These DIY antibacterial wipes can be used on-the-go or at home! Switch the tea tree oil to lavender essential oil and you have DIY baby wipes!
DIY Antibacterial or Baby Wipes
I use a rectangular glass container (8 1/2 X 6 1/2) with a plastic lid. I cut a small opening for easy access to the roll. An empty baby wipe container works great too.
Tea tree oil offers unique antimicrobial properties. If you are looking to make something safe enough for babies, be sure to leave out the tea tree oil and use lavender instead – or skip the essential oil altogether for baby wipes!
DIY Antibacterial or Baby Wipes
- Category: Cleaning, DIY, Natural Living
Ingredients
- 1 package paper towels (small roll)
- 2 cups filtered water
- 2 tablespoons liquid castile soap
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 tablespoon glycerine
- 1 dash grapefruit seed extract (optional)
- 1 dash tea tree or lavender essential oil
Instructions
- Cut the paper towel roll in half. (You will have 2 toilet paper size rolls.)
- Remove the cardboard from the middle of each one.
- Set one roll aside for your next batch.
- Combine all but paper towels in a bowl. ( I use 10 drops essential oil for this recipe.)
- Stir.
- Pour into container.
- Place paper towel roll (ragged side down) into container.
- Push hard until the roll is immersed in the soap mixture.
- Pull from the middle of the roll to get it started, before the roll is saturated.
- Pull the first wipe slightly out of the container.
- Wipes are ready for use!
The introduction paragraph discusses using Tea Tree oil in the wipes recipe. But there is none listed in the recipe ingredients list. Please clarify the use of the tea tree oil. And is the grapefruit seed extract necessary, as I do not have any?
Thank you.
Hi Susan! I use 10 drops of Tea Tree Oil for this. The GSE is definitely optional. I adjusted the recipe to reflect this. Thanks so much for clarifying!
Thank you for your quick reply. I am looking forward to trying this.
Susan
What is the glycerine for?
It’s a moisturizing agent and adds a bit of soap to the blend.
I am so excited to make these with the given cold & flu season upon us! Thinking about what kind of a container I can use in the car and in my purse to store a few in… hmm… This is just what I’ve been looking for. 🙂 Thank you!
I have some compostable little storage bags that I keep some in. Maybe a small glass jar? Let me know what you find works for you!
I’ve heard that there are concerns for genital exposure to lavender and tea tree oils (especially in boys). Did you happen to do any research on this topic?
The tea tree oil would definitely not be good for diaper wipes, but I’m not sure on the lavender. I’ve not heard this, but will do a bit more research. The tea tree oil is for the antimicrobial wipes and would be fine for hands. I’ll try to clarify in the post, because that’s important. Thanks Lindsay!
How long does it take for the wipes to dry out?
If you store them in an airtight container, they should do well for a while. I’m honestly not sure, though.