Cloth?! Why Not Use "Regular" Baby Wipes?

A friend and I were chatting the other day about cloth diapers and such things. She had just made her first purchase of cloth diapers which is a big change for her. Although she's wanted to make the switch for a while, it was not something her husband was completely familiar with nor inclined to do. Recently, he changed his mind. When she mentioned cloth baby wipes, his response was "Why not use regular baby wipes?"

Good question and great topic for a blog article, right?

My first thought, honestly, is to say "but cloth IS 'regular'." I'm actually old enough to remember before disposable baby wipes. Of course this was a relatively short time ago. Disposable baby wipes appeared on the market in the mid-80's. In fact, when they appeared on the market my husband and I (who were nowhere near "natural" at the time) laughed at them. "What a waste of money!" we said. "People are afraid to do laundry these days?" we laughed. It simply made no sense to us. I'd never known anyone to use anything but washcloths and the like for cleaning baby's bottom. Spending money to do the same thing was illogical. Call me Mr. Spock but that was our attitude about wipes, bottled water and any number of other "convenience" items.

We've now established that I'm a bit cynical, let us move onward.

Why Return to Cloth Baby Wipes?

Most reasons will be the same as your reasons for choosing cloth diapers. But we'll go over those and a few more:

Affordability: Obvious, right? You will save money long-term by purchasing cloth wipes and reusing them.

Convenience: While disposables are touted as "convenient" it is truly the cloth wipes the provide the greater convenience. They're both "wipe-n-toss" but I've never had to "run out to pick up some wipes" due to running out. I never run out. They're always at hand. You can use plain water or soap and water to cleanse baby's bottom. You can create a solution and keep it in a tub with the wipes or in a bottle to squirt onto the wipe. On the go? Pre-moisten the cloth baby wipes and put them in a zip-bag.

Health: Cloth wipes are..well.. cloth! I never have to worry about what's on my children's bottoms. Disposables on the other hand are a blend of melted plastics and synthetic materials . The "cleansers" are chemicals which have been shown to change the PH balance of baby's skin and many of those chemicals have been linked to cancer.

Environmental: Of course many are concerned about the environment. Disposable wipes are doing no greater favors to the earth than disposable diapers do. The process for making them is surely a contributor to pollution, the chemicals are tested on animals and the product is then tossed into landfills. Enough said.