Our guide to making reusable wipes EASY! Your FAQ's answered...

As a friend of Helen (MD and founder of Cheeky Wipes ) I was one of the first to test out the all-in-one kits back in 2008 before they were officially launched.

Attending our first Baby Show where we launched the kit, many people wanted to know 'are reusable wipes worth it?' It was so great to chat to parents and give them my first hand experience having used the kit for a few months, especially as, unlike Helen, I wasn't using cloth nappies but still LOVED the wipes.

Fast forward to 2022 and I have been working at Cheeky HQ full time for 7 years (never really left after the first Baby Show!)

As Customer Experience Manager, along with my amazing team we answer all your emails. We all have personal experience of using our products and love being able to use that experience to offer advice, guidance and answer questions that we know will help you get the best from them.

Best of all, we still get to meet you at the live Baby Shows. We don’t have agency staff on the stands - it’s all us, and we are a very enthusiastic bunch!

There genuinely isn’t a question we haven’t answered and we thought we would give you our top 5 faqs to help you get the best out of your kit and wipes. 

Do I need to wet reusable wipes?

Yes, you definitely need to wet reusable wipes, as if the wipes aren't wet enough they could drag on your baby's delicate skin.

How do you make reusable wipes solution?

To make reusable wipes solution, for a newborn we recommend only soaking the fresh wipes in water for the first 6 weeks which is in line with NICE guidelines.  After that you can introduce wipes soaking solutions or the Wet and Wipe spray. If you're using just water, follow the instructions here but only soak 10-15 wipes at a time and refresh each day. No need to use distilled water, plain old tap water is fine

There's also lots of wipes solution recipes out there on the internet, from baby shampoo to castile soap, the fantastic thing about using cloth wipes is that you choose EXACTLY what goes on your baby's skin. So much better than disposable wipes!

Wash any that you haven't used in a day, clean or dirty and then start again the next day. Once you get to 6 weeks, you can pop a few drops of the oil in and more wipes as with the oil they can sit for a couple of days without going musty.

You can use the mucky oil in the mucky box from birth as the wipes will be washed after without ever coming into contact with your baby.

Team Cheeky Tip - Keep the oils out of reach of exploratory and helpful hands and follow safety advice

How often should I change reusable wipes solution?

You can use your reusable wipes with four different soaking options:

• plain water - from newborn
• wet & wipe spray & water - from 6 weeks
• fresh essential oils & water - from 6 weeks
• Natural Wipes solution & water - from 6 weeks

If you are using the fresh wipes soaking oil (once your baby has reached 6 weeks old) you can soak as many wipes as you will get through in 2 days. This will vary depending on how many nappy changes you are doing per day, but 20 is usually enough.

After 2 days, pop any unused, soaked wipes in with the used ones, wash and start again. 

If you are soaking in just water, or using with our wet & wipe spray or natural wipes solution, only soak as many as you'll need for one day. You’ll need to refresh the wipes box each day and again, wash any unused, soaked wipes in with the used wipes.

Team Cheeky Tip - don’t wait for the fresh box to empty before you put a wash on as there will be a poo of epic proportions whilst all the wipes are in the wash!! You can wash with your other clothing or cloth nappies if you're using them.

How do you keep fabric wipes from mildewing? 

My cloth wipes are smelling weird..This generally only happens if your wipes been incorrectly soaked, left in the box or bags for too long without changing or not dried between washes.  For this reason we definitely don't recommend using a wipes warmer!

Do the wipes smell when dry?

Pop them in the wash with some antibacterial laundry cleanser or a good capful of white vinegar and get them thoroughly dried.  

The best way to avoid mildewing is to soak your wipes thoroughly & change the cloth wipes solution regularly:

• when you prepare your clean reusable cotton wipes (or bamboo wipes) in your fresh box, make sure the wipes are soaked well and properly wet through, not just damp, with a good couple of drops of oil (if using)
• once they have soaked up all the water (approx 3-4 cm from the top of the box) give them a good squeeze to distribute the water and oil manually
• tip out any excess water so they aren’t left sitting in water
• leave in the box for 2 days maximum before changing (one day if using plain water)
• if you aren't using them all in two days, any remaining should be washed when you wash the rest or just soak as many as you are getting through in 2 days
• Line or tumble dry preferably, drying them between uses helps prolong the life of your wipes and keeps them stink free

Team Cheeky Tip - Avoid letting the wipes / water get warm as this can cause the wipes to smell musty, so don’t keep the box close to a heat source or in direct sunlight.

How do you clean cotton wipes?

To clean cotton wipes, The wipes wash them in the machine with with other washing. You don't need to wait for a separate wash load. Soaking them in cold water does help to start shifting the poo and when you wash them, we recommend the mesh bag isn't rammed full. You can loosen the string so the wipes can roam free in the machine, uncurl fully and that way the detergent can get to all the stains and do its job. You can also add some stain remover, this really helps.

If there are only a few wipes in the bag, you can keep it closed as the wipes should have room to move about.

Can you wash reusable wipes with clothes?

Yes, you can wash reusable wipes with clothes. The mucky wipes can be popped in the machine any time you are putting a wash on…don’t wait for the mucky box to be full or keep them for a separate wash.

How do you clean cotton wipes? We recommend that you simply wash on a decent length wash cycle with your normal washing detergent.   We've recently discovered Nimble Laundry Lover which is a non-bio developed for baby skin, suitable for even the most delicate skin - perfect.

You can tumble dry the wipes or line dry. Tumble drying is a great way to soften the wipes if you're tumble drying anyway, though of course line drying is more eco friendly.

Team Cheeky Tip - Sunlight acts as a natural bleach so get those wipes out on the line when the sun makes an appearance (or even a bright windowsill!) 

Take me to the washing tips

How do I use reusable wipes when I am out for the day or when travelling?

Grab a handful of damp wipes from your fresh box or some dry ones and your wet and wipe spray and pop them in your fresh bag. Remember to squeeze the damp ones out really well; the wet bags are waterproof but soaking wet wipes will leak through! 

Pop the used wipes into the mucky bag and when you get home, empty the inner mesh bag or used wipes into the mucky box to soak, or directly into the machine if you have a wash going on.

Team Cheeky Tip -  We recommend that you don’t wash the bags unless they are VERY soiled as repeated washing can damage the waterproofing. Washing them occasionally at max 30 degrees is fine but it’s better to wipe the inside of the bags with a damp wipe and the tea tree oil and then hang inside out to dry. The Mucky bag mesh insert is of course fully machine washable to 60 degrees.

Final Team Cheeky Tip - your Cheeky Wipes aren't just great for baby bums, they make a fantastic toilet paper alternative too, especially with our wet & wipe spray! Brilliant as a makeup remover too with oily or soapy cleansers.

We have tons more info on the site so check out our FAQs for everything you need to know. However, we do like to chat so if you have another burning question, do get in touch via email or our live chat.

Check out our 5* reviews on Trustpilot too, we genuinely love feedback and know that customers really appreciate honest reviews.

Remember, we're SO confident that you'll love our wipes that we have a 45 day trial and if you don't love them as much as we do, we'll refund you.  So what have you got to lose?