How to Make Your Own Re-usable Disinfectant Wipes

Cleaning wipes are still a pretty rare find in the stores because of the pandemic. Here is a way you can make your own and create less waste while doing so because these wipes are machine washable and reusable!

Ingredients and Why They Work

• Rubbing Alcohol: rubbing alcohol is a very affordable and effective disinfecting agent and we all very much know it is effective at killing COVID causing germs. Just make sure that you are purchasing a high percentage rubbing alcohol of about 70% or higher.

• Dish Soap: Dish soap grab s on to germs and lifts them away from the surface. It is also great for cutting through tough messes even greasy ones.

• Germ Killing Essential Oil Blend: you can either make your own mixture or purchase a favorite pre-blended mixture of oils such as the popular Thieves blend. It gives your wipes a nice light and fresh scent as well as just a bit more cleaning boost with some extra germ-fighting power.

You Will Need

• 2 cups of rubbing alcohol that is 70% or higher alcohol content
• 1 teaspoon of dawn hand washing dish soap
• 20 drops of an essential oil blend
• One quart-sized mason jar
• Several plain white cleaning cloths
• A small plastic basket or bin

How to Make Re-Usable Disinfectant Wipes

Grab your mason jar and add the two cups of rubbing alcohol, a teaspoon of dish soap, and essential oil blend to the jar. Close the lid on tight and swirl the ingredients around to mix everything together. Just a gentle mixing will do, no need to shake hard this will cause the soap to bubble up.

Pull the lid off the jar after mixing the cleaning solution ingredients and add in the cloths until they completely soak up all of the cleaning solutions then add one more.

Put the lid back on the jar and turn it upside down for a few minutes to ensure the cloths on the top have plenty of cleaning solution in them. When all of the wipes seem to be well saturated you are ready to flip the jar back over and get to cleaning!

How to Use the Wipes

Use your wipes just like you would the disposable ones. If you are cleaning food surfaces like the kitchen counter make wipes even more effective by cleaning the surface with soapy water first then follow with the cleaning wipe and let the surface air dry. This ensures total disinfecting (and is the same way to ensure complete disinfection with store bought disposable wipes).

When you are finished using a wipe store it in the plastic basket in your laundry room. Wait until the bin is full and wash them just like you would any other batch of cleaning cloths. When they are clean mix up some more solution in your mason jar and put them back in to be used again.

Resources:

5 Ways to Maximize Your Home's Coziness

3 Home Maintenance Tasks That Could Cost More Later On