Homemade baby wipes. I never would have thought of making homemade baby wipes for my firstborn, twelve years ago.
It has taken me 12 years and 5 children to finally make homemade baby wipes.
And it was so easy. A 9 yr. old can do it. (except for the part where you need a very sharp knife to cut the roll of paper towels in half – do not let your 9 yr. old do that :-))
Here’s how we made our baby wipes:
Ingredients
- 1 Roll of high-quality paper towels (cut in half)
- 2.5 Cups of water (1 1/4 cup per half-roll of paper towels)
- 2 Tablespoons of baby wash (1 Tbs. per half-roll of paper towels)
- 2 Tablespoons of olive oil (1 Tbs. per half-roll of paper towels)
- 1-2 Containers to store baby wipes
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix together 1 1/4 cups of water, 1 tbs. of baby wash, and 1 tbs. of olive oil and set aside
- Place 1 half-roll of paper towels in the container you will be using to store your baby wipes, then pour the mixture you set aside over the top of the paper towels
- Place the lid on the container and let the baby wipes sit covered for 10 minutes
- After 10 minutes are up, flip the container with the wipes over and let it sit another 10 minutes
- When the second 10 minute chunk of time is up, open the container, and remove the cardboard center - it should come out easily and your wipes will now be ready to pull through the center
- Repeat these steps with the second half-roll of paper towels
- Store in covered containers and pull the wipes through the center/middle of the paper towel rolls to use
Here’s what our finished baby wipes looked like in the container:
The picture only shows one half-roll, but we ended up storing both half-rolls in the container pictured. They fit snugly together.
How do we like our homemade baby wipes?
They’re great. They get the job done, and they’re not full of chemicals, which is the best part. We’ve been using the wipes for about 1.5 weeks, and they’ve stayed moist like the store bought baby wipes. No drying out.
Overall, a big thumbs-up! And we will be making these again.
Side notes:
- You don’t have to store the baby wipes in plastic containers. Large plastic bags would work great, too. In fact, storing them in plastic bags would make carrying the wipes around in a diaper bag a lot easier.
- We used cold-pressed olive oil, but you can also use baby oil.
- We used Weleda Baby Calendula Shampoo & Body Wash to make our wipes. It’s free of synthetic fragrances, and it was on clearance at Publix.
Have you ever made homemade baby wipes? Have you made any DIY projects lately?
See more of my DIY projects.
I used to make baby wipes when my kids were in diapers. I used a recipe like yours and they worked great. Because we used cloth diapers on both of my kids I finally bought a bunch of the baby wash cloths and added them to my container. Because I used cloth diapers then I could just throw them into the wash with the diapers. It worked out really well for us.
I have not done any DIY projects recently but I am hoping to get some done this fall after canning season is done.
Hi Shelly! You know now that I’ve mentioned this DIY baby wipes recipe, I keep hearing about using wash cloths. So interesting, and thank you for letting me know how you do it. I’ve been intrigued and read my share of posts on cloth diapering, but never took the plunge. I think for me it was out of fear….and because for the past 5 years I’ve had more than 1 child in diapers at a time and thought disposable was easier.
I’m definitely going to keep the wash cloths in mind, especially since other readers have mentioned they’ve used old receiving blankets (which we have) as their reusable wipes. You ladies are great resources, and I’m so glad we can share our life experiences! π
Sandra, I was kinda forced into cloth diapers with both of my kids. They both had reactions to the chemicals in the diaposable diapers so the only disposable one we could use were really expensive. So with my daughter 16 years ago there weren’t that many options for cloth diapers so I used a cloth diaper service for her with the re-useable waterproof covers.( I was stil working part time then) With my son I was able to make my own diapers before he was born and I used those with covers I made. My kids were ten years apart so I never had two in diapers at the same time. Taking the plunge with two in a diapers at the same time would make for quite a few laundry loads a week.
Who would have thought you could make baby wipes at home!
My guys are both out of diapers, but we still keep wipes stocked for all kinds of uses – picnics, in the car, in the beach bag, and beside the toilet.
I’ll definitely give this a try!
Hi Lollie! I really think you’ll like them. I’ll be making more this week. π
I used mostly cloth diapers with my two kids (22 years ago!), with disposables used for trips away from home. I would have loved to have a way to make my own wipes though!
My kids are grown, but there are grandbabies! And as Lollie wrote, they can be used for picnics, etc too. I love that they would be completely flushable and will definitely be giving this a try.
Visiting from SITS Girls!
Hi Cynthia, I really love that these wipes are flushable, too! Thanks for stopping by! π
I love this! I definitely want to try this, I’m kinda sick of buying store wipes. Thanks for sharing!
Stopping by from SITS Sharefest.
You’re welcome, Alison!
I’m so glad these turned out so well! As I mentioned before, I’ve been wanting to make my own face wipes. I’m sure this process would work out well for face wipes, just maybe substituting a face wash for the baby wash. I may give it a try this week…thanks for the post!
Hi Erin! Substituting the face wash for the baby wash is a good idea. I’ll be checking some books out from the library about homemade stuff, and I wonder if there will be a good make up remover recipe in one of them. We’ll see. π
hi! Love the recipe! I’ve made it twice now and they work good π I use dr bonners baby castile and oh baby oil and i’ve never had any issues. It doesn’t cause any reactions with my daughter’s skin, which is a plus bc she’s super sensitive. I read your comment above about face wash and wipes. You should check out oil cleansing. I use it every time i wash and it will remove make up. I found the recipe on wellness mama’s blog but there are lots online π Thank’s for the post!!
Hi Tiffany! You’re welcome, and thank you for the suggestions! π I’m so glad that you like the baby wipes, and they’re working for you. That’s wonderful!
I make my own wipes too! I try to use the most gentle, natural ingredients possible. Recently a friend of mine turned me on to the Bum Boosa website. Ironically, their best seller is their all natural 100% bamboo wipes, but I order their 100% bamboo toliet paper to make my own wipes!! The tp is made with out any harsh chemicals like chlorine and is BPA free. Check them out online. A women owned business trying to help out the environment……..
Thanks for the information about the Bum Boosa website, Eloise! π I love to use products that don’t have harsh chemicals in them and that are BPA-free.
I’ve tried this method twice now, and I’m having a problem with my wipes getting moldy. I use J&J baby wash and baby oil. The first time I thought perhaps I didn’t clean my container well enough, so I washed it, wiped out with a bleach wipe, and washed again. Still got mold, about 4 days after I made the wipes.. Have you heard of this happening, and do you have any suggestions?
Hi Leann! I have never personally had this happen, and I’ve used both the plastic container to store our homemade baby wipes as well as a large plastic freezer bag. We’ve never gotten mold. I have used cold-pressed olive oil and baby oil to make our baby wipes. I also use a natural baby wash.
My suggestion would be to switch the brands of baby wash and baby oil that you are using. I’d try to use a natural/organic baby wash and baby oil if possible. You could also try using the olive oil instead of baby oil, because we got great results with the olive oil, too. π
Thanks for stopping by, Leann! Let me know if you have any more questions.
I’ve been thinking about making our own wipes, since we cloth diaper. I’ll keep this method in mind.
I will be making baby wipes for the first time this week, and I am excited to try your recipe. I am concerned about them getting moldy, though. I’ve done some research and am wondering if boiling the water first and/or adding a few drops of tea tree oil might help. Any thoughts?
Hi Rachel! Thanks for stopping by!
Okay, I’ve never had any problems with my baby wipes getting moldy. My advice is to use distilled water, which you can buy inexpensively at the grocery store, and use quality products. Another commenter mentioned that her wipes became moldy when making them with J&J products, so I would avoid those.
Try to use natural/organic products (baby wash/oil) if possible. π
Hi Sandra, Iβm Anne from Life on the Funny Farm (http://annesfunnyfarm.blogspot.com), and Iβm visiting from Blogtober.
What a great idea! Looks easy enough, and should save some pennies. I likey!
Anyway, itβs nice to βmeetβ you! Hope you can pop by my blog sometime to say hiβ¦
Hi Sandra,
I just found The Sensible Mom today- awesome! I was wondering if this could also be done with Coconut Oil? (I use the Trader Joe’s Coconut Oil- the same type you have pictured in your diy deodorant picture).
Thanks for sharingβ₯
Love Wins,
Kathy
Hi Kathy,
I think you could use coconut oil, but you have to be careful because coconut oil becomes solid at temperatures below 76 degrees. π That could make a big difference in your wipes.
Yes, you can use coconut oil π I’ve been making my own wipes foralmost a year. My recipe is a bit more complicated but it’s evolved over the year and I really like it now. Melt your coconut oil first. 1 Tbsp each of coconut oil, bath gel (I use Young Living Kid Scents), aloe vera gel, Alcohol free witch hazel. I also add 10 drops of grapefruit seed extract, which acts as a preservative and also helps to prevent against yeast. 10 drops of your choice of essential oil (I use Young Living, and like either lavender or Northern Lights Black spruce which are both very supportive of healthy skin)
Ooops…Forgot about water π I put my coconut oil in my 2 cup glass measuring cup in the microwave to melt, then add my other ingredients to it. Fill to 1 3/4 cups with distilled water. I’ve also found bounty paper towels to be the best for this.
I have been using this recipe for arounnd 6 month and i can vouch for it!
i use coconut and calendula oils mixed along with the olive oil and sometimes almod oil and i find this home made version much better than store bought.
One usefull advice DO NOT BUY CHEAP PAPER TOWEL you will just waste money they glue together and get all soggy if you choose a brand that holds a lot of water i preffer the “washable” kind as those sturdy ones are much easier to use and take apart
Thank you so much for sharing your experience, Viniicius! I appreciate it. π