Homesteading: A Woman's Journey

Flannel Baby Wipes & Prefold Diapers

Two years ago, when we had our daughter, we soon learned that her skin was very sensitive to disposable diapers and wipes.  Once we began using cloth diapers on her, the diaper rashes went away.  The disposable wipes however were still making her sore, even when using the types without alcohol in the solution.  I came across a website that talked about making your own baby wipes.  Since then, we have used cloth wipes almost exclusively. 

Cloth baby wipes have a few advantages.  Cloth wipes are much less expensive.  You can buy flannel on sale and make a stack of wipes that will last several years.  The flannel is much softer on baby’s sensitive skin.  We use a solution made of water and a couple drops of baby wash to soak the wipes in.  Once you no longer need the wipes as a baby wipe, you can continue to use them as little wet cloths to carry with you for quick clean-ups away from home.  You can fold a couple of the wipes in half and stack them inside a cloth diaper to give it a little extra absorbency.   When they get worn-looking, you can use them as dust rags or for cleaning.

Baby wipes are easy to make. I make ours from a double layer of flannel.  The finished size is about 8” square.  You can make these several ways depending on what you have to sew them with.  I use a serger to make ours, overlocking the edges to prevent unraveling of the fabric.  You can also make them using a zigzag stitch or use a straight stitch and trim the edges with pinking shears.  If you want a no-sew wipe, buy a soft, thin polar fleece fabric and cut out the squares.

Another easy project is to make your own prefold diapers.  One advantage to this is that you can make the middle absorbent section as thick as you want.  You can also custom make the size to fit any size diaper from newborn through extra large.  Prefold diapers can be used alone or folded in thirds and placed inside a cloth diaper as a soaker to increase the absorbency of the diaper.  As with wipes, these can be used for multiple purposes such as burp cloths or cleaning cloths.  You can find a nice online tutorial on how to make these at Fern & Fearie Prefold Diaper Tutorial.  In the tutorial, they show how to turn old t-shirts into diapers.  When I make prefolds, I prefer to use a heavy weight flannel.  Whatever fabric you choose, the main thing to remember is to use a fabric that will hold up well to multiple washings.