Let me start by saying this is not a regular blog post for me. I am not crafty (creative maybe but there’s a difference). I don’t cloth diaper. Yes, “Cloth” is a verb here- and something I don’t do because I suck at laundry already. (My husband and I secretly laugh at the fact that there’s no mystery as to who cloths and who doesn’t because those who do will sure tell you all about it on the internets!) Gotta get credit for all that extra effort and laundry! I don’t blame them. Maybe that’s my hidden motive here too 😉
Something terrible happened this morning. We ran out of boogie wipes! {In case you’re wondering, a boogie wipe is a gentle saline wet wipe that keeps your kid’s nose from going raw in the winter months. I didn’t know what a boogie wipe was or realize we needed them until recently now that Henry is old enough to get regular colds.} Gasp! What’s the big deal, you ask?! Just run to the store and grab some more! But alas, we rarely have boogie wipes at our bx…and when we do mommas be hoardin’! Not me, though. never. 😉 I’m sure there’s a Japanese equivalent out there that costs a fortune and smells amazing but I haven’t found it yet.
So I did what every overseas woman would do, impulsively getting on the N-er-net to order more, hoping we could manage in the meantime. $10 for a 2 pack plus delivery? For some wet little pieces of cloth with salt in them? Wish I was the momma that invented that company- you don’t even want to know what their profit margins and financials look like, (i looked it up and threw up in my mouth a little).
That’s when I had enough. We are SO Amazon-ed out. Anybody feel me? We could go absolutely broke ordering everything off baby’s every whim. And it seems like the list of things you think you need for baby keeps growing every year. (When we were kids there was THE snot rag.)
So I made my own using ingredients we already had. There are a few recipes out there on the Internet. If you’re looking for an exacto recipe, sorry- this isnt it. I dont particularly enjoy following recipes/measuring things out and I think there’s more than 1 way to skin a cat. If you’re still reading, please know this is supposed to make your life easier and these things are really hard to mess up! At the VERY LEAST you need warm water, salt, a gentle ingredient such as baby oil, coconut oil, or vitamin e oil, and a soft paper towel like Viva or a few old soft receiving blankets. Ideally, I would have used Viva because I’m lazy. But we do have a ton of extra receiving blankets so so I decided to go with the more eco-friendly option and cut them into little squares:

And the solution I used:

About a cup and a half of water
Spoonful of coconut oil (if the solution gets too greasy just add a little more water)
Couple of splashes of witch hazel
Couple of pumps of aloe vera gel
Few big dashes of salt
A few drops of lavender oil-optional
A few drops of tea tree oil-optional, this keeps them fresher in storage and a natural anticeptic.

I dissolved everything in the water, saturated the cloths then wrung them out. You can store them in a plastic soap dish, or just about anywhere. I used an old baby oatmeal container for keeping at home and then a little plastic Tupperware dish for the diaper bag. Again- this is not a perfect, Pinterest-y type post and it can be a little messy. Mine look like this:

Voila! I feel so accomplished.
I do realize not everyone has ingredients like witch hazel and tea tree oil lying around. Remember- key ingredients are water and salt and almost everyone has that. Try experimenting with a gentle vapor baby bath, water and salt.

The end result smells lovely, is more natural than the boogie wipes solution and a heck of a lot cheaper. Now lets see if we can keep up with washing them without having a bunch of snot rags around the house. Giving myself a chance here-I have a special laundry bag marked just for them but may have to switch to Viva for the next batch 😉 will let you know how it goes!