How To Make Your Own Disinfectant Wipes Without Bleach
Disinfectant wipes are a staple in most homes. Did you know you can make them for much cheaper, and with better ingredients that you most likely already have in your pantry? Let us show you how.
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How To Make Disinfectant Wipes
Cleaning is not my favorite thing to do. I love being a wife and mother but the cleaning, not so much.
When cleaning wipes became a thing I fell in love with them and their convenience. However, I hate how wasteful cleaning wipes are.
Why not make your own disinfectant wipes that you can wash and reuse once you are done with them? That would be better for the environment and much, much cheaper.
With only a few ingredients that most people have in their pantries, you can easily make these wipes for your home.
Benefits of Disinfectant Wipes
One thing that is great about these make at home disinfecting wipes, is that they do not contain bleach. Bleach can be very effective at cleaning but is a very strong chemical.
Bleach can irritate the skin and eyes when cleaning with it in a close proximity. It also can increase your risk of cancer when breathing it in over a long period of time.
Bleach also can corrode many metals and therefore shouldn’t be used on stainless steel, aluminum, copper, brass, marble or granite. It can also produce chlorine gas, which is highly toxic and can damage your lungs. These are only a few reasons I do not use bleach in my house.
These homemade disinfecting wipes using no bleach will still get many surfaces shiny and clean with little effort.
Supplies Needed
- Distilled Water
- Rubbing Alcohol with at least 90% concentration ( this is best for disinfecting )
- Dish Soap
- Essential Oils of choice
- Washclothes
- Storage Container of Choice
A few things to think about when selecting your supplies. You do not have to use Dawn Dish soap like I did. Maybe you prefer Castile soap or some other brand.
We use dawn because as most people know it has an amazing way of cutting through grease and grim.
When choosing a storage container, you want to pick one you feel comfortable with. Maybe you had bought disinfecting wipes and want to repurpose the old container. We love repurposing things!
I chose a big mason jar. I always have them on hand and they look cuter sitting on my counter. However, if you have little ones at home and you worry about the glass breaking, please use something plastic that makes you feel more comfortable, just make sure it can seal nicely.
Another thing to think about is what kind of cloth to use. I bought two packs of microfiber cloths from Dollar Tree. I definitely need to go back and buy another pack because I still have room in my jar.
I cut in mine into different size strips. That way if I need a bigger one I can find one and if I need a smaller one I should have that too.
Essential Oils
When making things with essential oils it is best to know which essential oils are good for what. For example, citrus essential oils can be hard on granite so if you have granite you may want to avoid citrus ones or use a very small amount.
I love lemon essential oils for cleaning because of its fresh smell, so I used about 3 to 4 drops. I have granite so I didn’t want to go heavy on it, but I didn’t necessarily want to leave it out either.
I love tea tree oil and its cleansing properties so I added that as well. One of my favorties to use is peppermint because it smells amazing and mixes well with the lemon so I added that as well.
Some other essential oils that are great for cleaning are:
- Bergamot
- Rosemary
- Eucalyptus
- Cinnamon
- Peppermint
- Lemongrass
- Orange
- Sage
- Lavender
- Geranium
These will keep your house smelling amazing and most of these are both antibacterial, anti-fungal and antiviral.
How To Make Disinfecting Wipes
Get the cloths you want to use and cut them into strips. These can be the same size or you can cut them into various sizes for various projects.
Next, take your container you are going to store them in and put your cloths inside and set off to the side for now.
Grab a bowl and add your distilled water, alcohol, oils and soap of choice. Mix thoroughly.
Add your liquid into your container. I used a strainer but you can do it however you would like to. Now put the lid on and use as needed!
One of the best parts about these disinfectant wipes verses the ones you buy in the store, when you are done with these you just pop them in the washing machine and reuse them once they are clean. You just add them back to your jar and make more liquid when needed. Easy-peasy!
How To Use My New Wipes
A lot of recipes I saw for these wipes had too much soap in them. I tried that at first but found it left a soapy residue that I had to then rinse from wherever I used them on.
Using less soap made them better on my counter tops and other surfaces. I simply got a cloth from my container and squeezed out any excess liquid I knew I didn’t need. Then I simply rub the cloth on all of the area I wanted to clean.
I let this sit for a bit for the liquid to dry and dissolve and if it looks like there is any residue staying on the surface, I take a dry microfiber sheet and quickly re-wipe the area. This second dry wipe usually gives it a good shine. I am loving these results.
Disinfecting Wipes Recipe
- 2 cups distilled water
- 1 cup Rubbing Alcohol at least 90%
- 1 tablespoon Dawn Dish Soap ( Or your favorite brand )
- 10 to 20 drops essential oils of choice ( depends on how strong you want your scent to be ) I used 3 Drops Lemon, 7 drops Tea Tree Oil and 10 drops Peppermint
- Add your cloths to your container and put off to the side.
- Add liquids in a mixing bowl and mix together.
- Add liquids to container with cloths and put on lid.
- You are ready to use.
Disinfecting Wipes At Home
No matter how you clean your home, these homemade disinfecting wipes are sure to be a great way to save money and help save the environment. These wipes are so easy to make and so easy to use and keep clean.
Have you ever tried making your own disinfectant wipes? What essential oils would you use? Let us know in the comments.
