red lemon blog

 

Today I’m going to share a valuable secret with you. One that most diaper companies probably don’t want me to spill. Are you ready? …You don’t have to buy baby wipes ever again.

*Gasp*

There, I said it. The cat’s out of the bag. 😉 Now to further explain my lunacy, let me to tell you a story….

Le-vi Schmee-vi ❤

When our first son was born, we did the typical thing. We bought infant diapers and baby wipes by the (gigantic) box. We couldn’t understand why they were so expensive, but what could we do about it? lol They were obviously needed!

But at around 6 months, my little Levi developed an inflamed, angry bum rash that would NOT go away. I bought every cream that WalMart sold,  gave his bum lots of ‘naked’ time, did less baths, etc… Within 3 months time, we saw 3 different doctors, tried a few prescription ointments and followed all of their advice, but the rash would not go away. In fact, it kept getting worse. And I was starting to panic.

Step 1: Fluffy Butts

I don’t remember who mentioned the idea, but someone suggested that we switch to cloth diapers. I was so desperate to heal poor Levi’s bum (which was now covered in open sores) that I dove head first into cloth diapering without hesitation. Like, I marched right into a baby boutique and immediately thudded a big starter pack of Kushies onto the checkout counter. And guess what? Within 2 weeks, the rash was GONE.

Let me repeat that. Within TWO WEEKS the blistering rash was GONE.

Looking back, I believe that our little Levi was reacting to disposable diapers. Or more accurately, his body was reacting to the chemicals used for absorbency, that are in disposable diapers.

That experience was a catalyst in my life. It got me looking at the everyday things around us through a new lens. If something as benign as ‘diapers’ could be harming my family, what else might I have taken for granted as safe?

Step 2: Butt Wipes

Well, I was chatting with my mom one day (about butt wipes-as one does….) and she remarked that some hairdressers use baby wipes to remove hair dye stains from skin, on the foreheads and ears. Apparently just regular soap and water won’t get it off, but baby wipes just melt the dye away. Yeah. Let that sink in a minute….

YUCK! What’s in those things?! I was already jaded by the whole diaper fiasco and now I learn that what I use on my child’s delicate skin is also industrial enough to remove permanent hair dye? In that moment something hit me at gut level and I finally had the motivation to make my own butt wipes. Um…but how?!

Google, Google, wherefore art thou….

Skeptically, I typed ‘homemade baby wipes’ into my search bar and possibly cringed as I waited. You see, google and I have a temperamental, on-again/ off-again relationship. I find him melodramatic and weirdly fixated on trying to convince me that everyone in my life has a rare, life-threatening disease.  But actually this time, I was pleasantly surprised! MANY other moms were looking into this and within 10 minutes I’d found a simple tutorial on how to make my own wipes. It must have been a good one because it’s now 7 years and 3 kids later and I’m still making these things! I even use these in my daycare, which not only reduces our synthetic/chemical load, but also saves me around $100-200/year! So if you’re interested, I’d love to pass this beautiful gem onto you:

Step 1: Buy GOOD paper towel. You can cheap out on the TP all you like (if your husband will let you! haha) but do not cheap out on this. I use Bounty select-a-size.

Step 2: Get a good, sharp knife (NON-serrated). I usually sharpen my knife before starting and sometimes a few more times as I go along.

Step 3: Arrange the paper towel roll in front of you lengthwise. Size it up into 3 parts, hold firmly and slice through.

(You should end up with 3 even-ish rolls that look strangely similar to toilet paper rolls.)

Step 4: Take the cardboard center out of a cut roll and discard it. Then pop the roll into a clean, empty wipe container like so. You want to see the spirals of the roll facing up.

Step 5: Flick the water kettle on to boil. Get a measuring cup and toss 1 pump of baby soap into the bottom. Then fill it up with around 1 3/4c of hot water. (If you like your wipes wetter, then add more water. If you like them stiffer, add less).

Step 6: Slowly pour soapy water over paper towel roll. Close container lid so that the steam can penetrate the entire roll to fully moisten. Then just allow the wipes to cool before using. (To use, just pull the inner center sheet of the roll up through the hole in the wipe container lid and continue to pull. Wipes will rip off easily at the paper towel perforations. 🙂 )

That’s it!! It takes about 2 minutes to make, costs mere pocket change, and works like magic. To simplify things, I usually cut up a bunch of rolls at once, put them in a clear bag at the bottom of my linen closet and then just grab one as I need to.

Mom for the Win!

 

So there you have it, a new ‘Mom-hack’ to add to your bag of tricks! If you are looking for a great (all-natural) baby soap, I would highly recommend our Red Lemon Baby Wash/Shampoo, which you can find here: (http://www.red-lemon.ca/products/copy-of-bottoms-up-baby-balm) It’s made with pure castile soap, non-GMO vitamin E and our own organic herbal oil. But honestly, you can just use any mild soap that you have lying around.