How we do wipes.

So, this week is wipe week.  We started our cloth diapering days by using those chemical filled disposable wipes.  It was such a hassle keeping a pail for the cloth diapers and then another bag or garbage bin for the wipes.  So we decided to figure out a better alternative after one week.

We thought about what we did with our daughter and I remembered that we used old baby washcloths with water on them because of all of her allergies.  So I found some cloth wipes online pretty cheap.  We went with just a standard flannel wipe with surged edges. We liked these.  We also splurged and bought a wipe warmer which became our changing table center piece!  Little Man loved having warm wet wipes on his bottom.  I can remember that he did the exact same thing his sister did when we would use the occasional cold wipe.....a loud high pitch gasp!

We used these flannel wipes in the warmer for a full year.  As our stash was increasing, we were finding ourselves running out of wipes.  I then got online again and found Charlie Banana Organic Cotton Wipes.  These are amazing!  I loved how well they worked with the warmer and how soft they were.  They also really did the job on big messes and felt like they thoroughly cleaned the diaper area.  I think that they would even make really great makeup remover cloths!  The only drawback was that they required a lot of prep.  It took at least 4 washes before they would absorb any water.  We use them with our flannel wipes, but are thinking about retiring the flannel and adding new wipes to our stash.

We have tried flannel and organic cotton wipes.  We like them both, but prefer the organic cotton because they are thicker and softer.  Next I think I want to try terry wipes.  The GroVia wipes are the ones that I think I'll go with next.  They are a great price and they have a nice feel to them.  There are many great wipes out there though.  I hear wonderful reviews of the Bummas wipes and assorted WAHM wipes.

Wipes are very easy to make yourself.  All it takes is a nice natural fabric cut into 8 inch squares.  You can then surge them.  You can make them double sided by putting two together inside out and sewing around the edges leaving a little opening.  Then you turn it right side out and hand stitch the opening.  You can get really fancy and sew around the edges to finish it off.

We swore by our cloth wipes being used with just warm water.  We would also use the occasional corn starch for redness.  That is, until we found Cloth Diaper Inc.'s Natural Wipe Spray!  I was surprised how it not only cleans the area really well, but it leaves it so soft and takes away any redness.  It is just so different from other wipe sprays because it has no alcohol or soap in it.  All it has is witch hazel and essential oils.  I think it's the perfect combination!

What is your favorite wipe?  Do you use something other than water?  I'd love to hear about your wipe routine!