For the past few years, we have tried to switch out a lot of items in our home to reusable/sustainable options (like making this unpaper towel roll), and while we have made a lot of progress there, I decided I wanted to focus more on adding more reusable beauty/personal care items as well.
I don’t wear makeup every day, but when I do, I didn’t like the amount of cotton rounds that I was going through to take off the makeup, so I thought some reusable (washable!) makeup wipes would be perfect for the job!
Supplies:
-terrycloth towel fabric
–cotton fabric
–ruler, mat, and rotary cutter
-sewing machine and straight pins
First, cut your cotton fabric into as many 4″ squares as you want finished wipes.
Usually, projects will tell you to wash your fabric first and then sew, but I was a little worried about the terrycloth unraveling in the washer without finished edges. So I decided to sew and then wash them in this case.
Repeat and cut the same number of 4″ squares with your terrycloth fabric. Pin your terrycloth fabric and your cotton squares together (right sides facing each other) and pin in place.
Sew all the way around your square with a 3/8″ seam allowance and leave a 1″ gap so you can turn your square right side out.
To reduce bulk when you turn your square, clip the corners and trim the seam allowance of the terrycloth in half. Turn your square right side out through the 1″ gap (you may want a chopstick to help you push it through and make sure the corners are properly turned) and pin flat.
Sew a topstitch all the way around the square with a 1/4″ seam allowance, which will also sew your opening shut.
Once your wipes are complete, give them a quick wash in the washer and your wipes are ready to store in a glass jar and use on demand!
It’s a good idea to let your wipes air dry before stashing them in a container to wait to be washed, so you can either set them on your counter or get a little clip or something to keep them hanging while they dry (I think one of these picture clips may work well for that too!).
To wash your wipes, load them into a small mesh laundry bag for lingerie and wash on warm/hot with another load that you would wash on that setting (towels, etc.).
FYI: Your wipes probably won’t stay pure white for very long, but you’ll know they are clean, so that’s the main thing (you could always get a darker fabric too if you didn’t want to notice the makeup staining).
It’s also an option to do both sides with the terrycloth fabric if you would like, so you can use both sides for makeup removal—the fabric squares are a little harder to handle when both sides are the terrycloth, but with a little more patience, it’s doable.
And for those of you who love the idea of reusable wipes but don’t want to make your own, here’s a great option to buy some already made!
So far, I love these wipes and I especially love to use them with this oil cleanser (it’s a favorite of lots of us here on the ABM team) after using coconut oil to remove my eye makeup first.
You can also use these wipes to apply toner as well if that’s a part of your beauty routine. I would also suggest estimating how many you think you would use in a day and how often you do laundry so you can decide how many you would need to always have some clean. It’s good to think ahead! xo. Laura
