Cloth wipes

My cloth wipes just go into a dry pail along with the dirty nappies, then into the machine when the bucket gets full. At the moment I use just water to dip the wipes in, which is kept in a little mini bucket on the top of Erin's drawers. You can use a few (sparingly) drops of Tea Tree Oil in the water if you like, as it can act as a natural disinfectant, although I would still recommend changing the water once a day.

Just out of curiosity, is there a reason you bought black flannels? (That color in particular.)

I was wondering about this myself. We are going to be using cloth wipes and was wondering if we are best to just use water or some solution with tea tree oil or something similar. I do remember seeing a recipe for solution some where on the net at some stage (have no idea where anymore though)

just pinched this from the nappy network site..

Wipes Solutions

Specialty wipes solutions can be purchased, from companies such as Northern Essence Foaming Wipes Solution from: www.bumbles.co.nz.

A lot of people simply use water, or a little baby bath solution in water.

There are also recipes for making your own baby wipes solution at home, there are many available, but here are a few:

Wipes Solution Basic Recipe:
2 tablespoons baby shampoo (or baby wash)
2 tablespoons vegetable oil (not baby oil or mineral oil as it is hard to wash out)
2 cups water (distilled is best as it will last longest)

Tea Tree Oil Wipes Solution Recipe:
2 tablespoons olive oil (or 1 TBS. Calendula Oil)
2 tablespoons baby shampoo
2 cups water
2 drops Tea Tree Oil

Aloe Vera Wipes Solution Recipe:
2 cups hot water
1/4 cup Aloe Vera Gel
2 drops Tea Tree Oil


also apparently greenbeans has a recipe on their site too.

I've been using the basic wipes solution Debs posted and I dry pail my wipes afterwards with the cloth nappies.

Both my cloth wipes and water bucket sit inside a little basket, but the wipes aren't enclosed in anything special.

lol emma, no way could i do that either! but i am having to spray off icky poos off the nappies as the liners i had just wernt big enough to hold it all, and it wasnt so bad so i thought the cloths are a next step i guess. and yea, the cost of the wipes is a bit much. but there is still a place in my house for disposable wipes - what else will help with cleaning up the older girl, wiping spills of all sorts out of carpets, a little dusting, a little wiping down benchs, has been known to wet a little girls hair when particularly fluffy.....    we missed wipes when xanthe was toilet trained lol!
but i take my hat off to you girls who do the cloth pad thing. wow.

$2.90 for 6 at bed bath and beyond.

I remember using flannels at the hospital and they do such a good job of getting everything rather than a million wipes and get it all over your hands. I have a plan of having a bucket made up of napisan and just chuck them in and them straight into the washing machine. no touching.

As a nanny I had a few parents go the natural route, and I soon got to know a great recipe for maximised cleaning, without rubbing babys bottie raw to get them cleaned up.

For 4x flannels use:

3dst sp baby shampoo

4 cups water

Thats it! You can mix it up and have it sitting, or you can use an old plastic wet wipes container with the pop top lid, and layer the flannels in there, then just pour the solution on top. Then just leave by the changing area, and Walla!

(most parents just had a bucket of napisan by the change area and they were plopped straight in, then rinsed and thrown thru the wash. To dry, save room on the line by pegging to a coathanger (which holds around 4) then hang it on the line, and much easier to bring in wash too.

Hope this helps, sure worked for me, and when the time comes, we will probably be using this method. The beauty of it is that there is a minimal chance of allergic reactions on botties since it is just the same shampoo baby would have on head and body in the bath. Sensitive shampoo can easily be substituted.

Edited by bumblefoot

Just wondering if those of you who use cloth wipes use them when you are out and about? If so, do you just use water or do you take pre-dampened ones with you? If pre-dampened what do you put them in?

I started out with pre-dampened and put them in a glad bag. Water proof and easy peasy... just chucked the used ones in with the washable naps.

And then I got over being prepared and just used to take dry ones... in the event that there was no tap (which 99% of the time there was) I usually had a drink bottle with me which I just wet the wipe with.