The Smart Way You Could Be Reusing Dried Out Baby Wipes Around Your Home

If part of your life is dedicated to caring for young children, you have likely found an open, dried-out pack of wipes once or twice. The frustration you feel when finding dried wipes may cause you to toss the whole pack into the trash can. However, the reality is that there is a smart way to repurpose these baby wipes around the house: You can use them for dusting and wiping down a variety of surfaces. They work so well that you may purposely dry out wet wipes in the future.

Baby wipes are designed to be strong, given their humble but important task of meeting your baby's diapering needs. It is this very characteristic that makes wipes an excellent around-the-house tool for all sorts of cleaning tasks, as they won't easily break apart like a paper towel could. Dusting, in particular, is a chore in which a dried baby wipe shines, as the dust will cling to the dry cloth. Simply use the wipe in the same way that you would a cleaning cloth: wipe with one side, then fold and wipe again. 

Dried-out baby wipes have a strong but plush feel that makes them ideal for wiping down grubby surfaces, whether in the kitchen (floors, countertops, appliances) or in other spaces like the bathroom. You can also use them to clean the hard-to-reach spaces in your home office, like between laptop keys. You might have success using the dry wipes in place of dry dusting pads for your mop, making for an affordable alternative to expensive dry mopping sheets. Dry wipes can help you dust ceiling fan blades, baseboards, and more.

Just because wipes are too dried out to use for your baby's diapering does not mean they cannot be used for child-related needs at all. If moistened with water, they make excellent after-dinner wipes for grubby fingers and faces. Furthermore, their strength means that can likely dust multiple surfaces before disposing of them. However, try to avoid the common baby wipe cleaning mistake of transferring germs from one area to another by using the same wipe on various surfaces.