First, if you haven't already, I encourage you to check out my cloth diapering journey. This post is especially helpful for those of you looking to start cloth diapering. Other posts that here helpful in my research process include:
- Sherry and John's post about cloth diapering Clara
- All of Rachel's incredible advice at Intentionally Simple
- Heather's review of cloth diapers
- Diana's cloth diapering experiences
We have been cloth diapering for about 4.5 months but just recently took the plunge to cloth wipes. I did a bit of research and found a few blogs especially helpful. It was this post by Intentionally Simple that made me finally bite the bullet and make some cloth wipes. We had a whole bin of receiving blankets, including two flannel ones we got at the hospital, that I knew we'd never use. I followed Rachel's advice and got to cutting.
After stitching, I grabbed a jar and got to mixing some wipe solution. I followed a simple recipe that I found online. (Thanks, Pinterest!)
Cloth Wipe Solution
1/2 cup baby oil
1/2 cup of baby wash (we used Johnson and Johnson)
2 cups of water
Mix everything together in a spray bottle. Spray on wipes before use. You can also pour this solution over cloth wipes and store in an old wipe container or other air-tight container.
We store our cloth wipes in the top drawer just under the changing table pad and the spray bottle on the dresser for easy access. A few sprays and we're good to go! Some of the wipes are large and 2-ply while others are smaller and 1-ply. This gives us options depending on how crazy the diaper is.
So far we haven't had any issues, but I anticipate putting up another small wet bag exclusively for wipes so we don't contaminate the diapers with the wipe solution and potentially cause them to lose absorbency.
Do you use cloth wipes? What's your experience?
Yay! I'm looking forward to this week, because this is still one of those "I want to do this but I'm totally intimidated" things. So I'm listening. :) I do have a question for you: it sounds like you didn't start with cloth diapers immediately (and we're thinking we might not initially, either). When did you decide to start and why/how did you know to switch over?
ReplyDeleteThanks! :)
Thanks for the comment, Suzy! We'd planned to use cloth diapers as soon as our baby was about 10 pounds. We didn't choose to use the infant diapers, but just got a bunch of the one size, which usually fits when baby is about 10 pounds. We started when Wesley was about 6 weeks old. This was past the meconium stage, ensured he was big enough for the one size diapers, and gave us time to figure things out before I went back to work.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was pregnant I knew I wanted to use cloth diapers, but for some reason I thought cloth wipes sounded too "gross". (How I laugh at that now!) Since I received a giant Costco box of Huggies wipes at a baby shower, I happily used those while cloth diapering at first. It didn't take long for me to realize two things: (1) It was a hassle to throw the diaper in one pail but the wipe into the trash can. It's just a natural tendency to want to fold the used wipe inside the diaper and toss them in the pail together. (2) Throwaway wipes are flimsy. You have to use so many!
ReplyDeleteSo after I used up all my Huggies wipes, which hardly took any time at all, I bought several different kinds of cloth wipes. By far my favorites are the kind with terry on one side and flannel on the other. I keep a stack of dry wipes on my changing table, along with a Thermos pot of hot water and a spray bottle of Kissaluvs wipe solution. It's the perfect set-up for us. I like having dry wipes because sometimes, a really big diaper "event" doesn't need a wet wipe - it's better to take a dry wipe and get as much mess off as possible at first, and then go at the leftover stuff with a moistened wipe.
Great post! I love the idea of using those flannel receiving blankets... if only I could sew :)
I'm so excited to read more about your cloth diaper adventures! We do cloth wipes, too (I bought them) and I keep them stored in a wipe warmer with the solution poured over them so I just pull them out one at a time and they are the perfect amount of moist! For a solution, at our local cloth diapering store they sell these things called "baby bits"-a small, white block with essential oils and cleaners in it that dissolve in water-and that's what I use for our solution. I'm always hesitant with baby oil because of its origins, so I've preferred this option instead, and it's worked great!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment, Courtney! I agree about the disposable wipes being more complicated than the cloth wipes. Even just over the past few weeks, we're already loving them! And we agree on the dry wipes - I normally dry wipe Wesley before I even get a wipe wet if it's a really big diaper. I just ordered a bottle of the Kissaluv concentrate to give that a try!
ReplyDeleteMara, I'm glad the wipe warmer works for y'all. I've thought about doing that as well - maybe in the winter. I hope you keep commenting this week - I definitely don't have all the answers and am excited to hear what others think.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link! :) I love our cloth wipes too, and like Courtney I was fine with cloth diapers but thought cloth wipes were gross. Then a friend (who use both) said, "The wipes aren't any worse than the diapers, you know" and it totally clicked :)
ReplyDeleteI cut up old white undershirts of my hubby's, and they work well. I keep them in an old wipes container, and I squirt a dash of Dr. Bronner's in, add some water, add the wipes, and shake it all around. Yours are much cuter than mine, though!
Diana, I thought they were gross too! But I find them totally less gross than the disposables. I love the idea of using old t-shirts. That's a great, no-sew option. And Dr. Bronner's is a good idea too. I'll have to try that. Definitely an easy option!
ReplyDelete