Have you ever read the ingredients in those generic store-bought baby wipes?
Unfortunately, they are full of tongue-twisting names that aren’t in my vocabulary, natural medicine cabinet or food pantry… Disodium EDTA, Caprylic Triglyceride, PEG 40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Benzyl Alcohol, Iodopropynyle Butylcarbamate, Sodium Hydroxymethlyglycinate and so on.
Why can’t they just use normal, real ingredients?!
It drives me nuts that they go through all the work to produce a product that is full of weird stuff and ends up not being safe for our babies’ sweet little bums. According to the Cosmetics Database many of these ingredients have been linked to cancer, immunotoxicity, allergies, developmental problems, reproductive toxicity, organ dysfunction, endocrine disruption and cellular changes… Huh?!
Not touching another one of those wipes on my babies ever again!
With all my babies, at home, I used cloth wipes and would simply get the cloth wet with warm water to clean them up, but sometimes felt that I needed a little more cleaning power when dealing with the stinky stuff.
Plus, when we are traveling, I often ditch the cloth wipes and use disposable. After reading the ingredients and knowing what I know now… Won’t be doing that anymore!
This pushed me to look for safer & healthier alternatives. There are natural disposable wipes you can buy, but they are pricey and I wanted to be able to keep using my cloth wipes or at least make my own disposable wipes.
On A Mission
I came across several recipes for homemade wipes on google, but most all of them called for baby oil (really mineral oil, a by-product of gasoline), baby soap and baby lotion… not exactly what I had in mind.
Then I remember the solution I mixed together for my Soothing Postpartum Pads… {ding!} The light bulb went on.
I set out to make my own baby wipe solution using the recipe from my postpartum pads as a guide. After some tweaking I was able to come up with this great solution that leaves my sweet little babe’s bum soft, clean and smelling superb without any irritation!
Not only do I use this to clean up my baby’s bum, I have also found it to be great for cleaning my kids’ dirty hands & faces… which leaves them (and mine too!) feeling fresh & clean. I find that it works and smells so much better than the organic hand sanitizer we often use when traveling.
The Ingredients
I like to purchase all the ingredients from Mountain Rose Herbs. All their products are high quality and the prices are reasonable. I have been very happy with everything I’ve bought from them so far. Plus, when I buy these ingredients in bulk… I save a nice chunk of money!
Water: It is important that you use boiled, filtered water or distilled water to help the wipes from getting too musty smelling.
Aloe Vera Juice/Gel: Best known for its natural healing of skin, wounds and other skin issues. Leaves your baby’s skin feeling soothed and fresh. Best to use aloe vera juice or gel with no preservatives.
Witch Hazel: A natural astringent and helps heal & prevent painful diaper rashes. I found that Mountain Rose Herbs’ witch hazel is better than the ones at your local store because the alcohol level is lower.
Castile Soap: Gives you a little more cleaning power to clean up the stinky messes. Don’t worry, it won’t dry your baby’s skin.
Essential Oils: These oils will leave your baby’s skin smelling clean and kill any lingering fungus or bacteria that can cause painful diaper rashes. I like to use a mixture of chamomile, rosemary and tea tree (you can use lavender instead of rosemary or calendula instead of chamomile, if you prefer). This mixture of oils are gentle on the skin and have wonderful healing properties.
NOTE: A reader of mine contacted me with a concern about using rosemary on children under 10. I googled around and agreed with her concern. Personally, I have not seen any problems when I used these wipes on my babies. Most likely because they are not inhaling the vapors (main concern) and it is a very small amount with the solution being watered down. If you are still concern, then please replace the rosemary with lavender (listed in the recipe below) or skip it completely.
I like to store my wipes in the tall plastic container, as you can see from the pictures. It works great and I can fit all my wipes!
But if you have an old Huggies wipe case, you can use that instead. Here’s a great video tutorial on how to fold your wipes for that nice “pop-up” effect:
- I know exactly what is in my wipes… no weird, yucky ingredients!
- Once they are washed and dried, they are ready for you to use them when you are running low on wipes. No need to worry about running to the store to get paper towels if you forgot to buy some when you went grocery shopping.
- Cloth wipes last for years and so frugal.
- Less trees are getting cut down for disposable wipes & paper towels (I’m not a tree-hugger fanatic, just considerate).
- They hold moisture well and you only need to use one wipe to get the job done. Sometimes I even use one wipe for 2 or 3 diaper changes!
- Great for cleaning dirty hands and faces. Doesn’t leave them feeling greasy or smelling stinky.
Traveling with Wipes
If you are traveling and don’t want to use reusable wipes. You can use heavy-duty paper towels. I’ve seen some mamas cut the rolls in half, soak the whole thing in baby wipe solution and store in a plastic container or baggie.
I, on the other hand, like to tear each sheet out, cut them in half, fold them inside a plastic baggie and soak them with the homemade solution. A little more work, but works great for me!
But I do sometimes travel with my reusable wipes and carry along a plastic washable bag that I can store the dirty wipes in. I’ve found that I can carry about 5-8 wipes in a hard, thin plastic Huggies wipe case and they work wonderfully… especially if I fold them to get the “pop-up” effect.
Now, let’s get to work making these wipes!
2 cups filtered water, boiled or distilled
2 Tbsp aloe vera juice/gel
2 Tbsp witch hazel
2 tsp castile soap
6 drops chamomile or calendula essential oil
4 drops lavender or rosemary essential oil
4 drops tea tree essential oil
about 40 cloth wipes or a roll of paper towel cut in half
Mix everything together in a medium bowl. Put half of the cloth wipes on a large bowl. Pour half the mixture over the wipes. Using your hands, squeeze and stir the wipes until all the liquid is absorbed.
Put the rest of the cloth wipes in the large bowl, stir the wipes solution to distribute the oils and pour evenly over the wipes. Again, using your hands, squeeze and stir the wipes until all are evenly damp.
Take your container, fold (regular or pop-up technique) the cloth wipes and set it next to the diapers. If you are using a container like mine, do not seal the lid tight… it will cause the wipes to get musty fast. Best to let a little air get in to keep things fresh.
There you go! Enjoy using them on your sweet baby’s bum!
What you do think? Have you made homemade wipes? What essential oils do you like to use?
Especially when it comes to the safety of the little ones, your reasons for using homemade baby wipes are really justifiable. Thank you for sharing the natural ingredients and methods of DIY baby wipes.
love this! i too was tired of finding all the homemade versions online to be just as bad as the store bought versions. thanks for posting this baby-safe recipe 🙂 i plan to make them asap!
Thanks for the recipe! I was wondering what you do with the dirty wipes? I don’t really want to be doing laundry everyday…. I would like to try this with paper towel for traveling, would I follow the same directions, but replace the facecloth’s with paper towel?
Thanks for your help!
Hello Liz!
I just wash them when I wash the diapers, but you could also wash them with towels too. Yes, do everything the same way but replace it with paper towels. I am doing that right now with our travels too! I like the kind that come in half sizes and I simply fold it in half and stuff a stack into a plastic bag and pour the mixture in the bag. Works wonderfully!
Dear Marilyn,
I love these wipes!! It took me forever to find a recipe that was actually made with simple and effective ingredients. I had two questions for you: 1. How do you store your used wipes in the nursery and 2. Do you have an all natural recipe for baby shampoo/baby wash, I’m having a hard time finding one of those as well.
Thanks!!!
Ps love your blog
Hello Cassandra!
So glad you love the wipes! As you can see from the pictures, I stored them in a plastic container, but left the lid half open so that the wipes wouldn’t get musty smelling. As for baby shampoo/baby wash… I prefer to use natural herbal soaps that you can find in any health food store or online or (best) locally from another person who makes them. Just read the ingredients and find one that has the least amount of stuff using all natural, mostly edible ingredients.
Your welcome 🙂
Hi Marillyn. Instead of using the chamomile or calendula oil can i use 100% sweet almomd oil instead?
Thanks
Hi Rhi, the oils are essential oils and not the same as almond oil. I’m concern that using regular oil will make it more greasy and difficult to clean the baby’s bum.
My one question..we’ve all had major messes, tmi alert….my daughters vagina gets packed with poop and its a process to carefully get it all out. Can ne of these products burn her delicate vaginal skin or my sons for that matter? I only ask bc when I had to use witch hazel down there it almost felt hot. Thank u! Cannot wait until I can try these
Hello Lauren, for some reason the reply button is not working. So, I am writing you back this way. I hope you will be back soon!
To answer your question… no, I have had no problems with any of these products burning my daughter’s delicate vaginal skin or bottom. The witch hazel is watered down with the aloe juice and water. I don’t recommend using straight witch hazel right on her vaginal skin as it might cause irritation.
Hope you will enjoy the wipes as much as I have!!
I came across this recipe in search of an all natural feminine wash. I suffer(ed) from vaginal itching and odor in spite of my doctor running several tests and ruling out any infections. Commercial fem washes are a definite no-no for me. I surfed the web for natural remedies and found that tea tree oil has been used for many years in natural douches for its anti fungal properties and Camomile is a natural anti inflammatory. I searched and searched to no avail for a natural recipe for fem washes or cloths but wasn’t pleased with any of my findings. I stumbled across your web page finally and fell in love with this. It included everything I was looking for, plus, and is affordable to make. the only substitute I made was instead of Camomile oil, I used Camomile tea bags that I had on hand, and made a tea out of the distilled water. And I dont pre-make the clothes, I bottle my solution in a 16 ounce bottle and use as needed for (external) fem cleansing purposes. I have been using this for 2 weeks now and am in love with this. I will definitely will be keeping this on hand. This is a gentle, natural, affordable, and very effective solution to my, now non-existent, problem. no itchies or odor just feeling fresh. Thank you, thank you, thank you for sharing this. Even though your intention was for the little ones bottoms you helped an other wise clueless woman with her “big bottom” :0). This is truly a God send.
Oh my! I am so blessed to know that this has been SO helpful for you! Thank you for coming back and sharing. I love testimonies like this! Thank you!
I totally agree with anonymous above! I am a grandmother and have stopped using flushable wipes and am using your recipe with both the bottle as she suggested and flannel squares. I love it! I got the idea from a daughter who uses them as baby wipes, and then found your recipe.
Hi, I was just wondering how long does this recipe last you? Could you make a larger volume and store it in the fridge? Just trying to figure the most time efficient way to deal with wipe solutions and avoid molding issues at the same time. Thanks!
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I made these today. Thanks, Marilyn!
My pleasure Stacy! 🙂
Hi I have Thayers Witch Hazel with Aloe Vera Lavender. Can I use that and just add soap and water?
You can try, but be watchful of your baby’s bum… if it starts to show irritation or blisters. Stop using it. I’m not sure how strong the Lavender is in the bottle and some babies can’t handle any form of essential oils until they are older.
I just got all of my supplies today to make this solution! So excited! 37 weeks today!
Congratulations Rebecca! Hope you and your baby will enjoy them 🙂
I have all the ingredients besides camomile/calendula oil. How necessary is it to have one of those in the mix?
Hello Danielle!
You can skip the chamomile… it just helps soothes the skin. Same for the calendula.
Thats so awesome! Luckily I have a sink next to my changing station, so I would just wet my reusable wipes that way- but I love this idea for travel wipes!
Same here! Love using it for traveling and cleaning hands!
HUGE CONCERN…I just looked up safe essential oil use and read ROSEMARRY should not be used on children under 10 years!!
Only looked at one source. Really I don’t know much about essential oils even though I really like the idea and have used them some.. I’m just wondering if this is a legitimate concern here.
Hello Lesa, Thank you for sharing your concern. I googled around and found several sites that support your concern. Thank you for letting me know and I will update my post about this. Thankfully, I have not seen any problems with my babies… most likely because they are not inhaling it (the main concern) and its such a small amount of essential oil, watered down. Whenever I use essential oils for my kids, I always use very little and make sure it is diluted well with water or oil.
You can remove the rosemary and replace it with lavender or just use the other essential oils.
Hi there! It’s been a year since this post, but I just found it and happen to love it! I use disper cloths, so it must not be that different! I am curious, what fabric detergent do you use? Any DIY recipe or such?
Thanks in advance
Hello! I normally use soap nuts to wash our clothes. I would add washing soda with the diapers and wipes to help them wash well.
the recipe calls for chamomile, would German chamomile work the same?
Yes, Victoria, German Chamomile is good to use as well 🙂
What aloe do you use? There are so many choices!
Hello Amber!
I used aloe liquid/water. Not the gel. Get the one with only Aloe, no preservatives or fillers. There are several good brands. I do not remember the name of what I have and I am not in my home in Honduras for a few more months.
With the Thayers non-alcohol witch hazel with aloe would you still need to add more aloe?
Hello Misty! Yes, I would do that. The aloe is very soothing for the skin.
I sometimes carry dry wipes with me and just wet as needed. Would this solution work well in a spray bottle?
It would totally work to put the solution in a spray bottle. I actually started doing that later on because it was much easier!
Could I use baby soap instead of Castille soap?
My concern with baby soap is the ingredients. Castile soap doesn’t have the usual ingredients that regular soaps do.
Hi, I made these wipes and loved them! But after about 4 days I noticed they had a bad smell. By the 5th day they were very foul. I used all the ingredients listed…not sure if I did something wrong or if it’s normal for them to smell that quickly. I had a total of 36 wipes but only used about half of them before I had to wash them. Any recommendations before I try this again?
Hi Marti! That was fast for them to get stinky. Mine usually last a week before getting stinky. What kind of water did you use? Also, were the wipes brand new or have been used before for other things? I recommend making sure your wipes are new and to used distilled water. Hope that helps!
Also, you can just pour the solution into a spray bottle and spray it on your wipes to clean your baby. I’ve done that as well and liked it.
Hi there, just wondering what kind of cloth these are made of…kind of looks like microfiber? I’ve read that flannel can be used, just looking for the cloth that will be the most gentle but still have the cleaning power. Thanks!
Hi Holly, These were a mixed of 100% cotton wipes and soft baby cloth wipes. Flannel can totally be used. The cleaning power is in the solution, not necessarily the cloth. We want the cloths to be soft as not to irritate the baby’s soft bum 🙂
This is a great site to find Baby Wipes, Lots of time I searched and searched to no avail for a natural recipe for fem washes or cloths but wasn’t pleased with any of my findings. I stumbled across your web page finally and fell in love with this. found HOMEMADE NATURAL BABY CLOTH WIPES & this is fantastic.
Great! I hope you’ve been enjoying them!
I am curious to know if essential oils are the same and can be used for flavoring as well.. i have started a collection once learning all the bad ingredients and havw begun making all our home toiletries. And would like to make toothpaste but am having abhard time figuring this out everything says essential oils but nothibgs ssys as to if they are from dif types of groups i know that tjis is a non relevant queztion but i cant seem to find out
Hello Rebekah, essential oils are different from flavorings. They are pure, potent oils of plants, herbs and fruits while flavorings are simply alcohol extracts of them. Brands I use for essential oils are Plant Therapy, Young Living, NOW, DoTerra and Mountain Rose Herbs.I googled your question and found this:
“Are extracts and essential oils the same?
Because vanilla extract is made by extracting the vanilla flavor with alcohol, it is very different from an essential oil and should not be used in the same way. Vanilla extract should not be used in soap, as adding alcohol to soap can cause unpredictable and negative results.”
Hello Rebekah, essential oils are different from flavorings. They are pure, potent oils of plants, herbs and fruits while flavorings are simply alcohol extracts of them. Brands I use for essential oils are Plant Therapy, Young Living, NOW, DoTerra and Mountain Rose Herbs.I googled your question and found this:
“Are extracts and essential oils the same?
Because vanilla extract is made by extracting the vanilla flavor with alcohol, it is very different from an essential oil and should not be used in the same way. Vanilla extract should not be used in soap, as adding alcohol to soap can cause unpredictable and negative results.”
Hope this clears up your confusion!
Hello,
Currently pregnant and I’m trying to convince my husband about reusable wipes. How do you go about washing them? Do you flush the excess stool down the toilet? Do you wash them everyday? He’s worried it’s going to smell too much. Thank you!
Hi Leah! I try to wipe off the excess stool with the diaper before using the wipes. I also keep a small trash can that comes with a sealed lid to throw in the dirty wipes. I would wash them with my cloth diapers, but if you aren’t using those then you can just wash them when you get low. I normally prewash the wipes with only cold water on quick cycle, then wash in hot water with soap like normal. You can even throw in other towels because all the poop and pee will have been washed out in the prewash. Honestly, it didn’t smell any worse than having a diaper pail in the room 😉
I was just wondering if keeping the solution in a spray bottle and just wetting the wipes when needed would prevent them from getting stinky? And how long the solution would last in a bottle. Thank you!
Yes, it would actually be better to put the solution in a spray bottle and just spray on the wipes. I’ve been doing that and find that better long term. The solution should last a good while because of the anti-bacterial properties from the essential oils.
can you put this recipe into a spray bottle instead of saturating the wipes? Might make it go further?
Hello Amanda!
Yes, you can do that. I actually prefer this too!
Hi there! i have a quick question that i always catch myself thinking about with resusable.diapers and wipes what do you do with them after your little one pooped lol how do you go about cleaning the wipes and diapers!!! lol thank you 🙂
Hello Shandra, there are lots of instructions out there that explain how to wash cloth diapers and wipes. Basically, I do a pre-wash with my diapers and wipes then I wash everything in hot water and soap. Its pretty easy when they are breastfeeding. Once your baby starts solids is when it gets interesting. I would scrape out their poo into the toilet before throwing them into the washer. A lot of times the poop will come out easily, but sometimes not. Hopes this helps a little 🙂
Hello! This is a great recipe and I am going to try it for sure. One thing I would suggest is that you store this in a glass container since essential oils break down plastic and the bad ingredients in the plastic will leach out into your solution.
Thank you Allison! I agree with you regarding the plastic. I wrote this post long before anyone said not to use essential oils with plastic. Now, I know I need to make some updates on this post 🙂
Can’t wait to try this! Do you think I could store it in a glass spray bottle and spray the wipes as I go?
Yes! That’s what I do now. Much easier that way.
Hi there! I’m not due until July but I’m trying to do as much research as I can before my baby girl comes! I’m excited to try these natural wipes. My question is can I make a big batch of the solution ahead of time so I can have it ready when my cloths are washed? I’m worried with cloth diapering, making my own wipes, making baby food, etc. it will be overwhelming so I’m just looking for ways to be prepared!
I think it would work! Just keep the solution in a cool, dark area so the essential oils don’t go bad 🙂 Hope all goes smoothly with the birth of your baby girl!
Just another thankful mama! I love this recipe; I’ve been making wipes for a few weeks now, and it’s been great. I’ll admit I keep some disposable wipes on hand for being on the go, really gross messes, and lazy days when I’ve failed to make new wipes!
Awesome!! I’m so glad!!
Hello,
I can’t wait to make these! What brand of Castile soap do you use?
Dr Bronners! 🙂
Is this recipe safe for newborns? Ive been reading essential oils shouldn’t be used before 3 months but would love to start using domething like this right away. Thanks!
Hi Michelle! Yes, this recipe is completely safe. I have used it with all 5 of my kids. The essential oils I used are safe for newborn and up.
Thanks so much for this recipe. We already used cloth diapers so adding in cloth wipes seems like a natural progression. I made post birth padcicles for myself with these same ingredients and they felt wonderful, so I’m looking forward to using them on my baby girl.
Wonderful! I’ve actually found putting the liquid in a spray bottle and spraying on the wipes works best. I’ve had mold and smell issues keeping the wipes in the container. Need to update this post!