Make Your Own Cloth Baby Wipes

So, I recently read a blog post giving instructions on how to make your own baby wipes. It seemed easy enough to do, even for someone like me who does not have a serger. So I tried it. Basically, you get two layers of flannel, cut them, put them together soft side out, and sew them with a zig zag stitch, leaving the edges ragged.

I did it. I went downstairs to my fabric stash and took ALL the flannel scraps I could find and made about 20 baby wipes. Then I went to Walmart, bought more flannel (to make more for me and some for a friend who recently started cloth diapering) and some spray bottles for $.97 each and I ordered some Honey Chunks Wipe Solution and now I have lots of little, great-smelling cubes to dissolve in my spray bottle and I spray it on my wipes before using them. (Some people prefer to store the wipes in the solution, but I store them dry)

After about a month using these homemade and super cheap wipes, I'm in love!!!

Here are a few pros and cons of these wipes

Pro-

They're very thick so that when one side is sprayed, the other side often says dry so you can wipe your baby's bottom with one side and dry it with the other before closing it in a diaper.

Con-

Because they're so thick and may not get wet all the way through when sprayed, they sometimes slip out of your hands while in use.

Con-

Because the ends are unfinished they fray for awhile in the wash. For awhile there I was picking bits of flannel thread from my microfiber inserts and hook and loop closures. But the fraying stops after a couple of washes.

This is what the wipes look like after the first wash. You'll see in subsequent pictures that it gets better.

Pro-

Leaving the edges unfinished means you're not spending lots of time turning your wipes inside out to sew and then right side out to hide the seams. I thought the fraying was worth the time saved on sewing them.

Pro-

the wipes are super absorbent and super soft. At first the water sort of runs off them and leaves the baby's bottom very wet, but after a few washes, the water stays inside the wipe and my daughter's bottom is not super wet when I'm done wiping her.

Pro-

IT SAVES TONS OF MONEY!!! No more spending $6 or more on wipes every week or so. No buying expensive wipes online for me! Overall, I'm very pleased with this baby wipe. In the future I'd love to try making baby wipes with different fabrics but for now I'm contented with my flannel :-)

The green wipe is 7" squared before being washed. The monkey wipe shrunk a little in the wash but you can see after prolonged use, it's no longer shedding little pieces of flannel.

Comparing an unwashed green wipe with a washed blue one. I bought my flannel at Walmart for $2.97/yard and I notice that the printed flannel seems to fray less and it's more thick and luxurious than the solid colors for the same price. A shame since I love solid colors. Oh well!

*A note to my readers--when making such an endeavor as this (switching disposable wipes for cloth ones) Please inform your husbands BEFORE going to bed that night as they will be quite delirious when it's time to change the baby and will be quite confused upon seeing the box of Huggies replaced by a basket full of flannel scraps and a spray bottle and will wake you up asking for a tutorial.