DIY All-Purpose Wipes
Updated Aug 19, 2022
This post may contain affiliate links. Please see our disclosure policy.
You won't believe how easy it is to make your own all-purpose cleaning wipes. These all-natural wipes are made with just 4 natural ingredients to create wipes that clean hard surfaces-- keeping your house clean.
Instead of using harsh chemicals, I put these all-purpose wipes to use around my house. They clean hard non-porous surfaces with just a simple wipe down.
Please note: Despite the URL, these wipes are NOT effective disinfectant wipes. According to research and studies, rubbing alcohol can be used as a hard surface disinfectant. While not as powerful as hospital-grade cleaners, it is said to be effective at germs. But that is using rubbing alcohol alone, not diluting with water, as this method for making wipes do.
I am known to be a bit of a clean freak--like constantly wiping down my house.
And while there are a lot of really great all-purpose wipes out there, I prefer to use as many natural products in my house when possible.
My favorite all-purpose wipe is made with paper towels, liquid soap, and rubbing alcohol.
All Natural Homemade Wipes for Cleaning
Why I do love my homemade cleaning wipes?
- SIMPLE to make
- Free from harsh chemicals
- Frugal, as these homemade disposal wipes are cheaper to make than any wipe you can buy.
How to Make All Purpose WIPES
- Mix together 2 cups warm water, 1 tablespoon liquid soap, 1 cup rubbing alcohol together--you must use at least 70% rubbing alcohol (90% is better)
- Place paper towels in a container that just fits them. I use a large glass cylinder container that was made to store food, but you could tear off the paper towels and place them in a large rectangular container. You just want the container to not leave much space around the paper towels, so they absorb the liquid.
- Pour liquid over paper towels.
- Now the cardboard tube is easy to pull out.
- And you can easily pull paper towels out one at a time!
A Few Notes on these Homemade Wipes:
- These are NOT meant to replace disinfecting products. I can not speak to the effectiveness of these wipes against any bacterias, viruses, or spores. I just use them as one method to help keep my house clean.
- If you can't find a large glass container to hold a whole roll of paper towels, tear the roll into individual sheets and roll up lengthwise and place in a 2 quart glass ball jar or lay flat in plastic container. You can even rinse out an old Clorox wipes container or baby wipes container to use.
- I love to add in essential oils to give these wipes a natural scent. You can add in 10 drops of any essential oil you like. I personally prefer lemon, for a fresh scent.
- Do not use these wipes on human skin or as baby wipes.
- If you omit the dish soap, these wipes are safe to use on granite counter tops, as alcohol is safe on granite according to Granite Gold. You can still use them with the soap on granite, but would need to rinse off and buff dry, as the soap can leave a residue on the granite over time.
Directions For Homemade All Purpose Wipes
Click on Image for Printable PDF for natural wipe directions.
I can not guarantee the effectiveness of these wipes against germs.
They say for making do-it-yourself hand sanitizer that the mixture should be 60% alcohol. I see no reason why that percentage shouldn't work for household cleaning. So just upped the amount of alcohol and drop the amount of water until you have 60% alcohol content. Then they should be considered pretty antibacterial.
Thank you Kristen for this great & creative info. Sharing it forward to help others who find themselves without sanitary wipes. This is cost effective as well.
Hello. Do I need to rinse the surface aster using these wipes?
I typically don't unless I find the surface sticky after it dries.
Thank you.
Hey there!
If all the stores are out of rubbing alcohol do you think vodka would be a good disinfectant substitute in this recipe?
Hi Teresa, I can not speak to how using vodka would help kill germs--but I would not try adding to these wipes for sanitizing.
Using adult beverages like vodka for cleaning purposes is actually discouraged as the alcohol content is only 40% by volume. For an effective cleaning agent, the alcohol base needs to be a minimum of 70%. 90% is preferred.
Are you using a glass vase without a top for this? How long does it take before they dry out?
Hi Teresa, no I have a glass container with a lid--it was designed for decoration I believe. You can tear off paper towels and lay flat in a rectangular plastic container and then pour over solution as well. As long as sealed well, these last several weeks.
While I see that this post is about 6 or more years old, I am curious if you have found over time that this is still the best solution for disinfecting your hard surfaces? I only ask because of the hysteria surrounding this virus we are now facing here in the US. The grocery stores are selling out of all of this type of ready-made item such as disinfecting wipes, bleach, Lysol, etc so more people are going to be looking for alternate solutions such as this. I know you are in no way, shape or form promising anyone that these wipes will kill or protect them from virus germs in particular but I'm just wondering if you have found or would recommend anything any different or stronger or easier to access supplies for in the time since you originally posted this tip? Thanks so much!!
Hi Karen! I have no knowledge of how this protects against this virus or what would kill that, nor do I make any claims about these killing any germs. You can read the CDC guidelines regarding killing germs.
Karen, this does NOT protect against germs/viruses. Hand sanitizers are required to contain 70% alcohol by volume. This recipe contains only 1/3 of the total volume for alcohol. That means even if you used 100% alcohol (which would be highly flammable and evaporate too quickly to sanitize your hands), the total volume in this recipe would be only 33% alcohol.
Exactly true Jane.
Hi there
I can't seem to find a sealed container I can fit a roll of paper towels, so you have a link or brand of the one you are using?
Thanks in advance either way ????
Hi Alisha! One thing that will work if you can't find a container to fit the entire roll, tear off a dozen paper towels, cut them in half, and stack them, then roll them up and in place in 2 cup or pint canning jar--should be a perfect fit. I purchased my container at target, but it is no longer available 🙁