Cloth Baby Wipes:
If you already cloth diaper this is a common-sense next
step. It simplifies laundry and diaper changing because you can just toss the
soiled wipes in with the soiled dipes, less mess, less fuss, less fuzz in the
laundry.
However, cloth wipes can make sense for anyone, even if your
kids are years out of diapers, or you don't have any children at all!
Commonly called "family cloth" and
"unpaper", cloth wipes can take the place of nearly every disposable
cleansing or hygiene paper product in the house. Replace the facial tissues in
your house with a stack for runny noses. Stack some on a kitchen counter for
quick spill clean-ups and other messes. Tuck them into your purse or diaper bag
for on-the-go cleanups. Leave a stack in the bathroom to replace face-cleansing
or makeup removal towels. Or you could take the ultimate plunge and replace
your toilet tissue with a stack on the back of the toilet.
Pretty fabrics, and specialty items such as snap-together
"unpaper towels" that unroll from a regular paper towel holder makes
unpaper easy and appealing. Use a pail storage system and eliminate the
"ick-factor" completely. When your pail is full just dump it into the
washing machine, no touch, no mess. Wash, dry, restack, reuse.
Replacing even one product in your home such as paper towels
or facial tissue can reduce landfill waste, save trees, improve your families
health but reducing chemically laden wipes and cleansing cloths, cut your
monthly expenses, and on top of all that, brighten your day with cheerful
prints and colors!
So How Do I Get My Family to Go For This?
You might find it easiest to "ease" your family
into the idea of cloth. Start with something simple like replacing paper
napkins with cute cloth napkins. Once that's gone over well, get some
"unpaper towels" and replace that roll in your kitchen with something
cute that you can sew up yourself or purchase ready-made:
Photo from and Pattern available at:
www.ellegarrettdesigns.etsy.com
Who wouldn't want something gorgeous sitting on their
kitchen counter instead of those 'printed' paper towels!
Once your family has gotten comfortable with using cloth
around the house, you can try for something a little more personal: facial
tissue. Replace the puffs with some super soft and comfy wipes like these:
From EtsyClothDiaper member shop: just2cuteaccessories
When it becomes "the new normal" to use cloth for
everything, you can take the ultimate plunge and suggest your family try
replacing toilet paper with wipes. You might want to begin by offering both
cloth and disposable toilet paper until everyone is comfortable with the
transition, or you may even continue to offer both, but drastically cut down on
your tissue usage. Place a small bucket (1-3 gallon) or trashcan with a lid
next to the toilet. This is where soiled wipes will go until it's time to wash
them. You can sprinkle a little baking soda in the bottom to keep it fresh and
odor-free until wash time, but you don't want to put water in it. When full,
just dump it into your washing machine and wash on hot with a frangrance free
soap. Voila! Never buy toilet paper, paper towels, napkins, kleenex, cotton
balls, baby wipes, counter wipes, etc. etc. again!
Using Cloth WipesCloth wipes can be used wet or dry. I keep mine in a Prince Lionheart wipes warmer in each bathroom and by the changing table in the nursery. To most effectively keep them warm I prefer the wet method, plus this makes them work more like "baby wipes". In the kitchen we keep them dry for mess clean-up.
To use the wet method, you can simply make your own wipes solution in a bowl and pour this over your wipes in your wipes container or warmer. There are a lot of simple wipes solutions that you can make at home with products you already own, or you can purchase ready-made solution or concentrates such as these which you mix with water:
Available from EtsyClothDiaper Team member shop: WeeEssentials
For a great list of FREE wipes solution recipes visit here: http://www.zany-zebra.com/cloth-wipe-solution.shtml. You'll find anti-fungal recipes, chamomile recipes, soothing recipes, soapless recipes and more!
Why Use Cloth Wipes?
There are a number of reasons to use cloth wipes and other
"unpaper" products:
~ Better for the environment: less trees, less
trucking/shipping on the production end, less trips to the store on your end,
less solid waste
~ Pretty and customizable to match your decor
~ Less expensive over time
~ Healthier for sensitive skin
~ Customizable scents and cleansing products
~ Simplify cloth diapering
~ Never run out of toilet paper/paper towels/kleenex again
~ Never have to "limit" the amount of toilet paper
or tissue used by your family members again
~ Reduce packaging waste in addition to paper product waste
~ Better for septic and sewage systems since you are
reducing the solid waste passing through
Contributed by: Amy Washington of MamaBearBabyWear.
