DIY Disinfectant Wipes

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When you have littles in the house doing chores, it’s definitely handy to have some helpful (and safe) cleaning tools availalbe. One of my favourites are disinfectant wipes – for when the kids have been sick and you just want to wipe things down quickly, or if there’s a sticky mess on the floor or wall, doorknobs and cupboard handles needing to be cleaned, or the bathrooms need a quick mid-week wipe-down.

The downside of store-bought disinfectant wipes is they’re expensive, loaded with chemicals, and generally antibacterial – which, as recent studies have been showing, isn’t the greatest way to be doing our cleaning.

The beauty of homemade wipes is they’re cost-effective and full of all-natural products, making it totally safe for your kiddos! There are tons of variations of recipes out there so you can pretty much always find one to suit what you have on hand.

My current favourite recipe uses vinegar, water, castille soap, tea tree oil or Thieves oil. You can certainly skip the Thieves oil, but I like the fact that it’s adding extra germ-killing to my cleaning. (If you’re interested in purchasing Thieves oil, you can order directly from Young Living and use my distributor #1417777.)

DIY Disinfectant Wipes

1 1/2 cups boiled or distilled water
2-3 squirts of liquid castille soap
1/4 cup of vinegar
3-4 drops of tea tree oil OR 4 drops thieves oil
half a roll of GOOD quality paper towel (think Bounty :D) OR t-shirt rags

In a deep container, whisk together ingredients. Cut a roll of paper towel in half and place in the container. Flip the roll over so both sides absorb the liquid. Leave for a few minutes, then pull the cardboard tube out of the middle.

Store in an air-tight container – Rubbermaid makes some snap-tight ones that will fit a paper towel roll, or you can use glass jars from Ikea or the Dollar store. Old baby wipe containers also work great, as do old store-bought disinfectant wipe containers :D If the roll is too big to fit whole, unravel some sheets and store in a separate container.

Double the recipe for a whole roll of paper towel – we use Bounty, because it really DOES hold up the best for cleaning! You can buy it from Costco in bulk at a good price, or stock up on sale. To go even greener, check out this recipe from The Humbled Homemaker – she uses her hubby’s old t-shirts instead of paper towels!

Another cheap alternative is to use a homemade all-purpose cleaner spray with shirt rags. Check out this link for the how-to!

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