The following post is for, well, rags. I’m sure that it seems crazy that I would post about making fabric squares, but my goal is to really just to be encouraging in going zero waste.
When I look at so many zero waste products, I can’t help but think about how they’re either
A) crazy expensive,
B) require work to use (do you really need your unpaper towels snapped together on a roll?), or
C) are a lot of work to make (do you really need prettily hemmed edges on mama pads? I think not.)
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The first time I made these was as baby wipes. I’ve seen so many people who make their own baby wipes sew the edges.
Why?
I don’t know. Unfortunately, I can’t say that I used cloth diapers and wipes with my kids. Newborn poo, new motherhood, working life, and a hesitant husband made for a lethal combo when it came to that dream, but I have changed my fair share of diapers and I know what’s needed out of a wipe — and a single layer of flannel will cut it.
I made a set of these for my sister-in-law when she was pregnant and planning to cloth diaper. While she wasn’t successful in her venture either, these wipes have proven useful well beyond diapering. We recently celebrated our nephew’s third birthday and I spotted one of these (very faded and well-loved) flannel tissues peeking out of my sister-in-law’s sweater pocket.
I never could have imagined that they’d be so useful, but really, a baby wipe is the perfect size to use for tissues, cleaning up small messes, or for spit-up. And unlike a terry washcloth, they’re soft enough to use on baby’s skin and small and thin enough to discreetly tuck into a pocket, unlike a traditional hankie.
Alright, so making these. Obviously it’s very simple — just cut fabric into squares, right? So what on earth could I have to say about making them?
It’s simple:
It’s all about the material prep.
So first of all, go buy a couple of yards of whatever flannel fabric makes you happy — better yet, upcycle an old flannel shirt — just make sure that it’s 100% natural fibers (bamboo, cotton). There are so many cute patterns out there! Try to contain yourself!
Wash and dry the fabric on your normal settings to shrink the fabric.
Cut the fabric into approximately 7 ¾” squares, then wash them again.
Make cutting easy with a rotary blade and self-healing mat!
Why wash them again?
From what I can tell, this is the main reason people stitch their wipes.
When you remove them from the dryer, you’ll have threads all over the place and wrapped around any piece of laundry included in the load. This will really only happen this once, so take a minute, pull the pieces out, trim the frays, and make a neat little pile of squares. Throw or compost the threads.
If you’re so inclined to fold them so they’ll pull out of a wipe bin, it’s pretty simple, but I recommend just stacking them in a pretty box or making one of these DIY pant leg tissue boxes.
I hope you enjoy these and the time you’ll save by not stitching them. 🙂
Tell me about your favorite zero waste swap below! I’d love to give it a try!
—Funky Crunchy Mama
