Recently, I had a visit from a dear friend and her four little ones. She was describing her cloth diapering system and mentioned cloth wipes. I have considered cloth diapers, but have yet to venture the switch. The mention of cloth wipes, seemed to spark my motivation. I thought, why not start here and if all goes well take the next step into cloth diapers.
My friend described that she made hers at home. Finding that the store ones were either not quite the right size or used quite the right material. She suggested one side terry cloth and one side fleece. I wrote this suggestion down in my long to do/wish list and went about my week.
Normally, it would be a while before I would venture back to these notes and put it into action. However, while the girls and I were up visiting at grandma's, she decided to go through some of her craft storage (looking for needed items on a project she was considering). She came across some fleece and mentioned she had no idea what she purchased it for and offered it to me. Remembering my conversation with my friend I shared the idea with grandma and she then also gave me some terry cloth she had purchased long ago.
So here I was back at home with everything I needed along with an afternoon where I couldn't seem to nap. So I brought out my sewing machine, scissors, and fabric and began planning. I started out thinking of what size I would like to use. Currently, we cut a stack of disposable wipes in half (to cut costs a little), but they seem a tad small. Holding my hand over the fabric I decided on rectangles measuring roughly 6" x 8 3/4". Keeping in mind that I wasn't concerned about each one being exactly the same. Well, that and I'm by no means experienced in sewing (this would be my 3rd project). *Grin*, after all they are "wipes". After cutting a few (decided to cut both material at the same time to get a closer match), I called my friend having a few questions. I was curious how many she used in a day and wondered about a liquid solution. She suggested 10 to start with and gave me a recipe for the liquid. She's such an awesome mom, by the way, so organized and a beautiful light for the Lord. I continued to cut away and decided to just use up the material that I received from grandma. Wasn't sure I'd use it for anything else and with soon to be 3 children at home, thought they would come in handy for several uses. I ended up with 30 pairs of cut cloth.
While I was talking with my friend she suggested a pillowcase type sewing method, so that the seams were on the inside. I was so glad she suggest this, as I was planning to surger style stitch them, which would have been messy or fall apart over time.
Then I was off to my dreaded sewing machine. Don't get me wrong, it is an awesome machine and thoughtful gift from my sweet husband. My old one being a hand-me-down from my mom and you have to hold the power plug in for it to run.. LOL. It has been a love/hate relationship with this new machine from the beginning. I'm convinced it has a personality of it's own and only sews when it wants to.
I begin with my pep-talk to my machine. Then time to create a bobbin. My machine decides it does not feel like making a bobbin at the moment so I end up resorting to rolling one myself. Ok, now we're ready to go. I was able to stitch through about 8 wipes (leaving a little hole to pull inside out) before my machine decided it needed a break. During the break I tempted another bobbin and to my joy it decided to do the work (went ahead and made a second just in case it changed it mind later).
Once all 30 pairs of fabric were sewn together, my husband and I sat turning them inside out. This was so romantic. I just love it when he helps with any craft project. Crafting seems to be by favorite and most joyful thing to do and it just overflows my heart when he participates. Once I sewed the small opening closed we were ready to wash and give them a try. Then I paused and thought for a minute about the washing aspect. Wonder if they would bind up or balloon during washing. Then I had this idea of quilting them a tad. Searched my sewing machine for a simple stitch and decided on a "wave". I really liked it. Gave the project a more professional type look (or at least I thought so). Crazy as it sounds, I decided to give them a quick iron before tossing them in the wash.
Here is a picture of the finished project.
Mixed up what I like to call my "liquid baby cleaner" (modification of friends recipe):
-16 to 20 oz container (I decided on a water bottle of Ice Mountain, the one with the squirt top)
-16 oz water
-3 drops of essential oil (lavender or tea tree are good for anti-bacterial)
-a few squirts of baby wash (I used some freshly made soapnut liquid, I'll blog more on this subject in later posts)
I've been using them for a week and just love them. I've found until they are washed more (as with any fabric the more you wash the more absorbent they are), it is best to pour the liquid onto the terry cloth side and let it soak to the fleece side. Typically, we use the fleece side for the usually potty and terry cloth for messier diapers. Easy to rinse out and through in a wash with the rest of our kitchen towels and such.
Thank you so much dear friend, you know who you are, for suggesting these.
Loves cloth wipes so much better than disposable. Got our first opportunity to use them on a messy diaper today and clean up was so much easier and quicker. With disposables I feel like I end up going through 5 wipes, whereas only had to use one cloth. So awesome!
ReplyDeleteWhen we use disposable, we've been cutting them in half (we got this awesome idea from Heidi). So far I've only been using cloth for home, this is our second week. Today was the first time I got the courage to try cloth on a messy diaper. I like to rince the messy cloth before putting it in the pail. I'm not sure, but might continue disposable wipes while out, it all depends on how my next adventure goes with trying cloth diapers.
I originally started using a Ice Mountain water bottle for holding the wipe liquid, however, have since decided that a spray bottle would be better. I have some trouble with the liquid running off the cloth wipe during application and feel a spray bottle would eliminate this problem :)
ReplyDeleteEnded up needing more wipes to accommodate our 3 diaper changing stations around our home. My husband commented that he would like something larger and thinner. Decided to purchase a bunch of terrycloth baby wash cloths you can find in most stores in 8 or 10 packs, but make sure you get the bigger sized ones. Some of them are only about 4" and they are not really good for anything in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteWe use the terrycloth wipes for most diapers and the homemade ones on the more messy diapers. Works great and wish we would have started out with these; so much better than disposables for getting our little ones clean.