When you’ve got a little one at home in diapers, you seem to go through an unlimited supply of baby wipes every week. I know there are some people out there that make their own baby wipes with old towels, rags or socks…and I’m sure you could use those with this solution as well. But to be honest, I don’t really want a pile of these rags laying around, covered in poop. Which is why I have not been brave enough to put Mack in cloth diapers all the time either. For potty training, I’ll happily let her run around half naked when it’s warm. And I did use cloth diapers on her for about a week last year. But I just don’t always have the needed time to constantly change wet diapers, clean up messes and wash all the laundry. Maybe if we lived in a warmer climate, Mack would be potty trained already because she wouldn’t constantly need to be wearing so many clothes.

Sawing the roll of paper towels in half (I use a large serrated bread knife) is by far the most complicated part of this process. And getting the cardboard tube out can be a little tricky. I usually just slide my index finger between the paper towels and the cardboard tube and pry the tube toward the center. Folding it a bit can also help with really well stuck rolls. But making your own homemade baby wipes is extremely inexpensive, easy and may even improve the condition of your baby’s skin. Some claim that commercial baby wipes not only contain harsh chemicals, but the material used to make the wipes can also be rough on delicate baby skin.

Mackenzie has always had very sensitive skin on her bum and would break out with horrible diaper rash if poop was in contact with her skin for any amount of time. No amount of zinc diaper creams made any difference. Now that we’ve switched to using these wipes and homemade diaper rash spray, any problems are cleared up in a day or so…instead of a week!

Homemade Baby Wipes

• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon baby oil
• 1-2 tablespoons baby soap or shampoo
• Roll of paper towels, cut in half with a serrated knife, cardboard roll removed
• Old baby wipe box or other plastic box with lid

Combine water, oil and soap in the bottom of the baby wipes container and stir well until everything is combined. Lay the half-roll of paper towels (without the cardboard) in the box briefly, with one of the outer sides down (not the edges of the towels). Once it’s well saturated (maybe 30 seconds), flip the roll over and saturate the other side. Let the roll sit for about 30 minutes so that the entire roll gets saturated and all the moisture has been absorbed into your homemade wipes.

Now they’re ready for use! Pull the towels from the inside of the roll for best results. This may require you to set the roll upright every once in a while to find the loose end again