You may not be a mom, but I hope you keep reading, these also make GREAT homemade make-up remover wipes! Also, I’m willing to bet that you might be a grandma, aunt, Godmother, or have a friend with kids – pass it on!
Since my daughter has been small, we have been making our own baby wipes. Simply put, I. Love. It. Although wipes aren’t thaaat expensive, making the wipes myself saves me a trip to the store, I have all the stuff on hand anyways, and plus I know what’s going onto my daughter’s skin.
Even if you get the sensitive skin or all-natural wipes, some of the ingredients in the wipes aren’t the best (think harsh chemicals and drying agents). I know and can pronounce the ingredients in my wipes. I can count on one hand the number of rashes we’ve had – I’d like to think the wipes helped with that!
Now that a year has almost passed, we’ve made them with different ingredients, mixtures, and brands. Throughout the tutorial, I’ll explain which ones worked for us as well as tricks we’ve learned along the way!
Here’s what you’ll need:
2 containers
1 roll of select-a-size paper towels (Bounty works best)
4 cups water
squirt or two of organic baby wash of your choice (we use Shakleebaby Gentle Wash)
generous spoonful of coconut oil (found in a health foods or vitamin store)
First, you need a container, here are the ones I use:
Both are Rubbermaid containers, they don’t make the one on the left anymore (find them at garage sales!) but the on the right can be found at K-Mart, Target, Wal-mart for around $4.99. Both work great, but I love that the one on the right has four tabs that you lift to open it, making it easy to do with one hand. It’s the Rubbermaid Lock-its line and this is the 7 cup container.
-Make sure your kitchen or other working area is clean before you start, you don’t want crumbs in your wipes! Get your paper towel roll ready.
We tried using other brands, but nothing works as well as the Bounty Select-a-Size. You won’t waste as much since your wipes are smaller and they won’t rip and roll up like cheaper brands. They are a bit more, but if you’re good and use them only for wipe making, it’ll end up costing you about $0.75 a container – still cheaper than buying wipes!
-Take a clean, large, sharp, non-serrated knife and cut your paper towel roll in half. If you use a serrated knife, you’ll end up with little fuzzies in your wipes (trust me, I have!). Brush off any little pieces of fuzz that are left on or loose.
-Set aside while you make your wipes solution.
-For your solution, you’ll need 2 cups of water per container, or 4 cups total. I like to use the biggest measuring cup I have (8 cups) so it allows for some room and splashing while I stir.
-Add a tablespoon or two of coconut oil. Coconut oil has a melting point of 76 degrees, meaning that it is solid and white at anything less than that (looks like shortening). To warm it up, take the amount you’re using, put it in a saucepan with a bit of your water and heat it just warm enough to melt (76 degrees, so it won’t take long). Once melted, pour the mixture into your water and stir.
If your house or area is really hot (like our old apartment or my mom’s house), more than likely your coconut oil will always stay melted in the container without needing to heat it.
Why coconut oil?
It’s naturally anti-bacterial, microbial, and fungal, the perfect moisturizer your skin, plus it smells great.
This is all that we use in place of lotion and it is amazing. Find it at Whole Foods, Vitamin Shoppe or any other health store, these are two of the brands I’ve seen there. It’s about $10 for that small container, but it will last you a long time (we also use it as a cooking oil and have had this container since before Christmas).
-Add in about a squirt or two of organic baby wash. It may not seem like enough, but keep in mind you are not rinsing them like after a bath and you may have a bit of soapy residue left if you use more. Stir gently.
I strongly recommend using an organic, sensitive, baby soap. We use Shakleebaby – the other washes are tough your little one’s skin and have chemicals you may not want lingering on their little butt!
You use less of the good stuff, so although it may be more than the jug of J&J, it will last you much longer.
-Pour your mixture evenly into the containers, about 2 cups per container.
-Place the paper towel rolls cut/fuzzy side down into the container and solution. Your containers might be bigger than mine, but if not, don’t freak out if they look like the containers are too small. I promise you – they’re not. ;)
-Smoosh your paper towel down with the lid and make sure it seals shut. See – I told you they’re not too small! Turn your containers upside down, stack them if you like, and walk away for no less than 5 minutes.
-Come back, open up (see, they stayed smooshed!), and take out the inside paper towel roll. Don’t try to do this earlier on while it’s dry (I did) it doesn’t work and just makes a big mess…
-Take out the start of the roll in the center, pop it up for easy grabbing, and close the lid. You’re done!
Tips:
-When traveling, grab a few and stick them into a ziploc baggie – instant travel wipes!
-Two containers will last me between one and two weeks.
-Don’t make them way ahead of time and keep out of direct sunlight. I’ve heard other people online complain of issues of mold on the bottom after a while. We haven’t had this problem, but I only make two at a time.
-Once you buy the oil and containers, you use so little that you’re only spending $1.50 for two containers! Store bought wipes are anywhere from $1.50 to $5 each and the wipes are larger so you go through them faster.
-Experiment with a mixture that works for you… adding essential oils, omitting baby wash, using just water. We’ve switched it up but one thing stayed the same – 4 cups of water is best.
Other Uses:
-Make some wipes, gather the ingredients, and give the kit as a baby shower gift! I’ve even done the hard work for you… click for a free pdf printable you print on some cute paper and can give them!
-With the coconut oil, they make GREAT moisturizing wipes or make-up remover wipes! I’ve even used them when I was stranded without my lip balm and it worked. If you don’t have baby wash, leave it out or substitute a squeeze of your favorite face wash.
-This process could easily be used to make *cleaning wipes*! I use Basic H, a diluted organic cleaner, so it’s just as simple as getting four cups of water and adding a few drops of the concentrated solution.
Any other questions or comments about the wipes, feel free to ask! Please let me know if you try them, I’d love to hear your experience and what worked for you. Like I said, we’ve been using them for over a year and Doug used them while still living at home with his parents, so we have some experience!
Don’t forget to get a free printable copy, great to keep on hand or pass to friends!
Great Post!!!! I love how you make you own, so smart and healthy!Bonnie
I love this. I don't have children yet but I am going to use this just to have so good wipes around the house! Thanks for the great post.~Elisabeth
Thanks so much! Hopefully now all the pictures are working, ahhh!
I've been looking for one of these-while we don't have kids, I told my Hubby I'd make him some to take to the range. Excellent! Thanks so much!
I love this! I will have to try it! :)
Great idea!
I'm not positive how well this would work with paper towel ones, but for our cloth wipes I just use water, pure aloe, and a couple drops of tea tree oil!
Love the wipes recipe!! I tried them when Bamm-Bamm was small, but I REALLY like the idea of using coconut oil! This has motivated me to try homemade wipes again with the next little man!- Christin
Love this! I saw homemade baby wipes somewhere else and I def. want to do it when I have kids. So simple and sweet for their bottoms! Has your daughter ever had a diaper rash with these? The other one I read said she had never had one before! Congrats on 100 followers!
Great idea, I make homemade deodorant and use coconut oil for lotion also, I just knew you were a girl after my own heart. I hope you have a great week.Cha Cha
Very cool idea :)
Thanks for sharing this step by step tutorial and with pictures! I also appreciate the tips on where to find the Coconut oil. I'm definately going to try this!
Anne Marie- Thanks for stopping by my blog- this is an awesome tutorial! I was kinda skeptical and thought it would be complicated but it looks seriously cool. I am going to have to try it out and maybe pass them along to my SIL and her girlies. You are so talented! I'm excited to follow you and see what else you come up with :)
Great idea – I wish I had seen it when my kiddos were littler!!! Please come plant your creative seeds at my blog party on Fridays: Plant a Punkin Seed at Punkin Seed Productions!KristiPunkin Seed Productions
I used these for my munchkin constantly. We would use Dr. Bronners Lavender soap and it would make such a great smell…relaxing and cleansing too. Tea tree oil is a great addition for diaper rash. Thanks for spreading the word….it's good to steer people away from those mainstream wipes, Yuck!!!!
I love this!!! I really need to try this out, with two kids in diapers we go through a LOT of wipes!
thanks for the post, I didn't even know you could make disposable baby wipes, I'm going to have to try this!
So glad someone posted homemade baby wipes! We used them with all 3 of our babies (our children are 6 to 9 now), and I actually kept making them until only a couple of years ago because they came in so handy with messes around the house or in the car. One way to alleviate the chance of souring or "mold", as well as keep them smelling fresh, is to add a half teaspoon of baking soda per container to the mix. I totally agree with you regarding Bounty paper towels – they are the best. One more idea…I found an electric knife at a yard sale, and it revolutionized our whole wipe-making adventure; no more "sawing" :)
love these…we have been making our own since our little monkey was a baby and he's two now…i find they work better than the store bought ones..we just use an old (clean) ice cream container and use 1 cup of boiling water..1 tbsp baby oil..1 tbsp baby body wash…and 1 tbsp of baby lotion…love them!…and they last so long!!
What a great idea! I believe I'm going to need to find some Rubbermaid containers and get started!
What a GREAT idea! I have two grandsons in diapers and we never seem to have enough wipes on hand. Plus, my older grandson has very sensitive skin and I'm betting this will be so much better for him. Thanks for sharing!
Mama Christina and MessyMissy – I've been wanting to try tea tree oil for a while, thanks for suggesting it, glad to hear it worked!Natalie – The only time we've had rashes was after we had started solid foods, she went straight to table food pretty much. Even then, we've only had a few and they've cleared up quickly!Thanks everyone, I'm glad to hear you liked it!
Booking this! What a great great great idea!!!
Instead of using wipes you have to throw away I highly recommend using cloth wipes. They save tons of $$ and you can use your same recipe as a solution. Just a thought :)
Thanks for sharing! I am all about making my own stuff these days and going organic so I will have to give this a try!
I tried making my own baby wipes when my kids were small and it didn't work out. I wish I had seen your tutorial then! I'm going to try this for cleaning wipes.
Organic cotton clothing does not contain any toxic chemicals and so they are 100% safe for your body.Organic Products
Hey, I found your site through Bonnies!I second the homemade wipes – they are SUPER easy to make and if you use cloth diapers they are so much easier because you don't have to separate the wipe from the diaper before throwing them in the diaper pail. They wash up perfectly! I actually put my solution in a squirt bottle and spray the wipe or baby bottom – I have a whole page on cloth diaper-know-how linked on my site:http://www.afarmhousefull.com/clothdiaperinfo.htmYour house is adorable and I LOVE the name of the blog!
I'm a little behind the times, but just found your blog, and LOVE LOVE LOVE this post!!! Even though my babies are big boys now (3 & 5), I still use baby wipes for everything and just ran out. I was thinking I did NOT want to go buy another huge case at Costco. I am totally going to do this!! Woo-Hoo!! Thanks for just saving me $20!
I have an aunt who did this. What a great idea! I just might have to do this when we run out of all those free pampers ones we got this summer using the $2 off 70ct of higher coupon. :)Blessings!
I'm going to feature this post on my blog on Thursday if it's still okay with you, I use this all the time!
Hi, thanks for sharing this great tips.I share this post on my blog.
Very nice post! I shared it on my coupon blog as I don't think I've seen an Organic tutorial for this. Thanks! Love that table cloth in first pic, gorgeous. :)
We have been making our baby wipes for almost 3 years now! My first had such a bad reaction to every wipe out there, that I started making my own, slightly different from your recipe but pretty much the same. water, avveno unscented baby wash and jojobah oil (as an esthetician I get a great price on that oil, and it's closest to the oil your skin naturally produces. I may have to try coconut oil as well) And we use Viva brand paper towels, they're from kleenex and are SO soft, especially for your new baby skin. :) thanks for sharing!
These look great! I have found that using distilled water can prevent mold problems. (My daughter even uses distilled water in her fish bowl to prevent the slime build up. Bowl stays clean and the fish live long!)
http://www.bigredkitchen.com/search?updated-max=2011-06-07T06%3A00%3A00-04%3A00&max-results=3have you tried this way!
Awesome! I used to make my own baby wipes about 6 years ago, but bought some organic cotton ones to use and reuse [from a WAHM on Ebay]. This makes me want to make 'em again!
Do you have to heat up the coconut oil every time or does it stay melted after you mix it with the water?
Made baby wipes when my daughter was little, but never thought to use them as makeup wipes. Thanks for the great idea! Also I did have a problem with mold and a couple of drops of tea tree oil solved that.
I am allergic to coconut. Do you know if there something I can use instead of the coconut oil?
I found this a few months ago when my little girl was having awful diaper rashes. The wipes helped the rash to heal and we haven't had a major one since! I've tried a couple of paper towel brands and bounty is definitely my favorite. I also accidentally added Olive oil with the coconut oil (pregnancy brain…) and it turned out really nice! I put a few drops of tea tree and lemon essential oil and we are set to go for the month :)!Thanks for letting me know about it!
Mine molded after only one week :(
Made them, used them, LOVED them, blogged about them this morning – http://handmadeandheavenly.blogspot.com/2011/10/saturday-version-of-frugal-friday.htmlI may go a little lighter on the coconut oil, since it's a tad to heavy to go on the face…might try a mix of coconut, vitamin E, organic aloe gel, and grapeseed oil next time, but I'm really pleased with how well they worked AND the cost savings. Thanks for the handy tutorial, I linked to you in my post so others can see how you did this.?hugs?
This is the MOST amazing thing I have ever seen! NOT! I do not have time to make my own baby wipes, I charge people 145.00 and hour for my services and this looks like it would take about 1.5 hours to complete. That means these wipes are costing me about 215.00 or so… not to mention having to explain to my significant other why I have wasted my afternoon cutting up our paper towels!!! w.o.t.
Do you feel better now that you have tooted your own horn?
Brooke, you’re awesome. Thank you :)
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love this idea..going to try it..Anonymous..that was so uncalled for..bragging like that..wow
I think these wipes are the FASTEST to make! I can make them faster then I can get in the car and drive to the store to buy them! :) Ever since I read your post last year I have been making my own and its so simple to do! :)
took me less than 10 min to make 4 batches… miss "anonymous" who is clearly overpaid! :)
lol, love it. :) Thanks, Kayla!
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I found some coconut oil in the baking section next to olive oils, veg oils, etc. Does anyone know if using coconut oil intended for cooking instead of virgin coconut oil would make any difference? Has anyone already tried this?
Yep, that would work! Some of the coconut oils found in the cooking section may be “expeller pressed,” which means that they are processed a bit more so that the coconut flavor and odor is removed and all of your food won’t be coconut-y.
We don’t use the expeller pressed anymore since we don’t mind the taste when cooking, but it’s perfectly fine to use in the Baby Wipes. Great question, thanks for your comment! :)
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Something to add to your arsenal: A spray bottle. When I cloth diapered, I used this wipe solution with bounty paper towels. I then moved to cloth wipes with the solution. But I digress :) I filled a spray bottle with the cleansing solution and sprayed the wipe or just the poopy bottom for added help with clean up. You can even keep the spray bottle in one of those bottle warming contraptions (I didn't) but I know some who did and it made the spray warm.
Thanks for the tutorial! I just bought the ingredients and tried it for the first time. I just ripped the paper towel and folded them into a smaller container, because I wasn't sure how much I'd like it and I didn't want to waste my paper towel (because its very $$$$). I don't have any kids, but I figured I'd try them out as make up remover wipes. I am in my 20's and still break out like a teenager. I've exhausted all other options, so I hope this helps!
Okay, so I woke up this morning, and the size of my acne has reduced!! In one day! I'm so excited, I will be making a large batch of this soon!
yay!! That’s awesome! I also recommend just using straight coconut oil applied to your face as a moisturizer. I used to break out like crazy and haven’t been since doing this.
I just found this tip and it's BRILLIANT!! I have horrible skin and have been using coconut oil as body moisturizer for a long time now but this is a PERFECT solution for how to most efficiently dispense/disperse it. :D Thank you bazillions!
Just saw this and immediately had to make them!! I don't have any children, but I love love using make-up remover wipes because I never feel like washing my face before bed. I just switched the baby wash for a squirt of my own sensitive skin face wash and kept the coconut oil the same. They feel amazing! This is going to save me so much money and no harsh chemicals! Thank you! :)
yay! So glad you love them :)
This is pretty awesome because most baby wipes cost a lot these days and there aren't much options to choose from.
Hey Ann Marie – just curious – have you heard anything about the bounty paper towels being coated in pig fat? My cousin mentioned it to me, so of course I went to the most reliable research database (Google) and couldn't find anything about it…but even so, I would think that at least pig fat is natural and still far better than using store bought wipes…what do you think??Kayla
Interesting – I’ve never hear of that! We do use bacon grease in our cooking, so if it is true, I guess it doesn’t bug me too much. ;)
Are these flushable?
My girls are early adult and teen now. Oh well, I’m thinking makeup removal now, Lord knows they wear enough of that, lol. And since I don’t wear makeup at all, I’m thinking one for cleaning wipes. Thanks a whole bunch for this tip and the .pdf download. Also, thanks to others who also gave their tips concerning their experiences. I will share with my girlfriends too. Hope you have a blessed year.
I used to make these almost 20 years ago for my (then) little ones. We used baby oil instead of coconut oil. Just an FYI: slicing through these will ruin your knife, so get one just for doing this instead of using your best kitchen knife. You can also use an electric knife, but you will get fuzzies that have to be cleaned up.
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I like this idea, but am looking to make flushable wipes, any suggestions?
I love the use of coconut oil here and not mineral oil (baby oil) as it is not very good for your skin. It smells so yum too! If you like coconut that is. Thanks for an alternative. I just made a batch of make-up cleansing cloths following your method. I might even get some washable cloths and soak those for less waste? hmm… we shall see.
sooo just had to make this after just buying coconut oil…i have two brands of facial cloth/makeup remover that just burns my face…i can definitely see why a certain brand works I just used sparkle (i think) and it wanted to fall apart on me lol…i think next time that i make it i will divide the recipe (i put in 2 tbl of coconut oil with water with a touch of tea tree oil) because the one i poured the 2 cups of the mixture first got most of the oil…regardless of my stirring..
This is genius, Ann Marie!! Seriously.. I love this idea. I don’t have “babies” anymore, but lots of big, messy kids.. so this would be great for on the go cleanups!!
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I made some this weekend and so far so good. I featured your recipe on my blog and even made a cute label for it at detailorienteddiva.blogspot.com if you want to check it out.
Thanks so much, Natalie! I’m honored :)
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I can’t wait to try this! My 3 yr old little girl has ecsema really bad on her bum bum and also at times on her face around her mouth and her dermatoligist said for us not to use wet wipes anywhere at all on her skin… and always wetting a washcloth or papertowel can be very inconvienent at times so this may be just what we need!
I’m sure it’d work great! I’ve also heard that straight coconut oil works really well on eczema, maybe try doing that? Let me know how they work out! :)
I found this on Pinterest and let me just say I’m in love!! I’m trying to go all homemade/natural with this baby (it will be my 3rd) and your baby wipes looks to be the closest to the wipes I love. (Parents Choice Sensitive!)
Love that you chose coconut oil! Can’t wait to try this! Thank you!!
awesome! and let me just say that after using them, you’ll still be in love :)
Have a great day!
I have been making wipes for 4 yrs now and different changes and different brands paper towels. I now use baby wash cloths as wipes with cloth diapers too. But I ALWAYS use TEA TREE OIL. We had mold issues before we used Tea tree oil. Your coconut oil prob has same or similiar properties but I love the smell of TToil and how well it cleans. Thanks for posting, more people need to make wipes. It is so easy. Oh, I also boil my water first then add ingredients.
How many drops of tea tree oil do you use? Looking forward to trying this out. I wonder if the Charmin Extra Strong toilet paper would hold it’s shape? I’m thinking it would be softer than paper towel.
I would guess 1 to 2 drops of tea tree oil, but no more than that. We’ve never added tea tree oil to the wipes, I guess just never needed to.
I don’t think the toilet paper would work, as toilet paper is made to break down quickly. I’ve used lesser brand paper towels and they kinda fell apart and were really mushy and sloppy – I’d imagine that’s how it would be with toilet paper. You’d be surprised at how soft the Bounty paper towels are, they feel just like regular baby wipes!
If you do decide to try the toilet paper, let me know if it works or not! Thanks! :)
Thanks so much for commenting and sharing your insight! I couldn’t agree more – people need to make baby wipes. It’s SO easy! :)
I found this on Pinterest. I immediately made them as I had coconut oil and baby wash here at the house already. I have now made 3 batches — everyone of them has gotten little “mold” spots on them. WHAT THE HECK!! Please help because I a all about saving money and making my own stuff, but it is getting expensive when I have to throw them out. Thanks :)
Kandy – I’ve never experienced an issue with mold, but previous commenters have and offered the following solutions. 1.) Use distilled water. We used store bought water at first, but later filtered water once we installed a whole house filter. I think this is why we’ve never run into the mold issue. 2.) Add a few drops of tea tree oil. I would add maybe 1 or 2 but no more, as too much might be kinda tingly for the baby down there.
If your spots are more reddish in color, it may be a result of the pigment from the paper towel roll. I have had this happen before if I left it in too long or forgot about it. In this case, the wipes are still safe to use.
Good luck, let me know if you have any more questions or if this helped!
I just found your site via Pinterest and whipped up some of these wipes tonight…amazing! So fast and easy to make and SO much better for the babies than store bought wipes. Thanks so much for sharing.
Thanks for coming back to let me know! :) We’ve been using them for almost three years now and I will never go back to store bought. I’m glad you like them!
This is great! I’m going to try and make my own face cleansing wipes because I’m always too lazy at the end of the day to wash my face.
ha! I know that feeling… ;)
I am sharing a link to your site on my deals page! I love this and your tutorial is easy to follow!
What an awesome idea. We go through wipes like crazy at my house. I even use them on my counters for a quick, clean smell. You’re never too old for a baby wipe. Thanks…
I’m dying to try this as an eye makeup remover option, but does anybody know a good soap item to put in there (so it doesn’t get in your eyes and burn?) :)
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Since posting this, I’ve used straight coconut oil (no soap) and it works great! You might want to add a little more than in the recipe for the baby wipes. It’s very gentle and leaves your face soft. Hope this helps! :)
I just made these today for the first time (I did the face-wash version), and I’m excited to use them. My only caution is not to “cheap out” on the container. I bought the Walmart brand (Mainstay) containers, and when I flipped it over it started to leak. Luckily I was working over the sink. Now I’m worried that my wipes will dry out, since I know the seal isn’t air tight. I have a feeling I’ll be making these again, but I’ll be buying a better container first.
Oooh, great tip! Thanks for coming back to share your input! Sometimes my the Rubbermaid ones will leak because they’re so old, but I haven’t had an issue with the wipes drying out, so hopefully you won’t with this batch. If you’re looking for another one, I really recommend the red snapping ones shown in the post. After more than two years, I haven’t had one leak or break. Hope that helps.
I’m planning on writing a post with “Frequently Asked Questions” about the wipes and I will be sure to add this tip in there. Thanks so much!
I use sensitive skin, no fragrance baby wipes to remove make up and/or clean my face (cheaper and gentler on my face than the regular make up removing pads). But I love this idea of making them homemade. I also have all the ingredients so will make the wipes this week. Thanks for sharing!
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