Wipes Solution and Laundry Soap

Today's homemade crafts consisted of an all natural powdered laundry soap and a wipes solution for our cloth diaper wipes. Making your own products can be fun and addicting. It's so nice to know what ingredients are in your products.

The laundry soap came out to be about $4.75 for 30 loads. Which is only a quarter (plus tax) cheaper than the detergent I have been using. However, what we get in return is where we really save money. No harsh chemicals, three simple and natural ingredients, and a fun time spent with my son.

Step 1: find a bar of soap you like. All natural, hard milled is probably the best. I was able to find some good smelling, and surprisingly natural, bars of soap at the 99Cent store. Grate the soap into flakes (or curls :) ) This is where my son had a blast. He enjoyed watching the bar turn into a pile of flakes. He kept telling me I was, "Doing great job, Mama".

Step 2: Assuming you have a large container (like my pickle jar) add 6 cups of soap flakes (this was 2 bars for me) 6 cups of washing soda (or sodium carbonate) [I actually used baking soda because I couldn't find the washing soda] and 3 cups of borax. Shake it up, or let your kids shake it up to mix well.

Step 3: Use 1/2 cup in each large load. This is a great formula for hard water. Add 1/2 cup of vinegar to your rise cycle (to freshen and soften) and you have yourself an all natural laundry regimen.

How about that wipe solution? We've been using cloth wipes for the last two years, the same amount of time we have been using cloth diapers. We tried a few brands before I finally found the Kissaluvs brand "Awesome Knit Terry" wipes and fell head over heels in love. They are the perfect size, texture, thickness, and durability. One thing I have never done though, is use a wipe solution. We just stuck to water. With the new baby due any day, I wanted to finally try a solution and see how it goes. A little extra cleaning power isn't a bad thing as we head back to those poopy diapers. Here's the recipe I chose.

Step 1: Find a container big enough to hold your wipes, and place the clean wipes inside. (I found a neat plastic container with a latching lid at Target, and it holds all 24 of our Kissaluvs wipes perfectly, when the solution is added)

Step 2: In a gallon container (with a lid) mix together 8 cups of warm water, 1/2 cup light oil (I used a safflower vitamin e blend), 1/2 cup baby shampoo, 3 TBS aloe vera gel, 32 drops lavender essential oil, 16 drops tea tree essential oil. Put on lid, shake well.

Step 3: Pour in just enough of this solution to saturate your wipes and try not to leave any sitting in the bottom of the container. Store the rest of the solution in the fridge for when you need to soak more wipes (remember to shake first). Keep the tub of wipes in a cool dry place to avoid mold and mildew, and rest easy knowing exactly what you are wiping on your little ones bum. They smell amazing BTW.

With both of these household crafts, and any other you make, slap on a cute label and you're ready to go. You can make fun art out of your label, give your creation a cute name, and add a list of ingredients to look at proudly every time you use the product. I like to do a search for product specific clipart and add the cute graphics to my labels. Print them on regular (or recycled) printer paper and attach with clear packing tape to protect and water proof your label)


Go natural! It's fun for everyone.

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