Thursday, August 28, 2008

Save some Moo-lah on baby wipes


You've hard of a 5 alarm fire? Well in our house we reach about the same emergency level with what is known as the "6 wipe diaper!" I usually try to be "frugal" with wipe use, but still be thorough. However there are just some times when you have to keep pulling those wipes out till the job is done. All that wiping can make a dent in your wallet, BUT you can save on wipes using a little creativity! When I was in college I babysat for a family with 4 little munchkins, and was a little taken back when I discovered that they "made" their own diaper wipes. At the time, I had no idea that was even possible! Using some paper towels and a few simple baby ingredients that you'd already have on hand, you can actually create wipes that can cost you less AND be better for your baby's bottom. Our son developed an awful diaper rash soon after we brought him home from the hospital, and it seemed like the ingredients in regular wipes caused him more pain. We got the Viva brand of paper towels (because it's so soft) and just used plain water with them, and it worked great! I found a recipe for making your own if you're up to it. I'm sure most of us already have one of those plastic wipe dispensers around somewhere. Those are great for storing the wipes in, but if you've tossed yours then one of those ziploc storage containers works fab too! The paper towels are so large that you can cut them in half or even fourths to make it stretch even farther. Happy wiping!!
This wipe recipe came from livingonadime.com, but there were several sites that had identical recipes.
1 ½ cups water
2 Tbsp. baby bath or shampoo
1 Tbsp. baby oil
1 roll paper towels

Mix the water, baby bath and baby oil in an empty round baby wipe container. Cut the paper towels in ½ using an electric knife. Remove core from the center. Place paper towels in wipe container. Let the paper towels soak up the water solution. Turn every few minutes to allow the solution to reach the middle of the paper towels. If there is still a dry spot in the middle, add a little more water and turn until soaked through. Pull the wipes from the middle of the roll through the top of the wipe container.

2 comments:

Wendy said...

Not a bad idea!

Matt and Emily Sealy said...

I have a friend who did this, but I have nt tried it myself. She really seemed to love it!