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.

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