Yep, a non-food one, folks! I have to start out by giving kudos to my mom and aunts for introducing me to these. Mom found the recipe in a book a long time ago. When my son was born, Aunt Amy was kind enough to make some and pass down the recipe along with the perfect container which she had thoughtfully decorated with pictures of babies and the recipe itself. I have tweaked it because my son has eczema and sensitive skin. I think that's one of the beauties of making something yourself: you can make it to suit the needs of those partaking and if it doesn't work out--try, try again!
Tools and "Ingredients":
1 roll of Bounty's Super Mega sized paper towels, not select-a-size
Cutting instrument (You can use a hand saw or a serrated knife, but after trying these an electric carving knife is my tool of choice.)
2 1/4 C. water
1 T. baby oil*
2 T. baby wash*
Measuring instruments
Container with lid** (Needs to fit a half roll of paper towels. Rubbermaid used to make a 10-cup round container which fits perfectly. I'm also told Sterilite makes a square 3-liter container with a snap-on lid that works and that Wal-Mart's Mainstays brand 4 qt square containers work well.)
1. Start by cutting your roll of paper towels in half. (You will eventually pull out the cardboard center, but it's very hard to remove prior to cutting so just leave it in even though it's the toughest part to cut.) It's easier to cut with the roll positioned "over."
2. Pound the two halves together to get off some of the extra fluff (the cleaner the cut, the less fluff), then wipe off what remains. If you have parts sticking out, try to pull them off or they will clump and fall off once wet.
3. Remove the cardboard center and pull the first layer of paper towel up so it's not sticking to the next layer anymore.
4. Measure out the water, oil, and baby wash into your container and mix together.
5. Remove nearly 1/2 C of the solution. (The original instructions don't say to do this but I find the wipes are too wet unless I use less solution, and typically a wet bottom leads to diaper rash for my son. I've tried to use less of the ingredients rather than removing some but it's difficult to keep the ratios congruent.) It can be helpful to reserve the extra solution in case you didn't cut the roll exactly in half and may need to add some after absorption. Use the amount that works for you.
6. Insert the half-roll of paper towels (cut side down), add the lid, and flip container for absorption (definitely ok to use after 20 minutes, maybe sooner...).
7. To begin using, start pulling from the center (occasionally the middle wipe soaks up too much solution and may need to be discarded). Sometimes you can use the edge of the container to separate the wipes as you go and other times I just pull one off before I start changing the diaper.
*You can use whatever baby oil and/or baby wash you'd like. I use Disney's fragrance free baby wash, found at Wal-Mart. It's in a green bottle.
**Keep in mind that you can always use one container that works for making the wipes and transfer them (or some of them) to a different container for use. I like to use something like a large SaniHands wipes container for travel because their wide openings make it easy to fish out the wipe (hold the center wipe out when inserting them) and then tear it against the "pinchy" part. When you use something like this, be careful when removing the wipes because they can tear easily if the container was overstuffed.
Source: Tightwad Gazette; for tips on avoiding mold (since we're using natural ingredients--mold wasn't an issue for me until summer), visit the Want What You Have blog (here are her terms of use).
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