While there’s no denying the convenience of store-bought cleaning wipes, they’re far from a perfect solution! That’s what motivated me to come up with the homemade alternative I’ll be sharing with you today: DIY cleaning wipes.
We’ll start by exploring some of the things that give these homemade wipes an edge over the store-bought variety, then we’ll dive right into the simple tutorial for how to make them. By the end of this post, you’ll know everything you need to know to make your own reusable cleaning wipes!
Related: This Is What You Need to Know About Cleaning vs. Disinfecting
The Problems with Store-Bought Cleaning Wipes
1. They Create Waste
Any sort of disposable product creates waste, and wipes are no exception. While disposable wipes can be a smart choice in high-risk environments like hospitals, they aren’t typically necessary for home cleaning and disinfecting.
Related: 11 Easy Ways to Make Your Paper Towels Last Twice as Long
2. They Contain Harsh Chemicals
You don’t need a laundry list of chemicals to clean surfaces or kill bacteria and viruses. But store-bought wipes feature a lot of them, including synthetic fragrances, toxins, and respiratory irritants.
3. They’re Costly
One container of cleaning wipes doesn’t usually last very long, especially if you clean frequently. Even if you’re paying just a few dollars per container, that can add up fast!
Related: This Is the Best Way to Clean & Sanitize Your Hands on the Go
The Solution? Make Your Own Cleaning Wipes!
But you can avoid all of those drawbacks just by making your own cleaning wipes at home. They’re easy to make, cost-effective, and reusable—what more could you want? Before we get to the how of making them, let’s quickly review what exactly goes into them.
What’s in It? Ingredients for DIY Cleaning Wipes
You only need three ingredients to make your own DIY cleaning and disinfecting wipes:
- Rubbing Alcohol: Rubbing alcohol is an extremely affordable disinfecting agent and is effective against many viruses at concentrations of 70% and up.
- Dish Soap: Adding a bit of Dawn dish soap to your homemade wipes enhances their ability to cut through greasy messes.
- Simple Clean Essential Oil Blend: Simple Clean makes a great addition to almost any homemade cleaner. It has a fresh, clean scent, and it gives the wipes another boost of germ-killing power!
Prefer a more natural version?
You can swap the dish soap for Castile soap, a gentle plant-based cleaner that works great in homemade wipes. Just leave out the rubbing alcohol, since it doesn’t mix well with Castile soap.
The result is a wonderful natural cleaning wipe — just not a disinfecting one. For disinfecting, simply clean the surface first, then follow up with rubbing alcohol or a disinfecting spray.
Click here to get the full recipe!
How to Make Reusable DIY Cleaning Wipes
Ingredients & Supplies
- 2 cups rubbing alcohol, 70% or higher
- 1 tsp Dawn dish soap
- 20 drops Simple Clean Essential Oil Blend
- Quart-sized mason jar
- Stack of clean cloths*
*Any clean cloths or rags will work here, but I especially like using my Microfiber Cleaning Cloths because they’re absorbent, durable, easy to wash and reuse, and great for tackling stuck-on messes around the house.
Directions:
Add the rubbing alcohol, dish soap, and essential oils to your jar. Put the lid on and swirl or shake gently to mix.
Next, remove the lid and add your cloths to the jar. Continue adding more until the cleaning solution has saturated all the cloths, then add one more for good measure.
Replace the lid on the jar, then turn it upside-down for a minute or so. And voila, your reusable cleaning wipes are ready to use!
How to Use Your DIY Cleaning Wipes
You can use your homemade wipes to wipe down countertops, clean up spills, dust your baseboards, and more. If you’re using them to disinfect frequently touched surfaces, pre-clean the surface with soapy water first, then use your cleaning wipe and allow the surface to air dry.
Collect the dirty/used wipes in a container, then when you’ve used them all, toss them in your washer to clean them. Once they’re clean, add them to a fresh batch of the cleaning solution and use them again!
Be sure to thoroughly clean both the jar you store the wipes in and the container you use to hold the dirty wipes between uses, too.
Save on DIY Cleaning Wipe Ingredients
If you want to try making your own reusable cleaning wipes, I put together a collection with the exact products I use most often, including my Simple Clean Essential Oil Blend, Castile Soap, and Microfiber Cleaning Cloths.
Whether you prefer the disinfecting version or the gentler Castile soap version, these products make it easy to create effective reusable cleaning wipes right at home.
Reusable DIY Cleaning Wipes
Equipment
- Quart Sized Mason Jar
- Several Clean Cloths or Rags
Ingredients
- 2 cups Rubbing Alcohol 70% or higher
- 1 tsp Dawn Dish Soap
- 20 drops Simple Clean Essential Oil Blend Or your favorite essential oil
Instructions
- Add the rubbing alcohol, dish soap, and essential oils to your jar. Put the lid on and swirl or shake gently to mix.
- Next, remove the lid and add your cloths or rags to the jar. Continue adding more until the cleaning solution has saturated all the cloths, then add one more for good measure.
- Replace the lid on the jar, then turn it upside-down for a minute or so.
I asked this back in August 2022! Never did get a response: What kind of rags do you use? It doesn’t say anything about what to use. Cut up Microfiber cloths come to mind as an idea use for this, but I don’t know. Please elaborate on specific they of cloth for this.
You said in this current article that we can use your microfiber rags….do they work if they are cut to smaller squares? It seems they would ravel apart if cut. What do you recommend?
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Sorry I didn’t answer your question before. Sometimes it’s hard to keep up on all comments I receive on my posts. Any clean rags will do. I prefer to use microfiber. You can definitely cut them into smaller squares.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.had problem removing a bad sticking patch on the base plate of my iron I had tried a few things to get it clean including baking soda and vinegar but the patch persisted so thought what the hall and tried the Magic eraser and it really was MAGIC so thanks for the tip it saved me the cost of a new iron
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Disposable products inevitably generate waste, and wipes are no exception. While they can be a practical option in high-risk settings such as hospitals, they are generally unnecessary for routine home cleaning and disinfecting.Eco friendly promotional products
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Just curious. if a surface is dirty enough to use even home chemicals on, why would you want to keep the cleaning rag around? let alone put it through your washing machine? Although I appreciate & enjoy many Jillee DIY suggestions, when it comes to tis cleaning, the idea is to get the dirt or germs OUT of the house, which means you throw it away. If this idea appeals to you, enjoy it. I buy my wipes when on sale so I can throw out the dirt/germs and not worry about the extra work washing rags cause.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.The chemicals kill the germs and washing them later removes the dirt. You don’t get rid of germs by throwing them out but by killing them.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I was really glad to see the comments about using Tea tree oil. The Simple Clean blend would end up being more expensive for me. I’m fine with Jillee having her own blends. I just have to use what’s more affordable for me.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I did actually try this. They worked great. I was trying to find something to use because of the store bought ones being so expensive. I finally found a store brand that wasn’t too expensive. My main issue was l had decided to use a non- Mason type jar for this and l couldn’t find a lid that would fit properly.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.What kind of rags do you use? It doesn’t say anything about what to use. Cut up Microfiber cloths come to mind as an idea use for this, but I don’t know. Please elaborate on specific they of cloth for this. Thank You.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Interesting idea. 2 thoughts about the ingredients:
1) once you add another liquid to alcohol, it is no longer the same potency (it’s been diluted). So 70% is not achieved. To be safe, use higher (say, 90% ) alcohol to start
2) Peroxide quickly turns into water when exposed to air and light (in a clear bottle). So probably not a good substitute)
3) For about 20 years, we’ve kept small rags in a drawer and a spray bottle of peroxide and one of white vinegar under the sink. Just spray your surface with one, wipe it up, spray with the other, wipe it up, and you have a cleaner surface than if you had used bleach.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.You can use homemade wipes for DIY cleaning or there are readymade wipes & products available that help you to remove the dirt. If the spot is large then you can hire cleaning service professionals that help you to remove the DIY cleaning at a fair cost.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.How about denatured alcohol?
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Jillee, what’s the amount if you’re using peroxide instead of alcohol? Is it still 2 cups?
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Please Always Remember to wear Gloves!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.The Bleach is harsh and a chemical and will soak into your hands and then your body.
Hi Jillee!! Someone may have already asked this and I’m sorry if I missed it but can you make a really big batch of these? And how long is the mixture good for before it “goes bad”? Thanks!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Leslie, you can make as many as you want and that will fit in a container. They go bad. Hope this helps! :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.As a side note, I want to make sure everyone knows that thickened (splash-less) bleach is NOT strong enough to disinfect.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Nice that they’re reusable. I’ve read that alcohol is effective against COVID-19. I’m wondering if bleach also kills it.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Here is an article from the CDC.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.https://bit.ly/2JmqJnw
Jillee, why Simple Clean oil instead of Defend? Love your posts! Thanks!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Pamela, actually either oil would work. :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.What essential oils work? I do not have the one you’re suggesting. I do have lemon, citrus fresh, lavender, eucalyptus, tea tree, thieves. Most of my essential oils are from young living…which is WAY more costly than these! Thank you!!
Hi, I use your recipe for DIY cleaning wipes very similar but with water, where and when would you suggest using each of the wipes
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Jillee, I’ve been using your recipe for daily shower cleaner (https://www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com/this-one-simple-thing-will-keep-your-shower-cleaner-longer/ ) as a disinfectant. It contains many of the things listed in this post including alcohol, hydrogen peroxide and dish soap. I just spray it on surfaces and let air dry. Thanks for all the great tips. Stay well everyone!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Wonderful….whenever our stores restock alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, and/or bleach… :-)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Thank you Jillee! Sharing. On a personal note, howevwr, I can’t afford essential oils, don’t have any, and will follow your recipe but without the essential oils. Where I am, even isopropyl alcohol is very scarce or not available anymore. Some people are buying up vodka to use. Bleach is the best I can do at the moment. I have a washcloth soaking in a water/bleach solution — very handy.on the kitchen counter.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.PS – I saw a tv ad for a product that disinnfects for 24 hours, but I can’t find it at any store. An article about disinfecting says the clorox and other brand wipes are only useful to disinfect an area about 4×4′ – it may be more, but they aren’t meant for cleaning, only for disinfecting. So clean first, then use the disinfecting wipes strategically on the high touch surfaces.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Love this. Our stores are out of the blue Dawn . Any ideas what else I can use. We actually have a tiny bottle with just a little left And also a bottle of the pale one for our soap pumps.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.After reading this I think I have enough Dawn. I just have to check the alcohol .Even the peroxide was hard to find with the way people have gone crazy buying stuff up
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I think any type of Dawn should work.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Actually you can use any brand of dishwashing liquid you like. It doesn’t need to be Dawn.
Would it work to just use rubbing alcohol on a cloth?
Please log in or create a free account to comment.According to what I’ve read, yes. You could also add a bit of liquid soap to it if you want, but not necessary, and essential oils are not necessary either if you do not have them.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Does it need to be in a glass jar? If I have a plastic container with a screw on lid, will that work?
Please log in or create a free account to comment.That will work!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I (… embarrassed gulp…) don’t own ANY essential oils! Would lemon juice work? Thanks and as soon as I can afford it, I’m SO purchasing a membership in your OGT group!!! Love and Hugs!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Don’t use lemon juice on granite counter tops. It will damage them.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.They are not necessary.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Thank you love it.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Used wipes and paper towels do double-duty in my house. I give them a quick rinse and squeeze, let them dry out, and stick them in an empty tissue box. They come in very handy for wiping up spills, or messes made by my cats. Also, wipes stand up well in the washer and dryer. The cleaning recipe sounds good…I’m going to try it in a sprayer.
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