DIY - Baby Wipes

When Brooks was born I stopped working (haha, out of the home I mean!), and consquently had a little more time on my hands to devote to money saving efforts like clipping coupons and making some of my own household products. I wrote in Sept about making laundry soap, and I recently made my second batch of it, and I still love the way it cleans clothes. It's been a HUGE savings too, for very little time and effort.

One of the things I started to do when he was born was make my own baby wipes. The recipe is really easy, and more importantly, they work well! I have received many compliments on how they smell nice and feel nice etc.

So, this is how I do it:

1 roll of Bounty paper towel (I have not used another brand, it would need to be a thick, sturdy paper towel, off-brand would likely not work unless they are truly comparable to Bounty. Apparently Viva is good too)
1 C warm water
1 T baby wash
1 t baby oil
NOTE: If using the double roll you will need to double the recipe...but I tend not to use it all...it needs about 1 and a half the water mixture for a double roll.

For pull out wipes: Use an electric knife or very sturdy pair of scissors and cut the roll in half. Remove the cardboard center. Place in a circular container with lid. Prepare the water & soap mixture and pour over top of towels and let sit for awhile with the lid on. Pull wipes from center.

For reach in wipes: (I prefer this kind of wipe, even though it's more time consuming to make. I put on a movie or get caught up on a favourite tv show while the kids are napping. It takes about 20 mins to do 1 roll.) Tear each sheet off of the roll. If using a regular Bounty, cut the square sheets in half (into 2 rectangles). If using select a size, omit that step, they are already the right size! Fold each rectangle into thirds, like you would a letter, so there is a seam on the top to "grab". Once folded fill wipe container and pour water & soap over bottom half, and then over the top half. Give it a little time to soak through to all the wipes.

Cost: I have gone through 1 package (10 rolls) of regular Bounty (double roll), and 1 package (8 rolls, regular size) of select a size. I am currently on my second package of select a size and have 2 rolls left. I wait until they are on sale or I have a coupon, I know for sure I didn't pay more than $10, I think it was more like $8 per pkg.

I had been spending about $8 per month/month and a half on baby wipes, for just Kenna, so I am sure it would have been almost double adding another baby to that. For the both of them I would put the cost at $12 per month, guestimating...I don't use wipes for her much anymore, so the cost is dwindling back down, but you get the idea.

Total = $252.00 ($12x21mths)

For 21 months worth of baby wipes:

Paper Towels: $30 approx
Water: no cost
Baby Oil & Baby Wash: no cost, I am still using up the stash I was given at Kenna's baby shower (incredible, eh?!)
Wipe Boxes: $9 (I have had to buy 3 containers of wipes to use for the containers. They were about $3 each...I lost one, and one lid broke etc)
Total = $39.00

SAVINGS = $213.00 !!!