I have found that it really does help to wipe student desks down regularly with disenfecting wipes. Usually I have a lot of generous parents who will donate such things, but not this year. I think I've only gotten one or two boxes of Kleenex all year! The disenfecting wipes are expensive when you think about wiping down 30 desks. Right now we only do it once a week, but really it should be done every day! So, I decided to go on a hunt for a recipe to make my own.
After seeing a great pin on Pinterest for homemade baby wipes, it inspired me to try to do the disenfecting. I googled DIY disenfecting wipes and got a lot of hits. I read many of these and watched a couple of videos before coming up with my own solution. Ready??
First of all, get yourself 2 containers. I found some ziplock 7 cup containers, but would like to find something a little sturdier for the future if I continue to do this.
Next, assemble your ingredients. You will need:
Paper Towels - I used Bounty, but I understand that Viva works well and doesn't mush up either
1 cup white vinegar (for disenfecting properties)
2 cups water
1/2 cup isopropyl alcohol
squirt of mild soap or detergent
essential oil - I used Tea Tree oil for its disenfecting properties. Lavender and Grapeseed extract also are disenfecting. If I would have had some orange essential oil, I would have added that for fragrance.
One of the videos I watched said that you need the alcohol to kill flu germs, so I added that. I number of the recipes I saw just used vinegar for the disenfectant.
- Cut your paper towel roll in half. This was kind of a mess. One website suggested using a NON serrated knife to avoid all the fuzzy mess. I'll try that next time.
- mix up the solution. I only mixed up 1/2 of the solution at a time so that I would pour the same amount in each bowl.
- place the paper towels in the bowl and pour the solution over the top. They don't seem like they will fit, but they do.
- wait a few minutes for all of the liquid to be absorbed, then pull out the center roll. I read that this was easier to do when wet, but I didn't believe it. I tried to pull it out when the roll was still dry and couldn't do it. It was super simple after the roll was wet.
- pull a paper towel out from the middle of the roll, then smoosh the whole thing down so that you can put on the lid.
THAT's IT!! I didn't want to mess with making a pull out hole, since I never use that anyway on the ones that you buy. I'll just pop the lid off and replace it when I'm finished. I can't wait to take these to school and try them out!
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7 comments:
I have been considering doing this myself. Thanks for the benefit of your research!
Cool! 1 question: why not the old 9 to 1 water to bleach recipe?
Here's an idea -- have this be a morning routine for the students. Place one of the wet towels on each desk and have them do this first thing. demonstrate how to do this properly - don't forget computer keyboards which my sister (who taught computers in middle school) wiped off every day. It will also clean their germy hands in the process.
Love this idea. I too saw the baby wipes one wanted this recipe instead. Thank you!
At home I use bleach and water, but it is toxic and prohibited for daily use in the classroom.
I love this. I've been thinking about doing this for a while. I've even kept some of the containers from the Clorox ones that I buy. This is one of the few non-green things that I purchase and use and I love that I would be able to compost the home made ones.
My DIL is a PA and has been making a similar type of towel for their home use, if you can find an oil called Thieves Oil ( long story to that name!) she uses that for the cleansing properties in her mixture also( me too)
She also makes her own laundry soap ~again, adding in a few drops of this oil and some others for a fresh smell
Once you see critters under the microscope you would be using this forever! She also has them in her car as hand wipes for after shopping etc
She is not a germ fanatic, but she sees so many patients in her clinic that they taken a few precautions~ it could have stopped a LOT of visits for minor colds/ flu etc~
I am making her recipe myself, it is a lot less than laundry detergent but I have a HE washer and hope it works~ I do make the wipes for my car, some in my purse( kept a carry case from wipes and re used it) and always around the workspace /kitchen island, I have granite and marble and was concerned about using this at first but it is fine and safe for that area also~ I have issues b.c people go out all the time w/ illnesses that they should not be passing around( and technically they may not know it when they are most communicable) We are both medical so she did the research and I followed along this time~ She feels thieves oil is the best , maybe some people will want to google it also?? Either way it's a great idea and much more economical for wipes and laundry soap!
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