Reusable wipes blog post by Alex
You’ve started making eco-swaps to reduce waste, live a greener lifestyle and hopefully save some money too. You might have heard about reusable wipes but feel unsure about how to incorporate them in to your routine. Hopefully this blog post will give you a few pointers in the right direction, but please take this as a guide to get started. Before long you will have our own right way of doing things.
What are reusable wipes?
Reusable (or “washable”) wipes are small pieces of fabric that can be used wet to wash faces, hands and bums. They make a fantastic alternative to disposable wipes because they can be used again and again, which saves you money and reduces the amount of waste that goes to landfill. The textured surface of the fabric means that reusable wipes are also a lot better at gripping and removing messes compared with a disposable wipe. This means that you use fewer wipes per clean up.
Wet bamboo, velour and fleece wipes are often recommended for cleaning faces because they are smooth to the touch, while bamboo or cotton terry make the best choices for bottoms because the surface texture makes them grip on to mess.Using the wipes with water alone means no chemicals and they are a perfect, gentle option for babies right from newborn.
How to use reusable wipes
The simplest way to use a reusable wipe is to wet it with water, give it a little squeeze and wipe away. You can keep a stack of pre-wetted wipes in a container or wet bag to use throughout the day, or you may prefer to wet each wipe as you go. If you decide to keep your wipes pre-wetted you might decide to use a wipe solution such as Poppets to make them smell amazing, but this is purely personal preference. If you are using plain water it is best to use your wipes on the day that you wet them, but with a wipe solution you can keep your wipes for 3 or 4 days before they stop smelling fresh.
How to wash reusable wipes
If you are using reusable nappies, any dirty wipes can go in to the same storage as your used nappies and be washed in the same way. If you aren’t using reusable nappies then wipes used for hands and faces can go in to your regular laundry cycle, but wipes used for bottoms should be rinsed separatelybefore their main wash. Put the used wipes in a container to soak (any tub with a lid will do). If your baby or toddler is weaning you should first hand rinse any soiled wipes to remove solids, then give them a long wash in your machine at 40 or 60 degrees.
Once the wipes are out of the wash they are all ready to be used again! If you are using them the same day you don’teven need to wait for them to dry first, fantastic!