Now that we have a composting toilet, we need to be extra careful what we put into it. If we were cloth diapering I would go ahead and use baby washcloths and still use the same solution, but we are in the midst of potty training and are using our composting toilet so we decided to use paper towels instead… and the whole family can use them if need be. (If we figure out a good washing machine solution while traveling, I may be bold and try cloth diapering on the road, if and when we have baby #2).
I started with an old wipes container I had from some store bought wipes, so that I can just pull the paper towels right out of the top. It works like a charm. I’ve also heard that flour containers with pop top lids work as well.
We usually buy pretty sturdy wipes and cut them into 3 smaller sections. If you have a sharp enough knife that isn’t serrated, that works best, but if not the few shavings are easy enough to deal with (Nick has even used a hacksaw before…a little messy, but it gets the job done). Place one of your paper towel sections in the wipes container, so that the open circle is in the middle ready for your wipes to be pulled out of the container.
The recipe for the wipes solution is:
2 cups hot water (then cooled before adding to the container)
1 TBSP Baby Wash (I use Burt’s Bees because that’s what we have on hand)
1 TBSP Coconut Oil
10-15 Drops Tea Tree Oil
I put my TBSP of Coconut Oil into my hot water and stir it around until it melts. Then I mix in the baby wash and tea tree oil. Sometimes I’m in a hurry, so I add a few ice cubes to the hot water to speed up the cool down process. Lastly, I slowly pour the solution evenly over the paper towel that is already in my wipes container. Don’t worry about pulling out the cardboard middle, as it will slip out easily once wet.
I stumbled across a few recipes on the web that had similar ingredients to this one, but without the tea tree oil. I added the tea tree so that the wipes don’t mold before I use up the batch.
So far this has been a great solution for us in conjunction with our composting toilet.
I cloth diapered on the road. Contact me for questions or advice! I lived in a 21ft Chevy Winnebago but this time I’m thinking converted school bus!
Thanks Macy! We’ll be in touch!
A school bus would be sweet!
-NICK
I just stumbled upon your blog today and I have to say I am obsessed! Hahah! We just bought an old 1979 Holiday Rambler and I am in the middle of remodeling it. I would LOVE to be able to live off of the grid as much as possible and I am so excited to read more of your posts! The composting toilet is genius! I am looking forward to trying it out! (haha…and I totally realize how nuts I sound right now….)
Hey Natalie,
We love old trailers & your Rambler sounds cool! Its been almost 8-months since starting to use the composting toilet and we love it! We plan to improve our setup by installing a urine diverting seat to increase our capacity. (To maintain a dry consistency you need to add alot of covering! So putting the urine in a separate container that could be emptied easily and more frequently.)
Thanks for stopping by!
-NICK
Hello. Are you still blogging? I bought a small cabin last year, and I am about to install a composting toilet (urine diverting). I am wondering if you are satisfied with the DIY wipes . . . and do they actually do okay in a composting toilet? Thanks.
Hey Rebecca!
Yes, we are still blogging and yes we love the wipes. They do fine in the toilet and breakdown very fast in the compost bins. Hope this helps!
-NICK