Fabulous Tip -- Homemade Household Wipes

As I was reading through blogs ~ I came across THIS post on how to make your own household cleaning wipes! I LOVED this idea! Fabuloso (if that is a word?)

Moneyless Mommas, Tara & Jessica were so creative in coming up with a safe, economical way to make your own household wipes! I found it in particular perfect timing for me, because somehow we ended up with two huge packs of paper towels from Costco! So, I was able to put some of these rolls to good use!

And, then I stumbled across this site and found cleaning wipes too! So, there are several places to find cleaning wipes when you do a google search.

I was inspired to make my own and thus I adapted both cleaning wipe places and came up with this!

Cleaning Wipes

Materials Needed:

• cylindrical or tall square plastic food storage container, 10-cup capacity. ( I found mine at Walmart - a two pack for 2.99)
• extra-large roll of paper towels - I used 1 roll bounty paper towel cut in half (my hubby cuts them in the garage with his power miter saw)
• cleaning agents of your choice (recipes follow)
• electric drill with 1/2-inch drill bit
• liquid measuring cups

Instructions:

In the garage or workshop area, place a small block of wood beneath the plastic food storage container lid. Use electric drill to drill a 1/2-inch diameter hole in the center of the container lid.

For best results, select an extra-large roll of good quality paper towels for this project. I used Bounty and that seemed to work very well. I am told that less-expensive towels fray or shred when pulled through the holder.

For cutting the roll in half using the electric knife:
Without removing the paper towel wrapper, use the electric knife to cut the paper towel roll into two shorter rolls. Save the second roll for a refill later. Be patient! It may take up to two minutes to cut through the towel roll and cardboard tube inside.
Otherwise -- bat your eyes and ask hubby to cut it in half for you using his power tool!


Remove the wrapper, and place one short paper towel roll inside plastic food storage container. Using a liquid measuring cup, gently pour one of the following cleaning solution recipes over the top of the paper towel roll.

You will need between 2 and 4 cups of cleaning solution, depending on the size and absorbency of the paper towel product selected. These recipes make about three cups of solution; increase or decrease amounts if needed.


Place the lid on the plastic food storage container, and allow paper towels to absorb cleaning solution for 4 hours to overnight.


Open the food storage container. Gently pull the wet cardboard tube from the center of the paper towel roll and discard. Carefully pull the end of the paper towels from the inside, where the cardboard roll had been. Thread the end of the towels through the hole in the lid, and replace the lid.Pull gently on the exposed end to separate the cleaning wipe.



RECIPES:

General Cleaning Surface Recipe:

• 1 1/2 cups white vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups water
• optional: A few drops of favorite scented essential oil. I used lavender.

Disinfectant Cleaning Recipe:

• 1/4 - 1/2 cup of pine cleaning solution such as Pine Sol
• 2 1/2 - 2 3/4 cup of water

Window Glass Cleaning Recipe:

• 1/2 cup of rubbing (isopropyl) alcohol
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar