Frugal Tip: Dispose of the Disposables part 2

Have you priced diaper wipes lately? Wow. Now I admit I pay for the good ones. If you're going to buy something to wipe up poop, pay for something you think works, lol! I tried the cheaper ones, they didn't seem to wipe easily, weren't wet enough, etc. I use Huggies Naturals Pop-Up. I think it's $6.84 or something like that, at Walmart.

That was fine before, but now with a fourth child in diapers (well, number one is mostly trained, but he's been using up pull-ups lately) it's crazy. Plus I was using them to wipe the table and dirty hands, too. I stopped that by buying microfiber towels that I cut into quarters (see previous post). But what about their intended purpose? I make homemade wipes.

Gasp! No! Eeeeeww! I can hear it now. But really, it's not that bad, especially if you're using cloth diapers. I thought it would be nasty, but it's no worse than the cloth diapers. They work really well. I use cut-up flannel baby blankets--you know, the ones everybody gives you, but are too small to use with any baby but a preemie? You have to hem the flannel, though. You could use the microfiber cloths, poop would probably rinse even easier off those, but I'd cut them into smaller squares and be sure they're not too wet when you use them--they hold a lot of water.

The easiest way to use them is to get one of those sprayers you can attach to the water line at the back of the toilet. It hangs on the side of the toilet. You just turn it on and spray over the toilet. It's pretty handy for toilet cleaning too. They sell them on a lot of cloth diaper sites. Don't pay more than $35 for it (it's worth it, trust me, and easy to install).

You can use your wipes three ways: wet each one as needed at the sink (sounds like a hassle to me), you can make up some diaper wipe solution and pour it over a stack of wipes in an empty wipes box, or you can keep a stack of dry ones on the diaper changing table, along with a sprayer of wipes solution, and spray each wipe as needed. I prefer method two, although you have to keep in mind that the water in the wipes tub will get mildewy if you don't take steps to prevent it. There are tons of wipes solution recipes on the web. I like the ones with a few drops of tea tree oil and lavender oil. Use distilled water, or it will mildew quicker. Only make up enough wipes that you can use in two days. Smell the wipes every day. If they smell mildewy, throw them in the wash, clean the container, and start over.

The amount of laundry the wipes add is negligible. If you use one pack of brand name wipes a month, this should save you about $7. But it all adds up.
I'll post more about diapers in the future.