Reduce, Re-use, Recycle II

Botty Wipes

As I am inherently suspicious of any products with synthetic ingredients in, I am always looking for natural alternatives.  I'm sure some synthetic ingredients are perfectly inert and harmless, but what if their production carries extra environmental costs or by-products?  And, some 'natural' ingredients can be potent chemicals in themselves.  I'd love to discuss this with a chemist.

There are so many choices available for baby wipes now, many more than just even when William was pre-toilet-independent, not that long ago.  When William was newborn, I just used cotton wool and water, which, I suppose is about as natural as you can get.  He did occasionally get nappy rash though.  Over the last 3+ weeks, I have been using cotton wool pads/pleat for Aruna also, although with a homemade wipe solution, and it works a treat:


1 cup chamomile tea
1 small portion soap cube or blob of baby wash
1 t calendula oil
1 t olive oil
2-3 drops tea tree oil
4 drops lavender oil

Make a cup of chamomile tea and add a blob of baby wash (I've tried Neal's Yard) or most recently, a small cube of gentle soap from Larson Farm Naturals and allow to dissolve and cool.  Then add the rest of the ingredients and give it a good stir. 

At the moment, I'm using a small plastic squeezy bottle to apply a small squirt to each cotton wool pad as I use them.  For the cloth wipes, I can just make up a slightly larger quantity and pour it over the wipes in the plastic box so they are ready to use when needed.  I did something similar for William when he was a bit bigger, so rarely bought disposable wipes, and when I did, I still tried to wash and re-use them a couple of times!  So, why am I still consuming cotton wool and throwing it away?  Convenience.  And, it is what I did with William as a newborn, and old habits are hard to break.  I need to address this soon.  I spent some time making up new cloth wipes from old bits of towel and terry bath robe, cotton muslin etc when I was pregnant.  I only have about 20 though, which wouldn't get turned around in the wash often enough to make it 100% cloth use at present.  And, I would like some tiny ones, suitable for her tiny bottom, and, I don't think I can even buy those anywhere.

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A wonderful selection of recipes for cloth wipe solutions can be found here: http://www.zany-zebra.com/cloth-wipe-solution.shtml