Homemade Baby Wipes
After we talked about the scaries in toilet paper and moist wipes last week it raised some questions about baby wipes and if they are safe to use. So I did a little investigation and here’s what I found:
This is a list of ingredients from the Unscented Soft Care Pampers Wipes. If you want the info on what each of these chemicals are you can find them below:
Water, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Disodium EDTA, Citric Acid, PEG 40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Sodium Citrate, Phenoxyethanol, Ethylhexylglycerin, Benzyl Alcohol, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Benzoate, Bis PEG/PPG 16/16 Dimethicone, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Dipropylene Glycol
Um, no thank you. A few too many chemicals and ingredients for me!
Alot of “recipes” for wipes that I’ve seen out there use baby shampoo. To me, that isn’t much better than the chemical filled baby wipes listed above as most shampoos often contain similar, if not worse, ingredients. So if you are wanting to make your own, totally natural wipes, here’s a great recipe!
Homemade Baby Wipes
What You Need:
- 1 cup Filtered Water
- 1 cup Witch Hazel (Where to Buy)
- 1 teaspoon Aloe Vera Gel (Where to Buy)
- 1 drop each Lavender and Tea Tree Essential Oil (optional) (Where to Buy)
You can either use good paper towels or scrap fabric for the actual wipes. I recommend using fabric because you can reuse them as much as needed without having to buy more.
Wet wipes and place in a resuable container (you can use an old, clean baby wipes container) or keep the solution in a spray bottle and just spray on towels or cloths as needed. You can make your own cloth wipes (I would recommend using flannel for the fabric) or you can buy an inexpensive set of reusable Flannel Wipes on Amazon to get you started.
And if you want to take your wipes on the go, just soak or spray ahead of time and take along with you in a plastic baggie! Don’t forget your wet bag to store the dirty ones so you can bring them home to wash. You could also make your own homemade wet bag to store dirty wipes until wash time by making an extra large Homemade Sandwich Bag. The materials are the same! 🙂
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You might also want to make….
- The Best Diaper Rash Cream
- Homemade Cloth Diapers
- Homemade Bubble Bath
- Toddler Busy Bags
- 10 Minute Baby Receiving Blanket
Would you ever make homemade cloth baby wipes?
Amanda E says
May 9, 2012 at 10:46 amugg. Whoever would have thought. I make my own body cream, diaper rash cream, etc to try to avoid silicones on my baby and me. Little did I know it is in his wipes. I don’t really want to go to reusable ones cuz I don’t want to wash them, but I’ll have to seriously consider it now. Thanks for the post!
Gail says
May 9, 2012 at 5:43 pmDo I dare ask….What about sanitary napkins?
Merissa says
May 9, 2012 at 6:20 pmI’ll be writing a post about them next week:)
Rose C says
February 19, 2013 at 12:06 pmUse cloth sanitary napkins. You can make your own or there are quite a few companies that sell them. They are wonderful and if you try them you just might find you will never buy disposable ones again.
Patricia Nelson says
December 11, 2013 at 5:37 pmWe make cloth sanitary napkins for young girls in poor countries. We used PUL fabric to make it waterproof in the inner layers. They aren’t that big of a deal to make.
Beth says
May 10, 2012 at 7:30 amIs there anything wrong with just using water?
Becky says
June 2, 2012 at 3:12 pmBeth, I started out making a solution similar to the one above, but then I got lazy (and sleep deprived) and just used water. It worked fine for us.
Aneah E. says
May 11, 2012 at 2:33 pmHow about Seventh Generation wipes?
Merissa says
May 11, 2012 at 2:36 pmThey don’t look too bad. Here are the ingredients: Water, Cetyl Hydoxyethylcellulose (plant-derived cleaning agent), Glycerin (vegetable oil derived), Citric Acid (provides stability & pH balance), Aloe Vera (Aloe Barbadensis) Extract, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), Potassium Sorbate, Sodium Benzoate (food-grade preservatives).
Liz says
July 4, 2012 at 9:46 amThanks for this post. I do Thai Yoga Massage and like to clean peoples’ feet before I work on them. I’ve been looking for something natural to make myself – this will work perfectly!
Michelle says
January 21, 2013 at 12:18 pmIs there an ingredient that can be substituted for the Aloe Vera gel?
Merissa says
January 21, 2013 at 12:20 pmYou could just leave it out and they would still work fine.
Michelle says
January 21, 2013 at 12:34 pmAnother recipe I’ve used calls for baby oil and soap. I also used it with pre-soaked paper towels. The whole batch grew black mold, so I’m excited to see a different recipe, one without vinegar that is. Should I try the baby oil in this recipe?
Merissa says
January 21, 2013 at 1:33 pmI wouldn’t add the baby oil, this recipe will work just fine without it and it could clog up baby’s skin.
Michelle says
January 21, 2013 at 1:52 pmThat’s what I was thinking. Thank you Merissa!
Tasiyagnunpa Livermont says
February 19, 2013 at 12:55 pmI just ordered the Honest Company diaper and home essentials bundles. We’ve fallen off the cloth wagon, and I needed something a bit healthier for baby. So far I’m impressed with their cleaning stuff and their wipes. Just an idea. Not exactly cheap, but it comes to the door! lol
Sarah W. says
May 4, 2013 at 9:06 pmI just switched to cloth wipes in homemade solution. The solution recipe I found calls for 1.5 c water(I boiled mine first), 1 tbsp coconut oil, 1 tbsp aloe gel, and 1 tbsp baby soap. I’ll have to try your recipe next, I like the idea of witch hazel and tea tree oil.
Cyndi says
May 22, 2013 at 12:35 pmI use cloth diapers and love them. I also. Have been making my own wipes. The baby wash I use is all natural so I like that recipe but love the idea of cloth wipes as well. It would be easy to just throw them in the wash with the diapers!
Liz S says
May 25, 2013 at 12:37 pmFor this recipe, about how many wipes do you get per batch? I bought the washcloths from amazon you recommended (I think it’s a set of 15) and am wondering if you soaked all of those.
Merissa says
May 25, 2013 at 4:24 pmIt works best if you just spray it on the wipes, instead of soaking them, and you should be able to do that entire package with one batch no problems.
ANNE says
July 24, 2013 at 7:51 pmHi, I like your post but I am wondering…how many days could I keep the wipes soaked in the bag safely? you know since we try to avoid strong and harmful preservatives.
Merissa says
July 25, 2013 at 9:49 amIf you use paper toweling I wouldn’t keep them for longer than a month. You could also mix up the solution as a spray and just spray on each wipe before you use it, it would last much longer that way.
Lori W says
November 21, 2013 at 11:05 amHey Merissa, I just bought some witch hazel from the store, and after I brought it home, I noticed that it says it’s 13% alcohol. I worry that that would burn if my littles have diaper rash? Or is this how all witch hazel comes, and is it so low that it won’t bother them?
Merissa says
November 21, 2013 at 11:06 amI would just leave it out of the mixture if your little one suffers from diaper rash or replace with purified water.
Katie says
March 11, 2014 at 1:29 amI found one on Amazon that says it is Alcohol-free–>Alcohol-Free Unscented Witch Hazel w/Organic Aloe Vera Formula Toner-355 ml Brand: THAYERS
Marianne says
December 4, 2013 at 10:09 pmI have used a good witch hazel on my skin as a toner and have to dilute with water by over 1:1. So I would not do this full strength at all as very drying.
kayla says
December 5, 2013 at 5:49 amI make my own disposables. Cut paper towel roll in half, and pour over solution of 1c water 3 drops tea tree oil 5 drops lavender oil and 1 tsp almond oil. Works great.
April says
December 6, 2013 at 8:38 amBeen using cloth wipes for six months and love them! I use water, liquid Lavender castile soap, a dash of calendula oil and lavender eo. Easy. Smells so herbal and good. I don’t measure, just throw in, stir with fingers and throw dry wipes in. No time for more with babies.
deb says
February 17, 2014 at 4:13 pmyou could just use a washcloth and warm water and if these is a bowel movement use soap and water on one cloth and just water on another cloth…I used cloth diapers that I had to fold and I used baby washcloths for wiping (they aren’t big enough for anything else…..lol)
Bretannia says
May 19, 2014 at 8:20 amI just made these and they smell horrible. I added the essential oil and aloe vera…I was wondering if the type of witch hazel you buy would matter. I bought the off brand. Would it have made a difference if I bought name brand? I’ve used pre-made witch hazel face wipes before so I know the basic scent of witch hazel and it’s never bothered me before. I really want to use a homemade mixture that doesn’t include baby oil, wash or shampoo and this seems to be perfect…except for the smell (for me at least).
Merissa says
May 19, 2014 at 9:22 amSo far I’ve only used the Dickinson brand witch hazel. I’m not sure if that makes the difference but it definitely shouldn’t smell bad.
Barbara says
August 26, 2014 at 7:00 amThanks so much for more unique idea’s to share on my ‘This & That’ site.
Robin says
July 21, 2015 at 6:00 pmWould distilled water be okay to use instead of filtered?
Merissa says
July 21, 2015 at 9:17 pmYes.
Suzi says
February 29, 2016 at 7:30 pmI’m wondering about bacteria growth on the wet washcloths or paper towels. If they are in a closed container and water in it.
Thank you,
Suzi
Merissa says
March 1, 2016 at 7:46 pmMake sure to use filtered water and only make an amount of wipes that can be used up within a week or two. Personally my favorite method is to simply spray them as I’m using them.