Homemade Sterile Cloth Bandages

Sterile Fabric Bandages

I’ll never forget watching Meg, Marmee and Jo preparing bandages for wounded soldiers of the Civil War on Little Women. Recently, I decided to try and make some of our own sterile bandages just in case we do not have access to a local hospital or store bought bandages. You never know what may happen in periods of emergencies, plan prudently now while life is peaceful! Here is how I put mine together.

I found clean cotton and linen fabric scraps and tore them into long strips of various widths and lengths. Then I tightly rolled each piece and tied a few rolls together with thin cotton strips. Next pile your rolls onto a cookie pan or baking dish to a reasonable height, you don’t want them falling off the pan. Bake fabric rolls for 2 hours at 200 degrees with a dish of water sitting in the oven. They shouldn’t burn but stay near in case you accidentally put a roll of synthetic fiber in the batch. 

Once cooled, with clean hands, wrap several rolls in plastic wrap or plastic bags. Seal and place bundles into a container or clean coardboard box and seal shut. Keep some in a storage area and some in close reach for emergencies.