Hi friends! A little over a month ago I ran out of baby wipes in the craft room. I used them to wipe ink and paint off stamps and tools and to wipe down my table after I was done a project. After one really messy project I realized I had used about 8 wipes and suddenly I felt like I had a problem! When I reached the end of the pack of wipes I decided to see if I could go a month without them. Find out what I learned in today’s Konmari craft room video!
I learned that it wasn’t just about the baby wipes, it’s never just about the stuff. It wasn’t about the price of the baby wipes ($1 a pack at the dollar tree) but it was about the COST of buying the baby wipes.
- The environmental cost, think of 12 bricks of wipes going into the landfill.
- The time cost-I have to go to the store and buy these.
- The additional cost of the other things I impulse buy (or my kids impulse buy) when I am in the store. By not buying the $1 pack of wipes I am saving $20 on the other crap I (or my kids) would have picked up without thinking and these unimportant items would be thrown away or break soon thereafter.
- The storage cost- Hey I’ll grab a few packs so I won’t have to return as often but I must have a place to put them…oh and if they dry out I’ll have use water with them and in that case I might as well use a rag.
I took a couple of weeks to not reach under my table for that pack of wipes. But now I barely think of them. I keep a spray bottle of water under my table and several small cloths hanging from the side. Using a cloth is now second nature. If I need a stronger cleaner I use 1 part simple green to 10 parts water in a spray bottle for wiping my table or rubber stamps or 1 part baby shampoo and 10 parts water for clear (or rubber) stamps and it works better than wipes. You just need to change the habit. Notice I said “change” and not “kick.” We are not depriving ourselves, we are just being more mindful of our consumption.
I don’t think baby wipes are bad and that you shouldn’t use them. It wasn’t really about the baby wipes remember? Getting in the habit of looking at the things we use and the real cost of the item will save you not only money but time, effort and stress. Let me know what you think in the comments below and til next time happy crafting!
PS “Konmari” refers to the Konmari Method from The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
The Frugal Crafter Blog 
I stopped using baby wipes months ago. I too keep a spray bottle of water. When cleaning the stamp I place the stamp on it’s side, on the cleaning cloth and spray. The ink just runs off. A quick rub on the cloth and then check for water drops and I am ready to go. Works for me.
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From the start of my watercolor journey (well the start that I actually start painting last month), I immediately used pieces of towels that I cut from an old one. I think the biggest cost in the environment in making those tissues and baby wipes plus the generation of more trash.
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You may have already suggested, but For those who hate the site of a multi stained rag, purchase inexpensive black wash or face rags
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Love that you feel this way. I am truly disturbed by all the baby wipes getting used by crafters. We NEED to be more environmentally concerned about ALL aspects of our lives. Thank you!
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I buy IKEA kitchen washcloths. I never got the waste but never said anything. I just rinse mine daily at the end of work and it dries on my table. One will last almost two years. A pack of eight was four dollars.I also refuse to put an of my waste water from art down the sink. I have a double box system in the yard lined with newspaper. It catches all the plastic particles and toxic paint chemicals. Twice a year I take it to the toxic waste area of the dump nearby.
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I never got into the baby wipe habit so I don’t have to worry about kicking or changing it. LOL! I always thought they were a total waste of money when I could walk to a sink. But then I’ve always been cheap! LOL! Actually, I take that back. I’ve just never had money to throw around on things I don’t need so I’ve always had to be very careful. I joke that I’m cheap, but I would spend more if I had more and since I don’t, I’m just very careful.
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As I finished consumables I thought about how to cut back on them so far I’ve stopped using baby wipes to clean up with and no more wipes in the kitchen or bathroom paper towel in the kitchen I’ve got down to 1 every 2 months I use cloth napkins at meal times dry baby wipes make great backgrounds and flowers
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After seeing one of the industry brands come out with a “stamp shammy” for over $8.00, I decided to try the microfiber cloths. In fact I use microfiber cloths for everything now! No more chemicals either! I started using old towels, t-shirts and other “rags” in lieu of paper towels last year. Saving money and the environment!
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I do exactly the same. The microfiber cloths are perfect to clean stamps and surfaces. They also hold glitter and powders so well.
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I’ve tried microfiiber cloths and old t-shirts, both worked well. Then I bought the stamp shammy. I LOVE the shammy by Simon Says Stamps. It’s cleaning ability is superior to either methods. No lint, quick, removes ink with almost no work. On another note, I love microfiber cloths for washing my face. Try it, you’ll like it.
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I use cotton kitchen towels instead of paper towels … have all my life. I use three specific kinds: the white muslin type for drying dishes, an absorbent textured kind for draining the hand-wash only items, and a denim-blue set from Trader Joe’s for drying hands. I can change these out every day, and have a smallish load of laundry at the end of the week. (We’re only two in our family.)
I do have a paper-towel holder in our kitchen, but I use them only when wiping off rinsed chicken, beef, and maybe my hands before washing them, when working with poultry or meat. I wouldn’t want rags used for these applications, and then sitting in the laundry room, waiting for laundry day.
I recommend my system very much!
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I’ve always used rags in my crafting. I think it comes from not having a store near so disposables were never something that was easy for me to access.
I did want to comment on your stamps. I keep thinking I want to invest in stamps but I never can find what I want when I want it. I’m not big on internet shopping. As I was watching your video, I realized that the reason I’m not completely hooked on the idea of stamps is because I use the computer for my stamping. I’ve been subscribing to the Dover sample list for something like 10 years (maybe even more). I have thousands of clip art and coloring pages to choose from. Since I craft and create for myself or for trading with friends, I don’t have to worry about copyright. There are so many great pieces out there that I can store all of them in a flash drive which takes up almost no space. I don’t have to invest in stamp pads (I do have a few but in very basic colors such as black and brown). I don’t have to feel guilty if I only use the image once since it’s not taking up any space in my craft room. I work right next to a copy shop so I can get prints made on all types of paper as well as in color. It costs less than investing in the stamps and all the supplies.
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I do use paper towels like your suggestion of towels. I also use small spray bottle of Simple Green deleted w water for my spray bio degradable and safe cleaning agent. Works great!
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love the watercolor crayons.Art is my escape from crisis managing. My husband is waiting for a kidney and keeping healthy is a tough thing for him.Your site keeps the flow going when I forget. Thank you
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Agree. It’s a convienience. Just like disposal diapers. Just like paper towels paper plates styro and cups plastic forks were for picnics oh wait bottles of watee
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Ah Lindsay, these are the things that I am always thinking about. It is important that we preserve our planet for future generations. I started up Planet Guardians a little while ago to get people thinking about waste and alternatives that are less harmful to our world and it’s flora and fauna. I invite you to join me 🙂
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Sorry, Lindsay. You’ll have to take my baby wipes out of my cold dead hands. 1. They take far less space. 2. I use them all over the apartment. 3. They’re far more aesthetically pleasing. 4. I can control myself in the Dollar Tree or pick them up as I’m in there for another reason. 5. They don’t stir up my allergies. Now please don’t question the value of toilette paper and sanitary napkins. I won’t return to corn shucks and well, you don’t want to know. Love you girl, but you know how new proselytes often go overboard. Exhale!
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If I use the baby wipes to clean up paint they are saved & go back into my junk journals. I like to paint with them & those ones also get incorporated into my journal pages. I use kitchen rags to clean up all other messes. Reuse whenever possible!
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Great advice Lindsey. I don’t use them anymore either .
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I have always used rags more than the baby wipes, and I am very frugal about using paper towels in the kitchen. I’ll use those on greasy messes only. The baby wipes, when dry, go into my paper recycling bin. I know they are more fibrous, but so are a lot of other papers and catalogues I use the wipes so infrequently that I’ve had packets dry out before I use them up. Since the seventies, when I started my own household, I’ve always used cloth napkins instead of paper…that’s what napkin rings are for…everyone puts their napkin in their ring and once it’s really soiled it goes in the laundry. Now that it’s a family of two it’s even less of a big deal. As a former biology teacher I have always been mindful of waste and my footprint on the Earth, and boy did I preach it in the classroom! 😀 Thank you for reminding us all of these important concepts.
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I rarely use baby wipes, but if I do, I save and dry them and use them in projects – they can go gorgeous colours with inks and paints, and they also melt rather well! Instead, I use kitchen paper, and have several sheets on the go, using different ones for different colours so they don’t all end up looking like mud. You get 2 sheets for the price of one, too, as they are 2-ply and can be separated. Once they are completely covered with ink they get stored in a pizza box and I add them to mixed media projects. I have to get the box out every now and again and just look at them as they are so gorgeous! – especially after using them to mop up Dylusions spray inks!
Shoshi
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I hope we did not feel so miserable. It’s one issue that is close to most of our hearts.
We love your blog posts and videos because you show us how to do the same projects with the basic supplies that we can get at a low price. And that is one consideration that puts me off to try out mixed media.
Hope to see more of you. Don’t stay silent for too long.
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