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DIY Makeup Remover Wipes

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If you wear makeup, these DIY Reusable Makeup Remover Wipes will be the one of the most useful items you make all year!! These easy makeup remover cloths are made from soft microfiber and a bit of bias tape – so easy to make, you’ll have a dozen whipped up in no time flat!

reusable makeup remover wipes

DIY Makeup Remover Wipes

I’ve never been a big fan of makeup remover wipes, they’re pricey and a bit wasteful in my opinion. That being said, I do keep a pack in my bathroom drawer for “emergencies.”

You know, emergencies like it’s midnight, freezing in the house,  I just woke up from sleeping on the couch, and I have a face full of makeup that still needs to come off.

In our house, the master bath sink is at the end of the line for the water heater and I either have to let the water run for 5 minutes or wash my face in freezing water. Neither one of those choices work for me, so face wipe it is, lol.

Reusable Makeup Remover Wipes

Why You Need to Make these Reusable Makeup Remover Pads

  • Number one reason to make these reusable makeup remover wipes? They are definitely better for the environment than a single use, not-so-biodegradable wipe.
  • These DIY wipes are a fantastic solution to the cold water issue. I hate having to run the water to get it hot, such a waste! To use these wipes, you only need a bit of soap and water to remove your makeup. (Cold water on a small pad is much more doable than having freezing water run all down your arms and chest.)
    After using the wipe to apply the soap, rinse the pad with fresh water and wipe off the soap. (If your soap suds a lot or you have super soft water, you may have to rinse and repeat a time or too.)
  • The reusable pads are also great for removing stubborn eye makeup. I don’t wear facial makeup very often, but I do love my mascara. I’ve found a new fiber/tubing mascara (from thrive) that doesn’t smear, melt or flake, but it can be a struggle to remove. I like to use an oil based cream to remove my eye makeup. Just a little bit on the pad, gently massage around my eye area (no rubbing) and Voilà. MASCARA GONE!
  • These reusable makeup remover pads would make an awesome gift. (Hello handmade Mother’s day gift!)
     
  • Reusable wipes are also a great craft to make and sell.

Reusable Makeup Remover pads

These wipes are super easy to make. I used these pastel microfiber cloths I found on amazon. There are 12 cloths in the package, and you can make 4 round pads per cloth.  Make what you need and use the rest of the cloths for dusting, cleaning windows or polishing stainless steel.

Can I Make These Makeup Remover Wipes in Other Shapes?

Of course! You’re not limited to round wipes. You could do square or rectangle makeup remover pads, whatever shape appeals to you. (Although I think they will be easier to bind if you round the corners.)

 

makeup remover cloth

 

Can the Edges of the Pad Be Serged Instead of Bound?

Yes they could, you might need to practice a bit and work on your serger settings.

I did make a set without binding and just serged the edges. I used a 30 weight thread, but wasn’t super pleased with how they turned out. The makeup remover pads were still functional, just a bit misshapen as my serger pulled on the fabric and caused the edges to be a bit rippled.

Possibly if I used a heavier weight thread (to better encase the edges) and worked on finding the right settings on my machine, this would be a fantastic option. The time saved in serging vrs binding would be worth it.

The serged versions looked like this. They still worked great and I gave them to my teenage daughter.

 

How Do I Clean a Reusable Makeup Remover Cloth?

Just toss them in the wash with your towels. Dry as normal.

 

More Earth Friendly Projects you might like:

Ready to Learn How to Make Your Own Reusable Makeup Wipes?

Keep reading for the DIY tutorial and you’ll find the printable circle template under materials needed.

 

Materials Needed to Make Reusable Makeup Remover Wipes:

Sewing Instructions:

Use a small bowl or this 5.5 inch circle template to trace a circle on to your microfiber towel.

how to make a reusable makeup remover cloth

Cut out the circle.

diy makeup remover cloth

 

Open bias tape and “sandwich” the tape around the cloth. 

how to make a microfiber makeup remover cloth

Use lots of pins, work your way around and “ease” the bias tape around the circle.

how to make a microfiber makeup remover cloth

diy microfiber makeup remover cloth

 

When you get to the end, trim the bias tape so that you have about 1.5 inches of overlap.

Cut the end of the bias tape into an angle:

Fold the bias tape under and pin securely in place.

make a reusable makeup remover pad

Take the fabric circle over to the sewing machine and sew right along the edge (about an 8th of an inch) of the tape. Go slow when you reach the folded edge (There are several fabric layers, so it will be thick.) 

how to sew Reusable Makeup Remover Wipes

Back stitch, trim the strings and you are done!

How to make Reusable Makeup Remover Wipes

So cute!

If you end up making a reusable makeup remover cloth, be sure to tag me on Instagram with #scatteredmompatterns or you can upload the photos to your finished project in my private Facebook group!

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Yield: 1 wipe

How to Make Reusable Makeup Remover Wipes

Reusable Makeup Remover Wipes
Prep Time 5 minutes
Active Time 10 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Difficulty easy

Materials

  • Microfiber cloths (or similar soft fabric)
  • Double Fold Bias Tape (Make your own or pre-made-  you'll need 20 inches per 5.5 inch circle)
  • Circle to trace or print the 5.5 inch template
  • Fabric Marker
  • 90/14 needle
  • sewing pins
  • other basic sewing supplies

Instructions

  1. 1. Use a small bowl or this 5.5 inch circle template to trace a circle on to your microfiber towel. Cut out circle.
  2. 2. Open bias tape and "sandwich" the tape around the cloth. Using lots of pins, work your way around and "ease" the bias tape around the circle.
  3. 3. When you get to the end, trim the bias tape so that you have about 1.5 inches of overlap. Cut the end of the bias tape into an angle. Fold the bias tape under and pin securely in place.
  4. 4. Take the fabric circle over to the sewing machine and sew right along the edge (about an 8th of an inch) of the tape. Go slow when you reach the folded edge (There are several fabric layers, so it will be thick.) 
  5. 5. Back stitch, trim the strings and you are done!

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17 Comments

  1. What is width of fabric strip to use for binding? Thanks.

    1. Jamie Sanders says:

      Start with a two inch strip of fabric. After folding and ironing, it will be a half inch double fold binding.

  2. How cute are these! My niece would love these!

  3. Love your face cloths but had trouble getting my stitches around the binding to catch all fabric. So I ended up trying a square one and it worked but I had stitched the back binding by hand- like quilting, so more time consuming than I wanted. I used flannel as the other side. Not giving up but will try circles again. Any suggestions?
    Thanks,
    Rosalie

    1. Jamie Sanders says:

      I have trouble catching the binding on the back sometimes as well. A couple of suggestions: Use an iron and press the binding toward the other side. Then you can use glue or wash away wonder tape to hold the binding in place. Another suggestion is to maybe increase the width of the binding by a quarter inch or so.

      1. Jamie Sanders says:

        I also just serged the edge of a couple of the cloths. Not as pretty, but it works just fine to finish the edges..

      2. Rosalie Covello says:

        Thanks for getting back. I’ll try those ideas.

      3. You could also zig zag the edge instead of straight stitch. I usually do that when it doesn’t really matter how it looks. It still looks neat but don’t have to worry about missing that edge on the back.

  4. Great idea. I’m going to make some for Christmas presents.
    How much would you charge to sell 5 pads in a little kit? May make this for craft fair.

  5. Thanks for the tutorial! Is there only 1 layer of the microfiber in a round?

    1. Jamie Sanders says:

      yes, but you could use two if you like. Just depends on how thick your microfiber cloth is and how thick you want your pad. My only thought on using 2, is the cloths will slide around unless you quilt them together.

      1. some of the bought pads have foam padding in the middle. I might also try that

  6. These are gorgeous, and such a great idea! Thank-you, I am inspired!

  7. Susan Swain says:

    This is a wonderful idea! I can’t wait to make these for my girls and I! I’ve already ordered the cloths!

  8. I love these, have two mesh bags, one with clean wipes and the for dirty. When the dirty one is full, I just toss the whole thing in the washer and dryer.

  9. De Wilhelmsen says:

    Thanks for the great project idea! I plan to use this to practice using my bias tape attachment with my coverstitch machine. I also have the hotwater end of the line bathroom issue. I solved this by buying a cheap ($17) Proctor Silex Electric Tea Kettle, with auto-shutoff. It’s white and looks fine in the bathroom, It heats water faster than a microwave, about 30 seconds per cup of water. (I saw this idea somewhere years ago. Good ideas are worth sharing!)

    1. Jamie Sanders says:

      OMG, that is the best idea ever! We considered a point of use tankless hot water heater. but just too much money. This is a great idea!