Cloth Wipes How To

Would you ever believe cloth wipes could be so cute?

If you have already entered the exciting world of cloth diapering or are planning on doing so in the near future you must try cloth wipes.  Honestly they are not any more trouble at all.  The savings are quite substantial! No more running out to the store late at night because you are all out of wipes!  Instead you will have a plentiful supply on hand.  I have also found that cloth wipes work MUCH better than disposable wipes.  With disposable wipes I often found myself using 3-4 but with the cloth wipes I rarely have to reach for a second.  They also work wonderful for cleaning up messy faces. 🙂  We keep a handful of them in the kitchen for that purpose.

You can sew your wipes in any size you like. I like to make two different sizes 8X8 and 4X8.

I like to sew my wipes from an old baby towel and soft flannel (either use an old receiving blanket or purchase 1/2 yard of flannel).  The flannel will eventually fade but it is soft.  I don’t know about you but I really like soft stuff when it comes to babies.  I like the softness of the baby towel and it is much cheaper to use even a new baby towel than to purchase terry cloth at the fabric store.  I love having the two different sides especially when the baby gets bigger. 😉 

For regular wipes: I cut a piece of flannel and a piece of the baby towel in an 8″ square. Then I place them wrong sides together (so that the pretty sides are on the outside).  Pin the side seams if you are new to sewing and then stitch all the way around using a zig zag stitch or serger.  (I used a serger.)  That’s it!  How simple!  I also think it’s pretty fun to whip out a super cute wipe when changing a diaper. 

I also like to make travel size wipes which fit nicely into a travel wipes container. These measure 4X8 (1/2 the size of a regular wipe.

I have also found that I love making travel size wipes for the diaper bag.  I sew these just like regular wipes with 1 side of flannel, 1 side of baby towel but instead I sew them 4 inches X 8 inches.  I like that I can store about 8 of these in a wipes container rather than 4.  They are also the perfect size for when you are out and about and just need to wipe off a dirty mouth, hands, or change a diaper.  I like to keep my wipes pre-moistened in a travel wipes container or carry a small spray bottle of water in the diaper bag.

For those of you who aren’t into sewing at all you can purchase them online (I love to purchase cloth diapers supplies from Cotton Babies) or locally at Mother Nurture.  This is also a great project to use up old scraps of fabric.  It works especially well when making Flannel crib sheets.  As for how many wipes to make it depends on how often you do laundry.  I would probably recommend somewhere between 2 and 3 dozen.

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