RECIPE FOR ECO LOVE

1 Cup of Love


1 Tbls of Creativity


A Dash of Eco-friendliness


Servings: The Whole Universe


Saturday, January 16, 2010

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN BABY WIPE SOLUTION


So along with my craze for cloth diapers, also came the craze for cloth baby wipes. Not only is it eco-friendly because you don’t have to dispose of the wipes but you know exactly what ingredients are going in it because you’re making the solution yourself!


There are several different recipes that you can make. I especially look for all organic ingredients when making the solution. My favorite has a mixture of Tea Tree oil (which helps aid with rashes and is anti-fungal/anti-bacterial) and Lavender oil (which is used not only for it’s calming effect but it’s also an antiseptic and antifungal). I also include a chamomile tea bag in mine. If your little one has a diaper rash, you can also add Calendula oil.

Some items that you’ll need in order to begin your baby wipe journey are:

1. Cloth baby wipes (which I’ve found several great stores on etsy.com - I’ve also mentioned a couple of sites in a previous post Cloth Diapering - Did You Know It Takes Approximately 500 Years For Just One Disposable Diaper to Decompose?!?”). Or you can make your own baby wipes. I, on the other hand, am not so artsy craftsy. I leave that to my amazing husband since he’s the one that knows how to sew. But to make things simple, I bought a couple dozen or so with adorable patterns. You can of course use paper towels but I feel getting cloth baby wipes is the way to go, especially if you’re wanting to be eco-friendly and have one less thing go into the landfills! Plus cloth wipes are much softer on your baby’s bum!

2. A glass jar to mix the baby wipe solution in, as well as, store any leftover solution. I’ve found that a thoroughly washed/sanitized pasta sauce jar does the job perfectly!

3. A container to store the cloth baby wipes in. The perfect container is the plastic babywipe tub. Ya know, the one that you used to store the disposable babywipes in but now are wondering what to do with it because you don’t want to add more waste into the landfill! Yep, this is the perfect storage container!

Baby Wipe Solution:

3 cups of boiling hot water

Organic Chamomile tea

4 drops of Organic Tea Tree oil

8 drops of Organic Lavender oil

2 Tbls of Organic Olive Oil

1 Tbls of Nature’s Baby Organics Shampoo & Body Wash (this can of course be any type of baby wash but I’ve found that this particular body wash is amazing and Andrik never gets any skin rashes from it)

So let’s get started with the process, shall we?

Step 1: Boil 3 cups of water


Step 2: Pour the 3 cups of boiling water into the sanitized glass jar.


Step 3: Seep the Chamomile tea bag for about 6 minutes. After 6 minutes, take the tea bag out and re-use the tea bag and make yourself a nice and relaxing cup of tea. Afterall, we’re all about recycling and reusing things, aren’t we?? :o) Then let the chamomile and hot water cool BEFORE you add the rest of the ingredients. You do NOT want the Tea Tree oil or Lavender oil “cooking” in the hot water. To cool, will usually take at least an hour or more so you want to make sure if you’re running low on your baby wipe solution, to make it in advance before you run out.


Step 4: Once it has completely cooled down, add the rest of the ingredients. I normally add the oils first and start with the Tea Tree oil, then the Lavender oil and last with the Olive oil. The reason why I do this is because when you finally add the baby wash/soap, it goes in rather smoothly because of the residue from the oils on the spoon. 

Please note: about essential oils - I have heard from several resources that the best essential oils are Young Living Essential Oils.  Although the picture is not showing this product, I hear it truly is the best (which I plan to start using from now on).





Step 5: Shake, shake, shake!! Make sure all the ingredients are mixed in well. Get your recycled disposable baby wipe tub and put your baby cloth wipes in it. Then pour the solution in. I make sure not to overflow the solution because if you have an active little one like I do, you may end up having solution everywhere! I like to add just enough to soak throughout all the wipes. And if you find the wipes a little dry a day or two later, then just add a little more from what you have leftover in the jar.


Some pointers:


1. Store the baby wipe solution in a cool, dark place.

2. You want to use the baby wipe solution within a week so it doesn’t spoil.

3. If you’re out and about and you find that not enough baby wipes fit in one to-go baby wipe container because of the bulk, just pack another to-go baby wipe container so that you have 2 fully packed containers ready to go! If you don’t have a spare to-go container, I suggest buying one because it comes in handy. These wipes are great for not only wiping their bums, but for wiping up messy hands and faces! I’ve found it great to wipe my hands with it too!

VOILA! You’ve got yourself some organic, aromatherapeutic baby wipes that your little one’s bum will appreciate! Not only are you being eco-friendly but you’re doing it with love!! ;o)

1 comment:

  1. I never got around to doing cloth wipes for my son. We didn't go through too many because we EC'd. We did the little flushable wipes for a while, but next time I am doing cloth for sure. I have saved my wipes containers just for that!

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