Before G was born, someone gifted us a big Costco box of wet wipes. And in the first few weeks of having her home, I was a little horrified when I saw how quickly those wipes disappeared! Cartoon dollar signs were flashing before my eyes when I thought about how much money we could be spending on diapers and wipes every month. Then I remembered that my mom used to make her own wet wipes when my youngest siblings were babies. I called her to find out how to make her homemade wet wipes and gave it a try. With only three ingredients, the wipes were so easy to make, and each container of wipes lasted much longer than a package of store bought wipes! It’s been almost a year since I switched to homemade wet wipes, and I still love them! I still keep a package of store bought wipes in the diaper bag, but I’ve noticed that if we’re away from home more than usual and I have to use store bought wipes for several diaper changes, G’s skin gets a little red. Her skin clears up after using the homemade wipes again, so I love that these DIY wet wipes are so gentle on sensitive skin. Homemade baby wipes are one mom hack that is too good not to share, so keep reading for the easy tutorial, and be sure to pin the Pinterest graphic at the bottom of this post to save this idea for later!
To make the wet wipes, all you need is a roll of Bounty paper towel, baby wash, baby oil, water, and two cylinder containers that are about 6.5 inches tall and 6.5 inches in diameter (I found mine at the dollar store and they’re the perfect fit). Be sure to get the Bounty select-a-size rolls so that the wipes will end up being the right size.
Cut the roll of paper towel in half. This is really the only annoying part of the process because it does get a little messy! I use a serrated bread knife, but if you have an electric knife, I bet that would make the cut cleaner.
Heat up 2 cups of water for a minute in the microwave. Mix in two tablespoons each of baby oil and baby wash. I like to pour the baby oil in first just because it makes the tablespoon slick and easier to get the baby wash to slide out of the spoon afterwards. Pour half of the mixture into one of the cylinder containers and put one half of the paper towel roll into it, cut side down. Repeat with the other half of the mixture for the other container and other half of the roll.
Put the lid on the container and flip it upside down. Within a few minutes, the mixture will soak through the paper towel roll completely.
Take out the cardboard center–it comes out really easily, usually in one piece for me. Then pull on the center piece of the roll to get the roll of wet wipes started, and they’ll empty just like a container of Clorox wipes. When you use them, remember to put the lid back on the container when you’re finished so they don’t start to dry out, but even if that happens, you could always put a little water in the container and flip it upside down to moisten the wipes again.
That’s it! I hope you’ll give these homemade wet wipes a try, they’re really so easy to make and using them has saved us quite a bit of money! You can save or print the recipe below, or pin the Pinterest graphic to save this idea for later!
Homemade Wet Wipes
Materials
- 1 roll Bounty Select-a-Size Paper Towel
- 2 c Water
- 2 T Baby Wash
- 2 T Baby Oil
- 2 Cylinder Containers (6.5 in tall, 6.5 in diameter)
Instructions
- Cut the roll of paper towel in half using a serrated bread knife or electric knife.
- Heat up the water for one minute in the microwave.
- Mix baby oil and baby wash into the water.
- Pour half of the mixture into one of the cylinder containers and put one half of the paper towel roll into it, cut side down. Repeat with the other container and roll of paper towel.
- Put the lids on the containers and flip them upside down. Make sure to seal the lids tightly before turning the containers upside down so the mixture doesn't leak out. Within a few minutes, the mixture will soak through the paper towel rolls completely.
- Take out the cardboard center, then pull on the center piece of the roll to get each roll of wet wipes started dispensing from the container.
