Blog Update!
For those of you not following me on Facebook, as of the Summer of 2019 I've moved to Central WA, to a tiny mountain town of less than 1,000 people.

I will be covering my exploits here in the Cascades, as I try to further reduce my impact on the environment. With the same attitude, just at a higher altitude!

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Cloth wipes: the set up

Cloth Wipe Challenge 2009So, you are planning on doing (or are fence-straddling) the Cloth Wipe Challenge and you want more details. Well, here's the wipe-up. Or, the wrap-up, whichever you prefer. These are my suggestions.

1. If you are just trying this out as a trial, but aren't convinced you want to do this for more than the week of the challenge, then get some cheap 100% cotton flannel or rip up old sheets or t-shirts and use those. For more details read my doin' it on the cheap post. Otherwise you can buy wipes made especially for this purpose (Google "family wipes").

2. If you plan on using cloth only for #1, get a mesh bag to hang on your TP roll holder or a small container with a lid (those compost pails with the filter work nice too). After you wipe, just throw the used cloth in your receptacle of choice and then launder with your other clothes. You can use a cold water wash if you use the dryer or line dry in the sun. If you're worried about bacteria, wash them in hot water.

3. If you plan on using cloth for #1 and #2, get a small container with a lid (again, the compost pail with filter is nice to keep the stink down). If you are doing a dry pail method, just throw the used wipes in the pail and toss some baking soda in occasionally if smell is an issue.

If you are using a wet pail method, fill the pail with the soak of your choice (tea tree oil, baking soda, etc.) and then throw the used wipes in there. Wash the used cloth in hot water. You can add a vinegar rinse if you like. For more info on cleaning, see my stinky post.

That's pretty much it! Any more questions?

What are you waiting for? Sign up now!

4 comments:

JanetDavies said...

O.K. I'm in but I'm only doing #1 to start. That seems pretty do-able to me.

Allisone said...

Signing up for #1.
Also talked a friend into it and fixed up a starter kit for them while I was cutting my own wipes.

I'll try just about anything for a week :) Particularly if it helps the planet.

Lisa said...

I would love to do this but not sure how my husband would feel about it lol.

Johanna said...

I recently started using cloth wipes for #1 (in part because my link-surfing led me to your posts about it, so thanks!). I'm a bit stymied in thinking about using them for #2, though--we live in a rented house & the washer doesn't have the hot water hose attached to it, so everything has to wash in cold. Normally that would be fine but it seems like using wipes for #2 requires hot water (that or line-drying in the sun, which is not possible here a lot of the time--in the UK). Any suggestions?