Best cloth wipes? Diy?

[Enwi]

Hi everyone,
I'm a childminder and currently I'm going through a LOT of wipes. We're really trying to reduce our impact on the environemnt, and I'm also due my first baby in June, and we're planning on cloth nappying from the start. Our budget isn't huge, and we're going to need a LOT of wipes due to my job, so what would you recommend?
Am I able to just buy a big piece of terry cloth and cut it up into wipes? I was thinking that way I could just pick 2 different colours and have one colour for nappies, one colour for cleaning face and hands after meal times.
Any tips or advice would be very much appreciated.

I bought packs of cheap ‘facecloths’ from the £ shop - quid for a pack of 5. They were like small, thin not-quite-flannel squares. Then a tuppaware tub. I half filled the tupoaware with a weak chamomile tea, a teaspoon of coconut oil and then chuck a load of wipes in & you’re good to go. Chuck wipes in any wash.

Are you sharing these between different children? Yuck

Why not ask parents to provide water wipes for their children?

Water wipes still end up in the landfill, are one use and have to be continuously made in order to just end up in a landfill.
What an earth is wrong with sharing them between children. Obviously they get washed on a high heat before being transferred between children, and I have already said that I will have separate ones for nappy changes and face. It’s no different to passing on children’s and baby clothes really given the amount of time they shit/throw up/dribble all over those.

Didn’t think to use facecloths, thank you

I cut up a few children's fleece tops that I bought in the asda sale for £1. Cut into squares and stored in clip lock boxes after soaking in chamomile and tea tree. X

"Are you sharing these between different children? Yuck"

I doubt very much the OP is wiping one child's arse, then another with the same wipe...

I used fleece blankets cut up into rectangles. Then a Tupperware box and whatever liquid recipe I fancied trying.

No, but she's using them on different children (once they've been washed)
Have you asked parents if this is ok? I personally wouldn't want reused rags to wipe my dcs bits!

Also, once you wash them in a 90 wash you've probably done as much harm to the environment as wet wipes do!

Thanks for the really helpful advice everyone.
I will make parents aware of what I’m doing. Thankfully they are also ethically aware and hoping to reduce waste too:-)

stellen- how can washing wipes on a high heat possibly compare to the amount of resources that go into making them? Not to mention the amount of water to run the factories, sterilise the machinery, the fuel and emissions to transport both the raw materials to the factory and then the wet wipes to the store, then even once they are used (once) they go into a landfill where they will be for many, many years. Not to mention the harsh chemicals the majority of brands are still using, the emissions from the transporters and factories and the impact this has already started to have on the environment.

Calling them 'reused rags' doesn't actually change what they are- a piece of material used to clean something. No different from the dish cloth you use on the dishes that you then eat from, or the hand towel in the bathroom that each child touches, or the towels that they use after swimming/ bathing. All these things are washed, and then reused. Shall I buy new towels every time we go swimming to avoid a towel being used on another childs bits, that was used on someone else's last week? Where do you draw the line?

stellen whadot planet you live on?!

You have never used any body else's towels ever... Or slept in a hotel.. Or another person's bed?
Your kids presumably have never worn second hand clothes?

Don't cut up a towel unless you can bind the edges with an overlocker. Towelling which is just raw edges will disintegrate in the wash. Real Nappy Week 2018 is: 23rd - 29th April and there will be lots of offers on. My favourite wipes are little lambs or cheapy wipes by Littlepants. If you have a local nappy library then get in touch with them as they can advise you in more detail.