Have a cloth diaper question? On Mondays, I answer reader submitted questions, and ask my other readers’ advice too.
Questions don’t have to be cloth diaper related, just email maria at change-diapers.com with “Mailbox Mondays” in the subject, or Fill out my contact form for readers, which you will always be able to find on my Contact Page.
Sabrina says:
I am expecting my first child at the beginning of July, and am so excited to cloth diaper! I would also like to use cloth wipes, but I am overwhelmed with the options. Should I just buy washcloths from Wal-mart, buy actual cloth wipes from a cloth diaper store, or what? And should I pre-moisten them or use a spray bottle? How long can you keep them pre-moistened? How many will I need?? Sooo many questions! I hope you or your readers can help!
Hi Sabrina, congratulations on the baby (and deciding to cloth diaper!) Cloth wipes are the logical choice when you are cloth diapering of course. Plenty of people use baby washcloths as cloth wipes with no trouble. I didn’t care for how small/thin they were, and they tend to roll up on me.
I’ve used a few brands of cloth wipes, but when I started I just used some gerber burp cloths that I found too thin to use as burp cloths. I cut them, doubled them over, and zig-zagged the edges.
I knew that cloth wipes would “pay for themselves” eventually, but they just seemed to expensive to me! After trying a few things, my favorite wipes have ended up being the GroVia wipes. A dozen wipes is under $11, and while they’re not super fancy (just plan white) they are really soft and have held up really well to repeated washings. They’re also 2 layers thick and are my preferred size, 8″ x 8″. This is also the perfect size to fold cloth wipes to pop up in a wipes case!
I use wipes solution in a spray bottle. A little goes a long way and it seems to last forever! I make my solution with bottled distilled water instead of tap water; it seems to keep it fresher longer.
If you are pre-moistening the wipes, I would probably not pre-moisten more than a day or two’s worth of wipes at a time. Most wipes solutions (purchased or homemade) usually have something like tea tree oil in it to help keep your wipes from getting musty though. You can also keep solution (or just water) in a peri bottle or even warm it and keep it in a thermos.
I would recommend at least 1.5 wipes for each diaper in your rotation. So if you’re planning to have 24 diapers in your stash, I’d get at least 3 dozen wipes. If you’re using smaller/thinner wipes, you may need a few more.
So, how about everyone else? What is your wipe of choice? How do you moisten them? If you pre-moisten, how long do they stay fresh? How many wipes did you find you needed?
FTC compliance: The GroVia wipes mentioned were purchased by me at normal retail prices. I was not compensated for this post, and all opinions are my own.
Maria wants to live in a world where cloth diapers are the norm and moms can make parenting choices without judgement. When she’s not chasing her 18, 14 and 11-year old kids around, you might find her checking out the latest gadgets, organizing something (again) or exercising in the fresh air. 
Mold only need 72 hours to appear with just water, so If you have pre-moist wipes I would def go with Maria’s advice, do not keep ’em for more than 2 days. I make my own with chamomille and just water. Love the smell and what it does for my son’s bottom.
I have a related question for your readers… I started out using cloth wipes and have since switched to disposable ones for poopy diapers. I found rinsing 2-3 wipes to be very messy and too grossly hands-on even with the diaper sprayer. How does everyone else manage this? I’d love to switch back. My son is formula fed and is on solids so I just cannot see tossing all that poop in the pail. I use infant wash cloths moistened with a peri bottle of water for non-poopy changes. TIA
I treat my wipes the same way I do my diapers. Anything that doesn’t come off easily goes in the wash!
I bought my cloth wipes off of Etsy. They are just flannel. I probably have around 20-30 of them. Maybe 40. Anyway…I just fold them in half, put them in an old wipes container, then I put a little Burts Bees Baby wash in a peri bottle, fill it with water and pre-wet the wipes. Sometimes I need to fill the bottle with water twice to wet them all well, because of the suds. I haven’t had any problems with them being not fresh, or with the baby having a dry bottom. I usually use 1 for a pee, and anywhere from 1-3 on a poop usually. It has worked quite nicely for me!
Thank you guys so much for all the advice!
I started CDing without using cloth wipes and soon discovered how inconvient it was to have to throw away a wipe and place a diaper in a pail. I now use cloth and love it. I use a spray bottle downstairs during the day and this makes the solution last so long! However, I have found that at night I like to have them premoistened I just put them in an old wipes container and pour about a cup of solution over them, these way the solution only lasts about 3 days but it is nice not to have to hassle with a spray bottle at night! I have about 3 dozen wipes I started out with less and soon found I needed more. I use OzyCozy flannel wipes they aren’t the most expensive nor the cheapest but I love them and usually only have to use 1 a change unless it’s a real bad diaper. I am soon making the change to cloth wipes in my diaper bag I just haven’t done it yet. Good luck and don’t be intimidated at all by cloth wipes they are great and no hassle at all.
We use two different kinds of wipes. We use kissaluvs knit terry wipes (we call these our poop wipes) which are nice and thick and are looped on one side which is really great for getting the poo off (although, if baby is EBF, then poo isn’t so hard to clean until solids are introduced). And we also use circo brand (target) baby wash cloths – the ones that come in 6 packs, not the ones with the piping along the edge – which are thinner for pee or tiny poo changes. This seems to work well for us. We pre-moisten and keep the wipes in an old disposable wipe container. I just use a little baby shampoo (we haven’t had any issues with dry skin, but I’ve heard that some people don’t use the baby shampoo for that reason) and warm water in a peri bottle to wet them. We have 2 stacks folded in quarters in the container (one stack of pee wipes and one of poo wipes). We have 18 pee wipes and 12 poo wipes and usually don’t have all of them in the container at once b/c they don’t quite fit. My son is just about to turn 1 and we usually have 5 or 6 diaper changes a day, so I try to make sure that there are at least 2 days of moistened wipes (we haven’t had any musty issues with that). We started out using disposable wipes and once we finally switched we felt like we had been idiots for waiting so long to do so! Congrats on your new little one and I hope that you find success with cloth diapers (and wipes!), it’s a great choice for your baby :o)
i made my own wipes. flannel one side and micro fleece on the the other. I made maybe 4 dozen at first for two kids in diapers and they lasted about 2 and a half years (washing daily). i just made 2 dozen more for our new one due any day now as some of the other ones needed to be replaced. I use Heiny spray made by happy heinys, and dilute it in a different spray bottle with 50% water ( to make it last longer). love it. a
I just made a couple dozen from some receiving blankets I had because I couldn’t justify spending money on them. I use a spray bottle with my solution so they don’t get musty. Love them and they are so much nicer on my little guys behind!
I absolutely love RagaBabe cloth wipes. Here’s why : they’re only 1 layer thick (so they don’t add a ton of extra bulk to the wash), I only need 1 per diaper change (even for poopy diapers), they’re made of nbleached organic cotton sherpa, and they work perfectly in a wipes warmer! I recommend getting the bundle (30 wipes)– it has been the perfect number for me. http://www.shop.ragababe.com/RagaBabe-Organic-Cotton-Wipe-wipe.htm
I originally had a spray bottle of water to wet the wipes and another with wipes solution and it was a pain. I totally recommend getting a wipes warmer. You wet the wipes before layering them in (there’s tutorials on how to fold them so they’ll “pop-up” out of the warmer) and that’s it! I do spray them though with the wipes solution spray bottle for poopy diapers (but just use the wet wipe for wet diapers). You have to take time to fill the wipes warmer every 2 days, but each diaper change is then really quick because your wipes are totally ready (and babies love warm wipes:). Good luck with whatever you choose, but don’t be afraid of cloth wipes;)
Here’s my tutorial for folding wipes to pop up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMC6LHfuldY&feature=player_embedded 🙂