Super Tough Homemade Disinfectant Wipes

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I hate spending money on consumables. Think about how much money we spend on toilet paper! Consumable products also generate so much waste. While I am not ready to give up toilet paper (and probably never will be), we rarely buy wipes of any kind, and also seldom buy paper towels. We use kitchen towels instead of paper towels. I use reusable cleaning wipes to clean the house because wipes are definitely convenient.  But they aren’t practical to bring to the gym. 

This recipe is for use at the gym. To be fair, the gym I belong to is exceptionally clean.  Every single time I am in the gym I see at least one person cleaning–no matter what time I go to work out.

But, I still get the heebie-jeebies while working out. Each machine is blessed with the sweat of whichever person last occupied it.  Some people wipe down the machine after they use it but most don’t.  My gym has several paper towels and germicidal foam stations throughout the facility.  But I personally don’t want to trek to the station each time I move over to the next machine. I carry a canister of wipes with me so I can quickly wipe down a machine before and after I use it and move to the next one.

Even using generic wipes is an expense that I can do without. So I decided to save some money and make some cleaning wipes using a natural recipe to bring with me to the gym.

Materials needed for the homemade sanitizing wipes:

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A roll of select a size paper towels. I prefer Bounty for gym wipes.

1 tsp of Dawn dishwashing liquid. 

10 drops melaleuca essential oil aka tea tree oil   I add tea tree oil to prevent my wipes from mildewing. It is also proven to kill mold. However, if you tend to go through a lot of wipes, for instance, disinfecting surfaces to prevent viruses, then you can skip this ingredient.

1.5 cups of distilled water (While you can certainly use purified water, your wipes will last longer if you use distilled water.)

1/2 cup 70% rubbing alcohol  or for a stronger sanitizing version use 91%-99% alcohol

Wipes container – This is a great deal on several travel pouches for wipes. You can make a batch of wipes and split them between the cases. 

Or you can reuse an older wipes container. 

Please note: This recipe is meant to be used on surfaces. For hand wipes, please try our Quick and Easy DIY Wipes for Camping!

A word about DIY Hydrogen Peroxide Wipes:

(This section was added Mar 21, 2020)

The original recipe for the solution I use on these wipes contained hydrogen peroxide. However, since then I have learned that hydrogen peroxide, while can be used to kill many germs, is not as effective as alcohol. 

But, I realize that many cannot find alcohol in stock and need an alternative. Hydrogen peroxide can disinfect surfaces but is no longer recommended to clean wounds as it can also kill healthy cells. It also doesn’t smell all that great. 

Please keep in mind that hydrogen peroxide can also discolor surfaces like white marble. 

I use hydrogen peroxide in my home at full strength. I simply screw in a plastic spray top in place of the bottle’s cap and spray it on the grout in between my floor tiles, prior to mopping. 

If you would like to make hydrogen peroxide wipes, simply saturate your paper towels with 3% hydrogen peroxide (which is what most retail bottles are sold at) and use. I would test an inconspicuous place with it to make sure there is no discoloration first. 

If you do have alcohol, you can also use my alcohol-based hand sanitizing wipes recipe to clean switches and doorknobs etc. 

Optional tough gym wipes canister:

I like to feel strong at the gym.  Normally I upcycle my DIY wipes canisters with pretty contact paper.  This time I opted to spray paint it with looking glass spray.  I wanted my wipes to be camouflaged among the metal weights and weight machines! I’m not pretty when I work out.  I’m tough!

Instructions for homemade gym wipes:

Grab a roll of paper towels.  I grabbed a roll that was half used because of my skinny canister.

Cut the paper towels in half with a sharp knife.

Squeeze them into the canister with the paper towel roll still in it.

Add three drops of tea tree oil and two drops of lemon oil into 3/4 cups of peroxide.

Pour into the canister.

Shake to distribute it throughout the paper towel roll.

Pull out the cardboard center.

Gently pull up the center paper towel.  Wipes will dispense from the center.

Voila!  Now you are ready to wipe off that big guy’s butt sweat before you begin your lat pull down set!

The vodka sanitizes surfaces. 

I also added tea tree oil because it is a natural disinfectant and antifungal. 

While I used to only use Young Living Products to make my DIY cleaning solutions, I now use any brand of high quality essential oils. I use a lot of tea tree oil and there are many brands that can be purchased at a lower cost, without sacrificing it’s effectiveness.

Be sure to check out my popular wipes recipe:  DIY Flushable Wet Wipes!