Welcome back to my DIY series, where this week I will be sharing with you how to make natural homemade baby wipes that are sensitive enough for our little ones’ bottoms! Do you know what ingredients are used in your go-to shop-bought baby wipes? Leading brands have a good way of hiding behind expensive marketing campaigns and glossy images of giggling babies and soft bottoms. However according to this cosmetics database, which gives you a complete list of hazard ratings for different brands of wipes, there are a number of chemicals used in our seemingly safe baby wipe choices.
Pampers
I have been using Pampers Baby Wipes ever since my son was born and have only recently stopped using them after finding out exactly what ingredients they are made with:
Water, Disodium EDTA, Xanthan Gum, Caprylic Triglyceride, PEG 40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Benzyl Alcohol, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Sodium Hydroxymethlyglycinate, Citric Acid, and Fragrance.
The wipes I was using on my baby have been given a 5 for hazard (out of 10) and warnings include possible allergies, immunotoxicity, and organ system toxicity. Shocking, right?
I have a rule that I use when shopping for products and food. If I can’t pronounce what is listed as ingredients on an item, it doesn’t go into the shopping cart. Similarly, if I don’t understand what something is, it’s likely to be a chemical of some sort, and so doesn’t make it into the my basket of goods. Do you know what each of the ingredients listed above are, and are you certain that they are safe? If not, have a go at making my 100 percent natural baby wipes, which are safe for babies and kids. The following is a cost effective and simple change you can make that also has great benefits for the environment.
Did you know: Experts warn that baby care wipes could take up to 100 years to biodegrade (break down) in a landfill, and most wipes, including those for the home and for the removal of makeup, are up to three-quarters polyester. Let’s all go green and get DIY’ing our baby wipes today!
Here’s what you will need:
- 1 roll of heavy duty paper towels (Note: I use Bounty for wipes. Stay away from cheap brands, as they won’t work as well)
- 1 old wipes container, plastic shoe box container, old plastic coffee container, or empty plastic ice cream gallon tub
- 1 3/4 cups boiled water (or distilled) – cooled but still warm
- 1 tablespoon of pure aloe vera – check the ingredients
- 1 tablespoon of pure witch hazel extract
- 1 teaspoon of liquid castile Soap (vegetable oil based soap)
- 10 drops grapefruit seed extract or 2 capsules of vitamin E (optional)
- 1 teaspoon of olive or almond oil (optional)
- Essential oils of choice (optional- I use 6 drops each of lemon, orange and lavender from Doterra)
Instructions:
- Cut the roll of paper towels in half using a sharp knife
- If using a plastic shoe box or old wipe container, accordion fold the wipes into the container
- In bowl or quart size jar mix the water, aloe vera, witch hazel, castile soap, GSE/Vitamin E and oil and stir.
- Add essential oils if desired and stir.
- Pour over paper towels in container and let absorb for around 5-10 minutes.
- Flip the container over to make sure wipes are well soaked.
- Use as you would regular wipes.
Note: If your child has extremely sensitive skin, you may need to leave out the essential oils or use calendula or chamomile.
Smile, knowing you are not causing your beautiful child any future health problems!
Photos: Pixabay
