Home Made Fabric Baby Wipes And Washers

Well we are in the final countdown to the arrival of our first baby who we are currently calling "Peanut" and I am trying to organise the last few things that I think we will need.
To be honest it is hard to know what we will and won't use as we have quite different ideas and ideals about consumption and waste compared to some of our friends and family and this translates over to babies as well so asking others is not yielding the information we are looking for..

As first time parents we are some what unsure how things are going to go, how we will manage and what areas of our lives we will feel the pressure with everything else we will have going on in terms of our move to New Zealand.

One of the things I was determined to get ready for Peanuts arrival was some baby washers and baby wipes.  
In the parenting info and sample packs you get at midwife appointments and on lots of parenting websites I kept seeing lists of "Must Haves For Baby" Baby only washers and towels. What a load of rubbish.  I do not have to be an expert to know there is no need for a baby to have its own set of hooded towels and washes made from extra soft cotton.  Yes I want to use soft cotton on my baby but I do not need to buy one specifically marketed at babies.

I am also not a great fan of disposable baby wipes for change time.  It is not just the chemicals that might be getting wiped all over my baby (have you seen how well those things clean dirt off things?) but I have also seen that disposable wipes get used for cleaning more than baby bottoms.
For me personally I just do not want to be creating extra rubbish or spending money on single use items.  I am not saying I will never use disposable baby wipes as I have been given some eco wipes and have some samples of commercial brands but these will be in my nappy bag for emergency use not daily use.

So I have just spent a few hours over the weekend making some wash cloths and wipes.
I had half an old single flannelette sheet and an old fitted flannelette sheet that had already been mended a few times and was no longer usable as a sheet.
The half an old single flannelette sheet was folded in half and then cut into squares approximately 20 cm square.  I did a zigzag stitch around the edges to join the two layers and stop the fraying.  I ended up with 12 lovely soft wash cloths that will be used for baby bath time.
The old fitted flannelette sheet had so many holes in the middle and was worn really thin so I just used the outside area.  I removed the elastic edging which surprisingly had not failed, and was able to get 24 squares approximately 30 cm square.  These are going to be used as baby wipes so were best left as a single layer with just a zigzag stitch around the edges to stop fraying.

Single layer wipes and double thickness striped washers.

I am really happy with the result and since the fabric has been washed many times already they are beautifully soft but the proof will be in the using.  The different colours will make it easy to know which is which, meaning that the wipes will never be used as washers and will be washed along with nappies not other washing.  I am now looking at an easy home made solution to wet the baby wipes and have seen a couple of recipes that use coconut oil, essential oil, pure soap, water and vitamin E oil as a preservative.  If anyone has a recipe they have used, made or tried that they were happy with please let me know.

What kind of wipes did/do you use for your kids?