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Making your own Wipe Solution and Baby Wipes:
Whenever possible, use all-natural ingredients. Most ingredients in are available at health food stores. It's fun to experiment and come up with your own recipe, too, by mixing & matching ingredients from the different recipes, or adding your own special touch.
GENERAL METHODS:
- For dry wipes: Simply mix the ingredients into a spray bottle, and use with wipes or washcloths.
- For wet wipes: You can use an empty commercial wipes container or any plastic lidded container. Mix the ingredients in a separate container. Place the wipes in the container, then add the solution, and invert a few times to make sure the wipes all get sufficiently moistened. Use just enough solution to moisten. Extra solution can generally be kept refrigerated. Use flannel wipes or heavy-duty paper towels for disposable wipes.( i.e. Bounty-cheaper ones will fall apart)
- For upright containers: To prepare a roll of paper towels to become baby wipes, cut it in half so you have two short rolls and remove the cardboard center. Place one short roll in airtight, water-proof container (like an old baby wipe box or 3qt. cylinder Rubbermaid/Tupperware container). Put the lid back on the box and turn it upside down so the solution is absorbed (10-15 min). If the container has a hole in the lid, thread the first towel from the *interior* of the roll up through the hole.
The Original Recipe for Wipes
1/2 roll of paper towels (cut in half to make short rolls)
1/8-1/4 c. baby shampoo
1/8-1/4 c. vegetable oil (apricot or sunflower)
2 cups lukewarm water
1 plastic container that the rolls fit in
Mix liquid ingredients gently. Pour mixture over one half of paper towel roll in container. Dispense wipes from center of roll.
Basic Wipes #1
1 ½ - 3 cups water
1/8 cup olive oil (apricot or sunflower too)
3-5 drops tea tree oil
8 drops lavender oil
Shake gently with 1 T (1/8 cup) baby shampoo (I like Mustela!)
Pour over either cloth wipes or 1/2 paper towel roll, or can be kept in a spray bottle near changing station.
Anti-fungal Baby Wipes
1/2 c. distilled water
1 tsp. vinegar
1/4 c. aloe vera gel
1 TBS. calendula oil
1 drop lavender essential oil
1 drop tea tree essential oil
I made these wipes because I wanted something to gently discourage yeast diaper rashes. The vinegar and essential oils discourage yeast growth which means you shouldn't have too much trouble with these wipes getting moldy. To prepare, use a glass jar with a tight fitting lid. Pour all your ingredients in, cover the jar and shake to blend the ingredients. Place your wipes in a container and pour on enough solution to moisten them. Store any extra solution in the fridge. It should stay fresh for a long time especially if you used distilled water. If a baby had a really red, raw diaper rash you might not want to use these wipes as vinegar may cause a burning sensation.
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Teething gel ointment
1 ounce pure vegetable glycerin or vegetable oil
2 drops essential oil of clove
Add one drop of clove to your glycerin and shake it until it is well blended. Test it on yourself to make sure it is not too strong before adding another drop. For a young baby I use 2 drops. You could use vegetable oil instead of glycerin if you want. Glycerin is very sweet so it makes the remedy a bit more appealing.
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Make Your Own Herbal Diaper Salve:
Directions for Making Salve
To make salve, we extract the beneficial properties of our herbs in oil, then add beeswax to harden the oil.
These recipes are based on the Simplers' Method of calculating proportions. These recipes require you to use parts rather than a specific volume of each herb. This technique allows you to easily adapt the recipe. If you want a small amount of salve you can choose one tablespoon as your part, if you want a large amount of salve you might choose 1/2 - 1 cup as your part. The amount of oil needed is enough to completely cover the herbs, plus an inch of oil above the level of the herbs. The tricky part of this is determining exactly how much beeswax is needed to harden the salve. You can approximate the proportions based on the following equivalents. One pint of oil will need about 1 1/2 ounces of beeswax, or one ounce of oil will need about 1/2 teaspoon of beeswax. There are about 5 teaspoons of beeswax in an ounce.
If you intend to make your salve using freshly collected plants, you will want to clean them. Do this by shaking them to remove dirt then spread the herbs out to allow them to air dry for several hours ( until wilted ) to reduce the moisture content. Fresh chickweed, for example, contains a lot of moisture and this water content could cause your salve to spoil quickly.
To begin your salve, measure the desired amount of herbs into an enamel or stainless steel pan, or into a crock pot.
Cover the herbs with oil. Use enough oil to cover the herbs plus another inch of oil above the level of herbs.
Heat the herbs and oil over a low heat for several hours ( about 3 hours). If you are using roots you should heat the oil longer( about 5 hours). I strongly encourage you to use a crock pot for heating your oil because it operates at a controlled low temperature which is less likely to be a fire hazard. If you don't use a crock pot then use a double boiler.
After heating, cool your oil for awhile. Set up a strainer lined with cheesecloth then pour the oil through to strain. When most of the oil has filtered through the cheesecloth, pick up the cheesecloth, keeping the herbs enclosed, and squeeze as much oil as possible from the herbs and cloth.
Add beeswax to the oil and heat it until all the wax is melted. To test to see if your salve is hard enough, put some on a spoon and set it in a cool place for a few minutes. If your salve is too soft, add more beeswax.
If you are using essential oils or Vitamin E you can blend them in now. Finally, pour your salve into containers and label.
Salve Recipe #1
Heat 1 cup olive oil and 3/4 cup chopped herbs in a stainless steel, enameled or ceramic pan. Simmer at low for 30 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon occasionally. This helps to extract the herb essences and keeps it from burning. Cool slightly, strain out any chunks of herbs remaining. Return oil to pan and add 1/4 cup of grated beeswax. Stir gently to melt wax (you may need a bit of gentle heat to do this). Place a drop on a plate and freeze for a few minutes to see if it hardens. If it doesn't, add more beeswax; if it's too hard to spread on your skin easily, just add a bit more oil. Store in a jar, labeled with ingredients and date.
Suggested wild herbs to gather: cottonwood buds (late-fall or winter), pussy willow bark (early spring), chickweed, yarrow and plantain (look in your garden or lawn!).
Additional Uses: chapped lips and hands, scrapes from fall, minor burns, sunburn and bug bites
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Make your own Deoderant Disks for the Diaper Pail:
First find yourself a mold - I use one of those trays for putting big tempera discs in I got it at the toy store. It's slightly flexible and has just the right sided compartments but you could use Paper muffin cups in muffin tins, candy molds, plastercine, whatever you want.
Start by mixing:
2 cups baking soda
some essential oil from the "antibacterials" (I use lavender or pine or cypress, or citrus oils for mine)
Mix in enough distilled or boiled water to make a thick frosting like paste.
Pour or pat into the mold (Press about One-half inch of paste into each muffin paper) and let dry 24 hours. It only takes a day or so as long as you don't add too much water.
Wrap them well and store away until you need one. Tear the paper off before use. After you have use each disk for a month or so, (or however long you find it effective), crumble the disk into the diaper wash. then pop into your compartment.
They smell MUCH better than deodisks are dirt cheap and I'm sure, better for the environment. When the pail gets a bit smelly I take the old disc and drop it into the bottom of the pail and put a new one in the top. the old disc helps clean out the pail too I find as well as deodorizing and softening the diapers.
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Reprinted with permission from Home4Birth.com -Thank You!