Why Make Your Own Natural Cleaning Wipes
As I try to use less harsh chemicals in my home, I’ve started making my own natural cleaning wipes. They are easy to make, use common household ingredients, and work great. Here’s why I make my own natural cleaning wipes:
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Health. Store-bought cleaning wipes often contain chemicals like ammonia, bleach, synthetic fragrances, and preservatives. These can cause eye, skin, and respiratory irritation. Natural ingredients are much gentler.
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Cost savings. Packaged wipes can be expensive. Making my own allows me to reuse old cloths and paper towels, saving money.
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Reduced waste. Disposable wipes create a lot of unnecessary waste and plastic packaging. With homemade wipes, I can use reusable cloths that I would otherwise throw away.
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Custom cleaning solutions. I can choose the exact ingredients I want for different cleaning tasks. Store-bought wipes contain a generic cleaning solution.
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No harsh fumes. Chemical fumes from normal cleaners give me headaches. Natural cleaners made from things like vinegar, castile soap, and essential oils don’t bother me at all.
What You Need to Make Natural Cleaning Wipes
Making natural cleaning wipes is easy because you likely have most of the ingredients on hand already. Here’s what you need:
- Old cloths or paper towels
- Vinegar or castile soap
- Water
- Essential oils (optional)
- Airtight container
- Spray bottle
Old cloths. These will be the wipes themselves. You can cut up old t-shirts, socks, towels, or washcloths. Paper towels also work.
Vinegar. White distilled vinegar is a natural disinfectant and cleaning agent. It’s inexpensive and works for most cleaning tasks.
Castile soap. Baby shampoo or Dr. Bronner’s castile soap added to water makes a great natural cleaner too.
Essential oils. Oils like lemon, eucalyptus, peppermint, and tea tree add antibacterial properties and nice scents.
Airtight container. A reusable plastic container or glass jar with a tight lid stores the wipes and keeps them moist.
Spray bottle. Use it to wet the wipes with your cleaning solution. Refill with vinegar, castile soap mix, or water as needed.
How to Make Natural Cleaning Wipes
Making DIY natural cleaning wipes takes just a few easy steps:
1. Cut Cloths
Cut old cloths or paper towels into wipe-sized squares. The size you cut depends on the cleaning tasks. For small jobs, do 2×2″ or 3×3″ squares. For big jobs like floors, cut them bigger.
2. Make Cleaning Solution
Mix your desired cleaning solution in a spray bottle. For an all-purpose cleaner, use a 50/50 mix of distilled white vinegar and water. For more heavy duty cleaning, do a stronger vinegar solution of 1 part water to 2 parts vinegar. Alternatively, make a castile soap solution by mixing a few drops of baby shampoo or castile soap with water. Add 5-10 drops of essential oils like lemon or tea tree if desired for scent and antibacterial properties.
3. Soak Wipes
Place your cut wipes in an airtight container. Spray them with the cleaning solution until saturated. Put the lid on and let them soak for at least 10 minutes so the liquid absorbs in.
4. Use and Re-Wet As Needed
Pull out a wipe when needed to clean surfaces. Once it starts getting dry, just re-spray it with your solution from the bottle to re-wet it and keep cleaning.
5. Refresh Solution
If the wipes start smelling funky, dump them out and wipe out the container. Make a fresh solution and soak new wipes in it.
Natural Cleaning Wipes Uses
Homemade natural cleaning wipes work great for all sorts of household cleaning tasks:
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Kitchen. Clean countertops, appliances, sinks. Also great for wiping up messes as you cook.
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Bathrooms. Scrub toilets, wipe down sinks, mirrors, showers, and tubs.
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Floors. Vinegar solution works to mop tile, laminate, and sealed hardwood. Also great for quick cleanups.
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Furniture. Dust, sanitize, and polish wood furniture. Wipe down leather and vinyl.
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Walls and windows. Remove dirt, splatters, smudges, and cobwebs throughout the house.
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Electronics. Safely wipe down phones, tablets, computer screens, TVs, and other electronics.
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Cars. Clean and disinfect steering wheels, seats, dashboards, doors, etc. Removes grime and leaves a streak-free shine.
Why This Works
What makes homemade natural cleaning wipes work so well? Here are a few reasons:
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Vinegar – The acetic acid in vinegar dissolves dirt, grease, and grime. It’s also antibacterial. The vinegar smell fades quickly once it dries.
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Castile soap – Plant-based soaps like Dr. Bronner’s contain saponins that break down oils and lift dirt. Baby shampoo works similarly without harsh detergents.
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Essential oils – Oils like tea tree, eucalyptus, and lemon add antibacterial and antimicrobial properties to boost cleaning power naturally.
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Reusable cloths – Using old cloths and paper towels reduces waste. The scrubbing texture also helps lift and absorb dirt.
I’m so happy I switched to natural cleaning wipes! My home is clean, my air feels fresh, and I have peace of mind from avoiding harsh chemicals. Making them myself saves money too. I’d encourage everyone to give natural cleaning wipes a try!
