baby wipes made out of paper towels and then I’ll explain how to make non-disposable baby wipes out of cloth in case you can’t get your hands on paper towels, or simply prefer non-disposable.

(1) Make your own paper towel baby wipes

The first method we’ll hash out if you are wondering how do I make my own baby wipes is the paper towel method. The cheapest store bought baby wipes I can routinely find are from Costco and they cost about 1 cent per wipe. You may be able to find a better deal than this with coupons at another store, but not always. These homemade ones cost about a quarter to half of a cent per wipe, depending on how expensive your paper towel is. I know we’re talking pennies here but when you are wiping babies’ bums for YEARS, it does add up. Plus, if you ever find yourself in a bind (like right now, you literally cannot find baby wipes at the store!), these are an excellent alternative. Here’s how to make your own baby wipes out of a few simple ingredients. 

You’ll need:

INGREDIENTS:

A roll of paper towels 

2 Cups of water 

2 tbsp baby soap (liquid)

1 tbsp baby oil (olive oil would also work) 

A container with a lid. 

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Cut the paper towel roll in half. You’ll want to cut it the short way, not the long way. Basically you want to halves that look like two rolls of toilet paper. 
2. Put one of the paper towel halves in your container. Make sure the container is big enough to fit the paper towel roll with the lid closed. 
3. Boil 2 cups of water for 2-3 minutes. 
4. Turn off the heat so the water stops boiling. 
5. Carefully pour the 2 tbsp of baby soap and 1 tbsp of baby oil into the water (remember that water is still hot!)
6. Pour the mixture evenly over the paper towels in the container. 
7. Pull out the cardboard from the middle of the paper towel roll and throw it away. 
8. Start using your new baby wipes by pulling from the center of the paper towel roll (where the cardboard used to be). Always replace the lid to ensure your wipes stay wet (obviously). They should last you about one week! 

Tip: If you need baby wipes on the go (which you will) simply grab a bunch and stick them in a wet bag or ziploc bag to bring with you! 

(2) Make your own cloth baby wipes

The biggest benefit to using cloth wipes is that, other than a liquid solution you’ll need, you won’t have to make a bunch of trips to the store to keep a steady supply, like you have to do for disposable DIY baby wipes. The downside is that you’ll have more laundry on your hands. But, these are no doubt cheaper and more environmentally friendly than their disposable counterparts. 

You’ll need:

INGREDIENTS:

Old towels, wash clothes, or fabric remnants, cut into 20 5×5 or 6×6 inch squares 

A container with a lid 

2 Cups of water 

2 tbsp baby soap (liquid)

1 tbsp baby oil (olive oil would also work) 

Instructions:

1. Cut up your old towel(s), or assemble all of your wash clothes so that you have at least 20, cut into 5×5 or 6×6 squares. 
2. Stack your towels evenly and place them in the container. 
3. Boil 2 cups of water for 2-3 minutes. 
4. Turn off the heat so the water stops boiling. 
5. Carefully pour the 2 tbsp of baby soap and 1 tbsp of baby oil into the water (remember that water is still hot!)
6. Pour the mixture evenly over the cloths in the container. 
7. Secure the container with the lid.
8. Your cloth wipes should be good to use for 2-3 days. When they start smelling musty or moldy, it’s time to change them out. 

Tip: If you need baby wipes on the go (which you will) simply grab a stack and stick them in a wet bag or ziploc bag to bring with you! 

There you have it! Making your own baby wipes is incredibly easy and cost effective. Have you tried making your own wipes? How did it go? Drop a comment below! 

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you stay in touch by subscribing to our newsletter by clicking here. You’ll also get a copy of our FREE Debt Payoff Starter Kit.

Here at Deeply in Debt, we offer tons of personal finance advice based on our own journey paying off $650k of student loan debt. If you have student loan debt and aren’t sure where to start or what to do, I highly recommend the CFA’s over at Student Loan Planner to help you put together a solid financial plan for your student loan debt. We personally used them and it literally saved us over $200,000 on our student loans. You can check out the Student Loan Planner here.