We’ve been cloth diapering since about a week after our daughter came home from the hospital. I know cloth diapers aren’t for everyone, but we knew from the beginning it was something we wanted to tackle. When I was pregnant, I spent hours researching different types of diapers, creams, wipes, and wipe solution. All my hours of research paid off, because we are super happy with our cloth diapering system.
I’ve written in-depth about the cloth diapers we used (BumGenius Freetime all-in-one diapers exclusively), but this post is covering the flannel wipes that we used for years. For some reason, for me, cloth wipes seemed like more of a mental roadblock to overcome than the diapers themselves. But I was absolutely sold after using them the first time! They clean better than the disposable wipes we’ve used. They are easy on soft baby bums. They wash up beautifully. And I love that I never have to buy packs of wipes.
What’s the best fabric to use for fabric wipes?
There are a lot of different cloth wipes you can use. Some people buy specially made, two-ply, bamboo, gold-plated, hand-sewn, organic wipes for like $10 a pop. I am not one of those people. I went the simple route and made my own single-ply flannel wipes. I purchased flannel fabric, but you can also upcycle old flannel sheets, pillowcases, receiving blankets, pajamas, or shirts. I like flannel because it is very soft, washes well, and it does a great job of cleaning. Plus, I can tell you after using these wipes for cloth diapering for 3+ years—it holds up beautifully. Our original set of cloth wipes were still in great shape when our daughter got out of diapers.
Should I do one-ply wipes or two-ply wipes?
I prefer two-ply wipes for cleaning, but for bum-wiping, I think one-ply wipes are the best bet. They are still soft and absorbent, but they also thin enough that I can easily stack the wipes in our wipe warmer to come out one at a time. This doesn’t seem like a big deal until you have a wiggly baby covered in poop on the changing table and you need to quickly, and easily grab wipes.
How do I make flannel baby wipes?
Flannel wipes are an absolute breeze to make, it’s really just two steps (with an extra third step that is purely aesthetic).
Step 1: Cut your Wipes
The size of the wipe is up to you, but for easy folding and fitting in containers that are meant for disposable wipes, I went with a standard eight-inch square. Cut out as many wipes as you think you’ll need. We’ve worked with a set of 36 for one baby for months but ended up adding an extra 20 once she got a little older and we needed to clean up non-diapering messes, too. You can get about 20 eight-inch square wipes from one yard of 40″ wide flannel.
You can cut the fabric using regular scissors, but a rotary cutter, mat, and clear ruler set makes quick work of it!
Step 2: Round the corners of the wipes (optional)
You could leave the corners as right-angles, or you can do what I did and round the corners. Personally, I find the rounded corners easier to sew (no stopping, pivoting, and starting again). Plus, they look cute, and I think they pull out of the wipes container a little easier.
To round the corners, I just took each wipe, folded it into quarters, and used a sharp pair of scissors to round the corners. You could be more precise about it and trace around a small bowl using a fabric marking pen, but I figure these are just bum wipes. They certainly don’t need to be perfect.
Step 3: Finish the edges
Since these wipes are going to be washed frequently, you need to finish the edges to make sure they don’t unravel. You can do this easily and quickly if you have a serger available to you, but many folks don’t, so here are two other options:
Finish using pinking shears
You can make these no-sew flannel baby wipes by using pinking shears to cut around the edge of the wipes. The pinking pattern helps keep the wipes from unraveling—although it’s not quite as sturdy as sewing the edges.
Finish using the overlock stitch on your sewing machine
Most sewing machines have an overlock stitch (or a few different overlock stitches). Check your manual. If you don’t have an overlock stitch, you can also use a standard zig-zag stitch. My machine also comes with an overlock foot, which makes it easier to line up right at the edge of the wipe, but it definitely isn’t a necessity. Our goal here is to get the stitch to wrap right around the edge of the fabric to “seal” it closed.
I stitch all the way around the wipe—making sure to stitch back and forth at the beginning and end to really secure the thread. This whole process takes me about 30 seconds.
And then…it’s done. That’s it! I can make a few dozen of these wipes per hour, no problem.
Do I need to do anything special when I was these wipes?
When you go to wash them the first time, the edges will ravel a bit, but it ends up giving the wipes a nice frayed look. Our wipes have gone through the washer a bajillion times (approximately), and we haven’t had a single one unravel. They still look great! Just like you would with cloth diapers, make sure to wash them using the hot/sanitize setting on your washer, and make sure to wash them separately from other laundry to keep everything sanitary.
What’s the best solution to use with these wipes?
We tested a bunch of different wipes solutions over our cloth diapering years, and our favorite wipes solutions was this Diaper Lotion Potion concentrate. Because we live in a hot and humid area, wipes did tend to get a little mildewy in the summer, so we added 2-3 drops of tea tree essential oil to the mix every time we made it stop mildew.
What’s the best wipes container to use with these wipes?
We originally went with this wipe container, and it’s great (works wonderfully with these flannel wipes), but we quickly realized that cold wipes would shock our baby awake in the middle of the night. Cold wipes turned middle-of-the-night diaper changes into scream fests! So we invested in this wipe warmer, and there were no more tears during diaper changes! We love, love, love that wipe warmer (and it’s totally something I thought was a ridiculous purchase pre-baby).
Can I give these flannel wipes as a gift?
These flannel wipes make a wonderful homemade baby gift! If you want to gift them, just either stack or roll them nicely, and tie them with a pretty ribbon. You could even throw in a bottle of my favorite wipe solution and cloth-diaper friendly rash stick for a really easy, thoughtful, and affordable gift.
How to Make Cloth Baby Wipes
Never buy baby wipes again with this tutorial for super-easy homemade, reusable cloth baby wipes! No-sew and sewing machine versions available.
Materials
- Flannel fabric (purchased or upcycled from receiving blankets, sheets, etc.)
- Coordinating threat (not necessary for no-sew option)
Tools
- Scissors or rotary cutter and cutting mat
- Sewing machine (for sew option)
- Pinking shears (for no-sew option)
Instructions
- Using scissors or a rotary cutter, cut the flannel fabric into 8" square wipes.
- OPTIONAL: fold the the wipes in half, and then in half again, and using scissors, round the corners.
- To finish the edge with a sewing machine: read your machine's manual to find the overclock stitch OR if your machine does not have an overclock stitch, set your machine to a zig-zag stitch. Sew the entire perimeter of each wipe, making sure to double back over the starting and ending points.
- NO SEW VERSION: To finish the edges with pinking shears, using pinking shears to cut all the way around the perimeter of each wipe.
Thanks for sharing.
Do you put a solution on the wipes in the wipe warmer? Or are they just dry?
Hi, Sylvia! Yes, we like to use Diaper Lotion Potion Concentrate with these cloth wipes and our wipe warmer. We have more info about why we love this particular solution in the post under the section, “What’s the best solution to use with these wipes?” Hope this helps!
Thanks for the tutorial! To get rounded corners I used my rotary cutter and a mason jar lid – I had a stack of 6 layers of flannel, and my cutter didn’t have a problem. Much faster than doing each individually, and I agree it makes sewing easier, as well as making the wipes look more “finished.”
I don’t have a sewing machine. What type of hand stitch would you recommend and how would I go about doing that? TIA
I would recommend using pinking shears to finish the edges for a no-sew version. 🙂
Hi, I used an overcast foot, but it won’t allow me to backstitch to secure the thread. Probably due to the piece of metal in between the stitches. I have to pull the fabric back to remove it from the bar before snipping the thread. Do you have any other ideas on how to secure the threads? Maybe just tie the loose ends??
Yup, just tie them together and then snip the ends.
Hi! Which foot do you use?
I used the overlock foot on my machine. 🙂
I really want to use flannel! Or perhaps cotton? However, I do not have access to a sewing machine (nor do I remember how to use one, lol!). Is there a way I can use these fabrics without sewing? Is there another fabric that may work? I don’t really want to use fleece.
I’m sure you could hand stitch them if you wanted!
What a fun project! I really wanted to upcycle fabric so I used a pair of adult large pajamas to make mine! I got 16 wipes out of one pair of pjs. .
Just made my first set of cloth wipes with my MIL help and her serger! Thanks for all the advice! My next question is, what kind of solution do you put them in and how do you travel with them?
I don’t have a serger and my machine doesn’t do zig-zag so I guess I will have to make them tw0-ply, sew them together, then turn them right-side out. Saw another pattern for fleece and terry but that seemed to be way too thick. Two pieces of flannel should do it. Thanks for the inspiration!
This is my first time to sew with the overcast foot! Do you have any tips? My thread keeps bunching up every time I try to sew the corners!
Yeah can you post how you fill a dispenser with these to single pull them?
Here’s a video that shows the method we use: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bBpbszH7A8
You mentioned having them dispense one at a time, how do you do that?
I’m also curious about this. We have a wpe warmer too but wipes only “dispense” if they’re the refill kind.
Yes, I thought I remembered a tutorial of how they “dispense” – we have our wipes but now need a system for getting them out in those crucial seconds with the diaper off!
I love this! I included your tutorial in my post about how cloth wipes can save money!! http://babyoab.com/2015/10/07/saving-money-with-cloth-wipes/
what solution do you use for the wipes? Do you soak in solution and store or spray as you go?
I have a question- Ive done cloth wipes, going to do flannel have cotton at moment. What do u soak them in? I have old wipies plastic container and did baby shampoo warm water & coconut oil mix & after maybe 5+ days they started to smell sour & a different stink. What gives? Should I just do plain ol wTer??
A few drops of tea tree oil should solve that. 🙂
oooh can’t wait to hear about the Freetimes. I’m planning on cloth diapering and want the easiest one for my husband to use when baby comes in March. 🙂 Quick question on the wipes. Where can I find adorable flannel like that? I went to Joann’s Fabric’s in my neck of the woods and asked for the flannel and was pointed to a small selection of Paul Bunyan/Al Borlin shirt patterned fabric. That was it. Is flannel hard to fine, or should I be calling it by a different fabric name?
This is a great tutorial! I like the idea of using flannel instead of purchasing diaper cloth material (which I’ve seen on many tutorials)
Sonia – Try asking for nursery flannel prints or solid flannel. Joann’s website also has a section called Snuggle Printed Fabrics. Many other fabric websites have flannel also. 🙂
Wow! Such a great idea. I made burp cloths & bibs for my last child (#4)out of cloths diapers. I think I will be making these for my first grandbaby due in March. thank you!! 🙂
Thanks for sharing this. Cloth diapers are awesome! We’ve been using them for over 6 years- at times with two children in them at the same time. We’ve gone through many different types (I’ve reviewed everyone we’ve tried on my blog) and found our favourites a few years ago. We’ve never done the cloth wipes though…. like you said it seems to be a mental block.
thank you so much for the tutorial! i can’t wait to hear about your love of freetimes… we’ll be first time parents (baby due jan 7th) and those are what i registered for, but the more forums i read, the more stressed i get, lol.
LOVE our Freetimes. No leaks. We’ve never had a “poop explosion” I hear people talking about. They wash up easily, and they are super easy to use (just as easy as disposables, in my opinion). Plus, they are adorable!