Cheeky wipes – Our guide to making reusable wipes EASY! Your FAQ’s answered…
Cheeky Wipes have kindly written this blog for us to give us a little more insight into how you use reusable wipes, the equipment you need and answer all those ‘practical’ questions. Hopefully this clears up any thoughts on using wipes, and hopefully will convert some new users!
We launched our All in One Kits back in 2008 after Helen (MD and founder of Cheeky Wipes ) spent 4 years (and 2 children) perfecting what she knew would be needed to make using reusable wipes easy, and cost effective.
What do you really need to use reusable wipes?
We started with a bunch of cotton flannels and a plastic box as a necessity to calm down Helen’s eczema flare up when she was using disposable wipes on her first baby (he’s now 19!) This got her thinking to how easy could she make it for herself and surely there must be other parents looking for a more natural, environmentally and cost friendly solution.
- Washable wipes – 25 is a good number as it will get you through about a day and a half with a new born and you’ll be washing that often anyway
- Somewhere to store clean wipes – Having them ready damp is a bit like a make your own wet wipes kit so our Fresh box can hold up to 40 wipes (handy if you are having twins or have more than one little peach in nappies). Add cold water and some essential oil to the box, pop your wipes in and they are a convenient and ready as a disposable
- Somewhere to store used wipes – The mucky box in our kit comes with a mesh wash bag that hangs in there to make it easy to transfer the wipes to the washing machine. Cold water in the box with some Tea tree oil gets the cleaning started.
- A bag to take them out with you – Handy wetbags for clean and used wipes was a game changer for Helen! Until then she was using plastic sandwich bags!
Ok, so you’ve got your kit set up…how do you get started?
- For 25 wipes, fill your Fresh box with cold water (approx 3cm from the top) and add 4 – 5 drops of the ‘Fresh Wipes’ essential oil blend. (For the first 6 weeks you would just use water* with the wipes – damp wipes are so much easier than faffing about with cotton wool, especially at 3am!). Pop the wipes in, turn the wipes over so they all get nice and damp and then you are ready to go.
- *We recommend just water for newborns up to 6 weeks old and this adheres to the NICE guidelines of the first 6 weeks with just cotton wool and water.
- Get your Mucky Box ready with with water to 3cm from the top then add 3 – 4 drops of the ‘Mucky Wipes’ essential oil blend to keep those mucky baby wipes sweet.
- Once you’ve used the wipes, place them inside the mesh wash bag in the ‘Mucky Wipes’ container. This saves you having to touch those mucky things again.
Going out with your Cheeky Wipes…
- Grab some ready damp wipes from your Fresh box and give them a good squeeze.
- Pop them in the Fresh wipes bag and into your changing bag/rucksack/on the pushchair!
- Used ones can go straight into the mesh insert in the ‘Mucky Wipes’ bag.
- Back home, throw them into the wash with a normal load.
The washing part…
- Your mesh bag of mucky baby wipes can go straight into the washing machine (30 – 60 degree wash is fine!) with your next load of washing (no separate wash load is required) your baby wipes come out spankingly clean.
- Washing at 60c once a week (with your towels or bedding for example) or occasionally using an anti-bacterial washing solution will help keep them in tip-top condition. This is only for our White wipes, the gorgeous rainbow wipes should be washed at 40 degrees. Info will be on the wipes labels.
- Dry your wipes on the line, airer or tumble dryer and they are ready to go back in the Fresh box and start again.
- If you’re in a hurry, you can place clean, damp wipes straight back in the ‘Fresh Wipes’ box with some fresh essential oil solution but we do advise drying them every few washes for longevity. Keeping them wet all the time means the fibres can break down.
Reusable wipes don’t need separate washing…or drying!
More Cheeky hints and tips on washing reusable wipes
- How do you clean reusable wipes?
- Wash your reusable wipes them in the machine with with other washing. You don’t need to wait for a separate wash load. Soaking them in cold water does help to start shifting the poo and when you wash them, we recommend the mesh bag isn’t rammed full. You can loosen the string so the wipes can roam free in the machine, uncurl fully and that way the detergent can get to all the stains and do its job. You can also add some stain remover, this really helps.
- If there are only a few wipes in the bag, you can keep it closed as the wipes should have room to move about.
- We recommend that you simply wash on a decent length wash cycle with your normal washing detergent.
- Can you wash reusable wipes with clothes?
- Yes, you can wash reusable wipes with clothes. The mucky wipes can be popped in the machine any time you are putting a wash on…don’t wait for the mucky box to be full or keep them for a separate wash.
Team Cheeky Tip – Sunlight acts as a natural bleach so get those wipes out on the line when the sun makes an appearance (or even a bright windowsill!)
Team Cheeky Tip – We recommend that you don’t wash the bags unless they are VERY soiled as repeated washing can damage the waterproofing. Washing them occasionally at max 30 degrees is fine but it’s better to wipe the inside of the bags with a damp wipe and the tea tree oil and then hang inside out to dry. The Mucky bag mesh insert is of course fully machine washable to 60 degrees. For loads more hints and tips, head over to Cheekywipes for all the info. Their Customer Service team have all used all the products so have a wealth of information and experience to share
From the Cheeky Wipes Team