I've been meaning to do this post for a while now. A couple of months ago, I got sick of buying wipes. I loved the Target brand wipes for both their price, and their quality, but the drive to Target was just too much to justify, just for a box of wipes. Especially since I never seemed to leave with just a box of wipes... So anyway, with a little internet searching, and some help from my friend Heather, over at Want What You Have, I came up with this super-easy solution. I'll be honest, ever since we received a box of Kirkland brand wipes for Christmas, I've felt spoiled, and might be a little bit sad to go back, but the cost savings alone is enough to justify it for me. Hopefully this will help out some of you, too.
So here are your basic ingredients:
You need:
2 Tbsp. Baby Soap,
2 Tbsp. Baby Oil,
2 1/2 Cups Hot Water,
and a roll of Bounty Paper Towels (the really nice, thick, expensive kind. Don't worry, they're still cheaper than a pack of nice wipes, especially since you get two packs of wipes per roll of paper towels).
You'll also need a container that can hold your half-roll of paper towels--mine is actually an old brown sugar container from a set of canisters we got at BB&B for $10.00, and it does the job perfectly. You can use old wipes boxes, too, but you have to fold the wipes up the right way yourself, which is a big turn-off for me.
If your baby has a little bit more sensitive skin, as mine does, you may wish to switch to Coconut Oil (which seems to be in a solid state, actually), and I also switched to the Oatmeal baby soap, which is supposed to be gentler.
The first step is to cut your paper towels in half. This is the hardest part. I usually use my little hand saw, or a serrated knife. Choose a half to use for this set of wipes, and save the other one for next time. Then, after you've decided on your ingredients, pour your hot water into a bowl (I just do it all in my measuring cup, for ease), and then you add your oil. If you're using baby oil, you can just continue at this point. If you're using coconut oil, you need to wait for it to melt, like I'm doing here.
Once the oil is pretty much melted, you can add your soap,
and then thoroughly stir it all together. I think the oatmeal soap is bubblier, for some reason.
At this point, you put your paper towels into your container, and then pour the mixture over it. Most of it should go into the center, but make sure to pour some on the top, and down the sides as well. I usually only use about 1 1/2-2 cups of the mixture (but make the whole thing so I get the right soap/oil/water ratio).
Now put your lid on, and flip the container upside down. Leave for 5 minutes and check your email, or my blog or something. :)
When you come back, you should find the paper towel center very easy to pull out, and when you take it out, it should start the wipes coming up for you!
When you come back, you should find the paper towel center very easy to pull out, and when you take it out, it should start the wipes coming up for you!
Just continue to pull the wipes up from the center, and enjoy the cheap goodness of having done it yourself!
P.S. Sorry about the sideways pulling-up pic--I can't seem to get it to flip, and I don't really care to figure out why right now. Off to bed for me.
