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How to Make Homemade Disposable Disinfectant Wipes

In these days of chaos and uncertainty, it doesn’t hurt to have a few good ideas on how to pinch some pennies. For that matter, many stores are being emptied out of basic essentials by panicking masses. While some things just are not practical to make on your own, other household items can be crafted with only a few dollars worth of easily attainable supplies and a little know-how. Getting a little thrifty and crafty can make your life easier, save you some money, and help keep you and your family safe from dangerous bacteria. In this article, you’ll learn how to make homemade disposable disinfectant wipes.

A woman cleaning with homemade disinfectant wipes

Making your own disposable disinfectant wipes may not have ever occurred to you before now, but these are the kind of things that are being grabbed up in stores so fast that most people can’t get their hands on them. On the other hand, the few basic supplies you will need to make your own disinfectant wipes will be fairly easy to come by, and shouldn’t be sold out any time soon. If you’re worried that you aren’t particularly handy, don’t fret, this is extremely easy.

In this article, we will discuss a few different kinds of disposable disinfectant wipes, and we will give step-by-step instructions on how to make your own right at home.

Why Do You Need Disposable Disinfectant Wipes?

You might be asking yourself why you would even need disposable disinfectant wipes? Perhaps you’re thinking that you already have a washrag and some disinfectant spray, so what more could you need? If you have already gotten by with that old dishrag and spray for as long as you remember, it might be time to consider an alternative that is safer and better for the environment. Not only that, it will save you some money, which is always a good thing.

The old ways are not always the best ways. Let’s take the towels in your bathroom as an example. Did you know that the towels you use to dry off with after a shower can contain bacteria like E. Coli and salmonella? That is just two of the countless bacteria you might find. Even the towels you use only on your own body after you just got done cleaning yourself off in the shower are covered in potentially harmful bacteria.

If your towels are that unsanitary, imagine what must be on a dishrag that you’ve used to wipe up multiple spills and dirty counters? Thinking on that will make you want to throw that dirty rag away, and that’s exactly the point of disposable disinfectant wipes. You can use them once, then never worry about whether or not you should use them again, because you toss that one and use a fresh one every time.

Now you might be wondering why you should make your own, rather than just buying them at the store. Let’s temporarily disregard the money you’ll be saving and the fact that homemade wipes are safer for you. Disposable wipes sold in stores contain plastic fibers, making them dangerous to animals and terrible for the environment. Twenty minutes of your time can help your environment immensely.

There are so many reasons to take a little extra time to make your own cleaning and hygiene products. It will save you money, keep you safer, and protect the environment. Let’s explore a few different types of disposable wipes.

Disposable Bathroom Wipes

If you’ve made a trip to the store recently, you might have noticed that they’re a little low on sanitary products like toilet paper and flushable wipes. Perhaps you thought you’d sneak on over to the baby section and get some baby wipes instead. Well, there are two problems with that idea.

First, you’re not the only one that had that idea. Most stores are limiting the number of purchases you’re allowed on those types of products because they are becoming scarce. Second, have you ever actually looked at what flushable wipes are made of? The ingredients in baby wipes are harsh, unnecessary, and sometimes even dangerous.

Take Pampers Clean and Go wipes for example. The ingredients are Water, Disodium EDTA, Xanthan Gum, Caprylic Triglyceride, PEG 40 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Benzyl Alcohol, Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Sodium Hydroxymethlyglycinate, Citric Acid, Fragrance

Does anyone know what Hydroxymethlyglycinate is? Most of us can’t even pronounce that word, but they expect us to put it on our skin.

There is a solution. All it takes is some heavy-duty paper towels, which are much easier to come by right now, and a few other ingredients that won’t be hard to find.

Ingredients:
1 cup of water
1 tablespoon of pure aloe vera
1 tablespoon of liquid castile soap
1 teaspoon of olive oil

The process for making the wipes is surprisingly simple:

Cut the paper towel roll in half.
Put one half of the roll in a plastic container of some kind. An old baby wipe container would work great, but any plastic container will do.
Mix the ingredients from above in a bowl or cup. You can choose to add things like essential oils or vitamin e extract, but keep in mind that highly sensitive skin might be bothered by additives.
Pour the mixture onto the paper towels, and let it soak with the lid closed for ten minutes, then flip the container and wait another ten minutes.
Open it up and enjoy your homemade sanitary wipes.
Remember to keep the lid closed so they won’t dry out. After you use up the first half of the roll, you can simply make a new batch with the other half. These wipes are sturdy, effective, and very safe.

Disposable Disinfectant Cleaning Wipes

We’ve discussed just how unsanitary a washrag can be after a few uses, so by now you understand the need for a safer alternative. Items that are used for cleaning and sanitation are selling out nearly as fast as hygiene items like toilet paper. Why not take the time to learn how to make your own disposable disinfectant wipes, and save yourself some frustration, as well as some money?

Furthermore, making your own wipes ensures that they will be safe and environmentally friendly. This particular recipe for disposable disinfectant wipes is only four simple ingredients. None of these ingredients are expensive or difficult to come by.

The ingredients are as follows:
1 roll of paper towels
3/4 cup of water
1/4 cup of vinegar
1/4 teaspoon of dish soap

Before we move on to the instructions, you might be asking yourself why you would want to add vinegar to something you’re going to be wiping all over your countertops and other hard surfaces. Vinegar is a natural disinfectant and bactericide. While most research states that vinegar on its own is not as effective as commercial chemicals, it is much safer and it is proven to kill most bacteria. For that matter, we aren’t using it on its own. Acetic acid is the part of vinegar that kills the germs. Most vinegar sold in stores is going to have about 5 percent acetic acid, but if you can find one with 7-12 percent, it’s going to work a lot better. These can sometimes be found in certain environmentally conscientious stores.

So here is how you’re going to turn those ingredients into disposable disinfectant wipes:

Cut the paper towel roll in half, or in this case you can choose to leave it whole. The trick is to shop around for a container that is the right shape and size to hold a whole roll of paper towels.
Put one half, or the whole roll, into a plastic container of some kind. A few more suggestions would be old plastic coffee containers or Tupperware.
Mix the ingredients from above in a bowl or cup. You may choose to add more ingredients if you wish, but remember that more isn’t automatically better.
Pour the mixture onto the paper towels, and let it soak with the lid closed for ten minutes, then flip the container and wait another ten minutes.
Open it up and enjoy your homemade disposable disinfectant wipes.

There are many variations of this recipe. Some people use rubbing alcohol or baking soda in place of the vinegar. Some people add lemon juice. Another common idea is to add certain scented oils to spruce the mixture up and little. I do not suggest adding anything with a good smell to vinegar, because the combination usually isn’t pretty.

Final thoughts: How to make homemade disposable disinfectant wipes

Times are uncertain, and we can’t always rely on grocery stores and department stores to have everything we need to keep our homes safe and sanitary. Even if the stores were packed full of expensive products, there’s really no reason to pay more for products that are unhealthy and bad for the environment.

It’s not always people’s favorite pastime, making products that you would normally rather buy outright. After you have tried it, you may realize that making your own homemade disposable wipes and disinfectant wipes is actually cheaper, easy, safer, and better for the environment.

Is the Coronavirus Man-made?

Conspiracy theories that coronavirus is a bioweapon engineered in China’s BSL-4 lab at the Wuhan

Since the first reported case of COVID-19, which is a respiratory disease caused by the now-infamous coronavirus, information and misinformation have blown up to near-hysteria. The goal of this article is to set the record straight on whether or not coronavirus is a man-made virus, as well as clear up other truths and myths; or to at least share all of the relevant and accurate information that we can find.

When it comes to worrisome situations like the spread of a new virus, one of the most effective ways to combat panic is by providing information. Hopefully, after reading this article, you will feel as though you have a firm grasp on the situation, and a better idea of what you need to do to protect yourself.

What is Coronavirus?

Before we can get into the question of whether the coronavirus is a man-made virus or not, we need to explore every aspect of what we know for sure. A lack of knowledge on a topic is the fastest way to spread fear and panic, so it stands to reason that knowing more on a topic will ease the tension this new virus has created.

Coronavirus is a virus. There are actually several different varieties of the coronavirus, but the one in question is newly discovered and causes a particular respiratory illness called COVID-19. To clarify, COVID-19 is not the virus, it is the respiratory disease that is caused by the virus called coronavirus. The first known case of COVID-19 was found in Wuhan, China. Perhaps coincidentally, this is also the location of the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where viruses are documented and studied. Some speculate that viruses are made there as well, although is not known for sure.

How does the coronavirus spread?

One of the most important questions in need of an answer at a time like this is how the virus is spread. It is believed by most that the virus can either spread from direct or close contact with infected people or communally. Community spread means that people are getting infected by being in certain areas. Since many people have been diagnosed with the virus, despite having no idea how they might have come into contact with it, community spread is a likely possibility.

It is believed that coronavirus is spread through mucus and other bodily fluids. This means that risk factors include breathing the same air as someone, being around a coughing person, being around a sneezing person, and touching of any kind. You could also be at risk of infection if you touch an object that an infected person has touched since there is some speculation that the virus can survive outside the body for at least a short time.

7 steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19 — Prevent the spread of COVID-19 in 7 steps. Digital image. WHO – World Health Organization

How did people catch the virus at first?

Whenever a new virus starts to spread, one important mystery to solve is how and where the virus began. We need to know if this is a naturally occurring incident or some sort of malicious attack. Regarding the coronavirus, the first recorded case was found in Wuhan, China, and it spread from there. Wuhan is the location of a virology lab at the highest biosafety level 4, but no one has officially accused that lab of being responsible for the release of the virus so far. There has been quite a lot of speculation about whether or not the lab is responsible, but there does not seem to be enough evidence to either confirm it or rule it out as a possibility.

There is also another potential origin of the outbreak – an illegal wildlife market in Wuhan, where animals are bought live and then slaughtered on the spot for the customers. “These animals have their own viruses,” said Hong Kong University virologist Professor Leo Poon. “These viruses can jump from one species to another species, then those species may become an amplifier, which increases the amount of virus in the wet market substantially.”

No matter whether that is the case, hopefully, this pandemic will be the end of live animal sales and slaughtering animals in inhumane and poorly regulated conditions at wet markets. Besides disease, the cruelty that goes on at these places is unacceptable. These attitudes towards animals have no place in a civilized society.

Chinese live-animal market as a potential origin of the novel coronavirus outbreak

What we do know is that, after it started in China, the coronavirus spread to over 100 different countries, including the United States. It is estimated that well over 100,000 people have been infected already, and around 5,000 people have died from the disease. Of those 5,000 people that died, most were elderly and already suffering from a pre-existing condition that weakened their immune system. While the loss of these people is certainly tragic, the one positive thing we can take away from these numbers is that young people with healthy immune systems have a much lower risk of death.

How to protect yourself

There are many important steps that you can take to protect yourself from the infection. While no one can ever be 100% shielded from risk, unless you’re willing to lock yourself in an underground bunker for a while, we can mitigate the danger. Washing your hands is one of the most important things you can do. Your hands are constantly touching things and picking up germs and bacteria. Washing them thoroughly, with antibacterial soap, is essential. A good rule of thumb is to sing the “happy birthday” song twice while you scrub your hands together, then rinse.

Another important thing to remember is to avoid touching your face. If you do pick something up on your hands, you should still be fine as long as you don’t give it easy access to your body, like through the eyes, nose, and mouth. If you have an itch and must scratch it, use a tissue.

A final piece of advice that will help to reduce the risk of infection is to avoid crowds. While completely quarantining yourself would certainly keep you safe from the coronavirus, it is not very practical for most of us. If you must go shopping, consider ordering your groceries online. If that isn’t possible, bring hand sanitizer to the grocery store with you and use it regularly, then wash your food before eating it.

Practicing safe hygiene is the most important way of reducing your risk of infection. For your safety, and the safety of others, be sure to follow the above suggestions at all times.

Hand washing and disinfection to prevent transmission of the virus

Speculation and theories

With any major event, particularly widespread and dangerous ones like the sudden appearance of a deadly virus, there is going to be a certain amount of theorizing and speculation. This is especially true today when we are all connected by the internet, and our thoughts and ideas can be shared with thousands from the comfort of our own homes. Some of the ideas that have been passed along might have some merit, others are no more than paranoid conspiracy theories. Probably the most important theory, whether logical or paranoid, is the question of whether the coronavirus is man-made or not.

So how can we tell the truth from the stories? The best way to distinguish fact from fiction is to compile what we definitely know and compare it to what we suspect.

One thing we know for certain is that the Coronavirus did start in Wuhan, China, and that there is a virology lab right there in that city. This one fact alone means that we should at least be asking questions about the origins of this virus. We cannot ignore at least the possibility that there is a connection between the Wuhan lab and the outbreak that began right there in the same city.

There have been a few conspiracy theories that simply do not stand up to any scrutiny. For instance, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian of China posted on Twitter, accusing the US military of bringing the coronavirus to China and intentionally spreading it there. This is preposterous on its face, of course. There’s no evidence for this whatsoever, and no logical reason for the US to do something like that.

Then there is the theory that the coronavirus is man-made. Some people believe and have openly claimed, that the Coronavirus was cooked up in a lab, and either deliberately or accidentally released upon the unknowing public. We will explore this a little further in the next section.

While there are many thoughts, ideas, theories, and speculations circulating the internet, it is important to remember that protecting yourself and your family is the first priority.

Is the Coronavirus man-made?

People wearing protective gear due to coronavirus pandemic

The problem is, there is not a great deal of factual information to go with it. No one knows for sure where the coronavirus came from. There are claims from China that it started with people eating a bowl of bat-soup, though this has never been verified. There are others that believe that the coronavirus was cooked up in the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

Some say they created it and released it intentionally, others say they were just careless and that it was an accident. We do know that the Chinese government went to great lengths to silence the first doctors that attempted to bring attention to the virus, including Dr. Li Wenliang, who died from the virus himself shortly after being muzzled by Chinese officials.

Final thoughts: Is the coronavirus man-made?

With all of that being said, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) has released statements in which they say that the coronavirus is zoonotic, meaning it is passed from animals to humans. While the CDC has specifically mentioned bats as a possible culprit, there is also a great deal of seafood and live animal markets in Wuhan. Most evidence does seem to point to the coronavirus being something that an unlucky human caught from an animal that they ate or interacted with.

When it comes right down to it, we simply do not have enough information to make a definitive statement on the subject. Over time, more information is sure to arise and shed more light on the subject. Until then, we will have to wait and see. Remember to wash your hands regularly, avoid crowded places and be safe.

Healthy Food for Toddlers in Winter

Foods and habits that can keep your kids healthy throughout the winter season

Keeping your kids healthy in the wintertime can be an extremely tall task. During the winter, sickness is everywhere, food lacks nutrition around the holidays, kids can become sedentary if you live somewhere that gets too cold to go outside, and screen time for their devices seems to increase each day. As examples, we have listed below some tips and a list of healthy food for toddlers in the winter you can prepare.

One way to boost your child’s immune system against terrible sicknesses like the flu and the common cold is to ensure that they’re eating healthy, getting protein and essential vitamins and avoiding foods that are high in sugar.

Sugar has an adverse effect on the immune system, and it can be difficult to keep sugar levels down around the holidays, but it’s possible. Also, staying hydrated is a key for your children, because keeping hydrated can not only help fight infection, but it also helps to flush toxins from their systems. Doctors recommend that your kids drink half their pound weight equivalent in ounces each day. So, for example, if your child weighs 40 pounds, they should be drinking 20 ounces of water daily.

What else should you take into account besides healthy nutrition

For the majority of this article, we’ll be focusing on how food and proper nutrition is possible for your kids in the winter, but there are additional ways for them to stay healthy as well.

Getting enough sleep is crucial to staying healthy no matter if you’re a kid or a grown adult. And although adults are usually most prone to wintertime stress, secondhand stress from their adult family members and the business of the wintertime can also negatively affect the immune systems of children. For this reason, you should be ensuring that your kids are getting some downtime and some time for them to decompress.
Also, keeping good hygiene by making sure they’re regularly washing their hands and changing out their toothbrushes can help to avoid the spread of germs. They should be washing their hands before every meal after they sneeze or cough, and after they do any activity where they’re around other kids or touching something unclean.
Always make sure that your kids are getting their flu shots around October so that the doctors can pinpoint that year’s flu virus and so your chances of them catching it earlier than that are slim.

Healthy food for toddlers in the winter

Kids eating healthy in the winter means not only should they be getting well-balanced meals, but they should especially be getting sufficient protein, vitamins, and fluids.

One great food that generally checks off all of these areas is soup. Soup is a great way to sneak extra fluids into a meal to ensure that your child is staying hydrated throughout the day and whatever you put in the soup can help to hit the other key areas, vitamins and protein. If you make vegetable beef soup, for example, it will offer a good source of vitamins in the vegetables and the beef will deliver a protein-packed punch to keep your kids’ immune systems fighting strong.
Besides soup, other great ideas that can offer various sources of nutrition are pot pies, stuffed peppers, vegetable calzones, and more. And of course, you don’t have to make sure that your kids are getting all of their essential nutrients in the entrée. You can pair lunches with fruit, such as clementines, or give them orange juice with breakfast to make sure that they’re getting their daily vitamin C.
Salmon is a great source of amino acids. Varying amino acids is essential to not only making sure that protein intake is high, but that your children are getting the essential amino acids for the various functions of their cells. Fish also are rich in Omega 3 fatty acids, which have vast health impacts including being shown to reduce depressive moods. Depressive moods can be a theme in the winter for many kids for many various reasons such as lack of activity, cabin fever, boredom, and more.
Sweet potatoes can be a superfood for children in the winter because of their great supply of fiber, vitamin A, and potassium. These can be delivered in many ways, such as loaded, in a casserole, or substituted for French fries, a much less healthy food. It’s key lunch and dinner substitutes like swapping regular French fries for sweet potato fries that might make the biggest difference because you’re eliminating unhealthy food and introducing a healthy option in one fell swoop.
Cauliflower can be one of the most impactful vegetables available to your child in the wintertime, and that’s saying a lot for such a powerful food group. It has high levels of vitamin C, vitamin K, and compounds that have been found to prevent infection. Furthermore, it also contains folate, which is a vitamin that is key to your child’s growth. Like sweet potatoes, cauliflower has a lot of fiber as well, which helps to boost your child’s energy and aids the digestive process. Cauliflower might not be the most popular food item for your children, but you can find creative ways to include it, such as using it to make an alternative form of rice and pairing it with dishes that usually are served over rice.
Great options for snacks are nuts, which help your body’s metabolism and also offer a great protein source. Keeping snacks in mind, jaggery can be an ideal substitute for sugar and much more healthy at that. In combination with ginger, jaggery can be a great defense against coughs.
Additional foods to consider are beef, garlic, yogurt, and any fruits high in vitamin C. Beef is a good source of zinc, a nutrient that is key to producing white blood cells that provide defense against negative bacteria. Fruit that is high in vitamin C includes oranges, strawberries, raspberries, and pomegranates. Garlic is known to have allicin, which is essential to fighting infection. Yogurt, especially if it involves probiotics, will keep your child’s digestive system from being prone to germs that might cause disease.

Why is breakfast the most important meal of the day for children?

a healthy breakfast with fruits for your toddler in the winter

One of the most overlooked and nutrition-void meals of the day is breakfast. Children sleep longer than adults, meaning that after an overnight break that can last for twelve hours, they urgently need a balanced and healthy breakfast. Nutritionists say that breakfast should cover 18 to 22 percent of all-day energy intake, and skipping it is a cause for developing obesity because it leads to overeating throughout the rest of the day.

So many breakfast foods are high in sugar such as Pop-Tarts, Toaster Strudels, and sugary cereals and cereal bars. Not only are these foods high in sugar, but they often lack the essentials that we’ve been talking about through much of this article such as protein and vitamins.

Instead of these sugary breakfasts, make your child some eggs or add some cottage cheese or yogurt to breakfast. If making eggs every morning is too much of a time consumer while you’re trying to shuffle the little ones off to school or daycare, maybe you can hard boil the eggs in advance.

Other great nutritious breakfast ideas are breakfast burritos and smoothies made with peanut butter and fruit for an easy to consume a meal that has protein and vitamins.

How to get your kids to eat healthy food

Eating healthy isn’t always the number one priority for young children, that’s understandable. For this reason, there are some tips that can make your kids more prone to eat the healthy meals that you’ve prepared for them.

For example, if your kids are given a few healthy options for lunch or breakfast and they can choose their favorite and help you prepare it, they’ll be more likely to trust it and eat it, rather than scowling in disgust before they even try it. So, before you take your trip to the grocery store and come home with a bunch of foods your kid won’t touch, run a few ideas by them before you leave the house and see what healthy options they’re in favor of most.

Also, the holidays are supposed to be a time of year that is fun for everyone, especially the little ones. So, keep in mind that you don’t have to throw out all of the sugary foods in the house and abstain from making holiday cookies or including treats in their presents. Your kids can and should still be able to indulge in a treat every now and then but keep it to no more than one sugary treat each day.

If they’re snacking on cookies and chocolate throughout the entirety of the day and eating a sugary breakfast, that’s when you start to run into major nutritional issues and immune deficiencies. But the holidays also shouldn’t be a time that your kids dread because they know that they’ll be on a strict diet of fish, beef, veggies and nothing else.

Final thoughts: Healthy food for toddlers in winter

If you take these suggestions into mind and implement them as much as you can, your kids will be better off for it. Perfection isn’t what you should be aiming for, especially with how stressful and busy the winter can be, but if you keep these healthy foods in mind when you’re preparing meals and going to the grocery store, it’ll go a long way.