Do It Yourself Ditders: DIY disinfecting wipes

I have been using homemade disinfecting wipes for about a year now... and as is usually the case after you start something new, you hear many reasons why what you are doing is wrong... In this case, an article surfaced as to why you should not combine Castile soap with vinegar (the acid of the vinegar and the base of the soap negate each other) So after consulting a few other blogs, I came up with my own recipe.

I am going to include my complete directions below, but I am crediting the originating blogs here... I used the paper towel idea from Home Made Baby Wipes from the White House Black Shutters Blog and was directed to my original disinfecting wipe recipe (using Castile soap and vinegar) via One Good Thing By Jillee - Homemade disinfecting wipes (original recipe via LiveRenewed.com). Originally, I was not interested in the whole going paperless thing, but, from a purely frugal standpoint, I was quickly won over after reading this blog post by Jillee - Throwing in the Towel. I have included the instructions for using paper towels (disposable wipes) and using cloth (reusable) wipes below.

The original recipe is no longer online so I can't even link to it or remember it correclty, but it basically had vinegar, water, Castile soap and tea tree oil. So without further ado.... here are some recipes for the disinfecting solution....

Live Renewed Disinfecting Wipes Recipe #1

1 cup water
2 Tbsp vinegar
1/2 Tbsp Natural Dish Soap
8-10 drops lemon essential oil

The vinegar and lemon have disinfecting properties and the lemon also gives it a pleasant scent. The dish soap is for extra cleaning power. The combined scent of the dish soap and lemon essential oil smells really fresh and clean, and covers up any smell of the vinegar in this recipe.

Live Renewed Disinfecting Wipes Recipe #2

1 cup water
2 Tbsp Castile soap
8-10 drops tea tree oil

The Castile soap is a vegetable based soap (cleanser) and the Tea Tree Oil is a natural oil with antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal and antiseptic properties.

Christine's Disinfecting Wipes Recipe

1 cup water
2 Tbs vinegar
8-10 drops tea tree oil

I prefer to clean with vinegar, and while I don't find the scent of vinegar bothersome, the tea tree oil does have a fragrance that dilutes the scent of the vinegar. Basically, I have adapted recipe #1, but since I have castille soap on hand, I may also make some of recipe #2 just to compare... I'll keep you posted....

Here are some pics and directions from the first time I made the "original" recipe... I basically want you to see how the paper towel thing works to make disposable wipes...

Assemble and combine ingredients. Push a full roll of paper towels into an empty disinfecting wipes container. Then, using a funnel, pour your solution down the center of the paper towel tube.

As the paper towels begin to absorb the solution you can push the towels completely into the container, let it sit awhile and then you can pull the tube out from the middle of the paper towel roll. You will then be able to pull the first paper towel up from the center of the roll.

Put the lid on the container and voila! Your homemade, disposable disinfecting wipes.

Reusable Wipes

Start by purchasing a pack of flour sack towels (about 6.00 at Wal-Mart). Cut the towels into 4 to 6 pieces, depending on the size of the wipes you prefer... you can hem the edges if desired, or just leave them raw - completely up to you. Since I am continuing to reuse my old "Clorox" wipes container, I have rolled my towels so that they overlap slightly. Hopefully when I pull one, the next one pulls up.... Line them up with the overlap, then roll them up and pull the inside towel up to use as your first towel.