Homemade Disposable Cleaning Wipes

5 Materials
$2
10 Minutes
Easy

Do you have a place in your house where you like the convenience of those pop-up disposable cleaning wipes? For me, it's a bathroom down in our basement. It just helps to have a few cleaning shortcuts in a room that's way off in a far corner of our house.


But as much as I liked that convenience, I didn't like the price I was paying for those few little wipes in a container. My solution? Make my own!

What worked for me was to put a roll of paper toweling (a good brand like Viva or Bounty) into a 1 gallon plastic pitcher. Of course this gives you a much larger sized container than the store bought wipes but I think that's a good thing! I know this size batch will last me a lot longer than those little containers of wipes I was buying at the store.

I began by placing my roll of paper towels in the gallon container. Even though it looks like the paper toweling is just a little too big for the container, it still worked.

Update: When storing these wipes, I do put the lid back on, and the towels compress down and fit in the container very nicely.

I then soaked the paper toweling with a homemade solution using water, vinegar, dish soap, and tea tree essential oil.

Update: The amounts I use are 1-3/4 cup water, 1/4 cup vinegar, 1/4 tsp dish soap, and 10 drops of tea tree oil.

After it soaked for a few minutes, I could easily remove the cardboard tube from the middle and begin pulling the paper towels up from the center of the roll to use them like "pop-up" wipes.

I've been very happy with my homemade wipes so far! They were easy to make, do a great job of quick clean-ups, and are saving me money too. You can get the complete printable recipe and more details over on my blog (or you can use the "GO" button below.

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Bev @ The Make Your Own Zone
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  • Ticia Ticia on Oct 11, 2021

    I think I may have seen this previously but my ? is this - I like to use alcohol as a disinfectant and antibacterial (the rubbing kind - not vodka) simply with a little water in a spray bottle but wonder if it is feasible with your method without the tea tree oil as we have a cat. While I like vinegar for the same purpose, it is not good for granite and mine was ruined by a prior home owner who used vinegar everywhere. I have always used alcohol to wipe down common surfaces especially if someone has been ill and now especially. Appreciate your input. Thanks.

  • Gigi Gigi on Jul 25, 2022

    Does anyone know an easily accessible essential oil that would not be toxic to the pets? I have dogs but would like a scent in this mixture.

  • Karen Karen on Jan 14, 2023

    Were you able to "dispense" the towels through the pour feature of the pitcher?

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  • Susie Susie on Oct 11, 2021

    Common sense, but no tree oil if you have pets! I mix Dawn, Water and vinegar in a spray bottle, then tear off my paper towels. Same dif.

  • BERT LUCAS BERT LUCAS on Apr 25, 2023

    I have never heard of pets and tea tree oil problem. Is it harmful to them then?

    • Billie Peach Billie Peach on Oct 15, 2023

      From what I’ve always been told tea tree is toxic to pets.

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