Who doesn't love commercial cleaning wipes? They're wickedly convenient--but also wickedly expensive and often contain harsh chemicals. The alternative: make your own refillable cleaning wipes!

Homemade cleaning wipes are easy to make, economical, and contain only those cleaning agents you select. Use them in the kitchen, the bathroom, or for cleaning windows.

Put homemade cleaning wipes to work for you in your organized home with our easy instructions:

Homemade Cleaning Wipes

Materials and Equipment Needed:

• cylindrical or tall square plastic food storage container, 10-cup capacity
• extra-large roll of paper towels
• cleaning agents of your choice (recipes follow)
• electric drill with 1/2-inch drill bit
• electric knife
• 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. Less-expensive towels fray or shred when pulled through the holder; thicker quilted towels have greater cleaning strength and withstand more scrubbing. Even at $1.39 per roll, cost for homemade wipes will be less than 75 cents, not including the storage container.

Without removing the paper towel wrapper, use the electric knife to cut the paper towel roll into two shorter rolls. Be patient! It may take up to two minutes to cut through the towel roll and cardboard tube inside.

Remove the wrapper, and place one short paper towel roll inside plastic food storage container. Save the second roll for a refill later.

Using a liquid measuring cup, gently pour one of the following cleaning solution recipes over the top of the paper towel roll.

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.

Homemade Cleaning Wipes Recipes

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

General Surface Cleaning Recipe:

• 1 1/2 cups white vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups water

Disinfectant Cleaning:

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

Window and Glass Cleaning:

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

Tips:

As you use the wipes, they will begin to dry out, so add more water and/or cleaning solution as necessary. Allow wipes to stand overnight before continuing to use them after adding more solution.

You may vary the strength of the cleaning solutions as necessary for your household, using more cleaning agents for a stronger wipe, less solution and more water for a milder product.

 

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