Average Price: $3.66/40ct
Official Link: http://www.wetones.com
Rating:

Diaper changes while out and about can’t always wait for the availability of a pristine bathroom equipped with a clean changing table. I’ve frequently found myself changing my son and daughter on a blanket spread out on a bench in the park, or simply needing to thoroughly wipe down whatever changing pad is publicly available.

Wet wipes have become a crucial part of my existence as a parent, as they allow me to wipe down changing tables and shopping carts, clean off my children’s faces and hands, and clean up easily after an explosive diaper while out on the go. I’ve happily settled on the “Wet Ones” brand from Playtex because of their price and quality.

CHANGES

If you are familiar with Wet Ones, you may notice a few changes. The canister has been redesigned to have a smaller base that allows it to fit more easily into cup holders. The wipes are now stronger and made of DuraStrong™ fabric, and a new “non sticky” formula which makes these wipes even nicer to use. These new canisters will be fully rolled out in April and should be widely available by then.
PACKAGING & USE

Wet Ones come in three packaging choices: Their new 40ct “car canister” packaging, 24ct individually wrapped singles, or 15ct travel pack. Each of these options are available for their antibacterial and extra gentle wipes. Wet Ones also comes in “Big Ones” antibacterial wipes, which are 50% larger than regular Wet Ones and which are great for bigger messes These come in 35ct travel packages. This review is covering the new car canisters as I haven’t used the other two packaging styles yet.

The canister (40ct) is made of light but durable plastic and has a twist top that opens up to show a roll of wet wipes. The top has a dispenser built in that is basically an “X” cut in the top that the wipes are pulled through. As each wipe is pulled through, the “X” breaks the perforation and allows one wipe to be pulled out while priming the next one to be pulled out as well. I was a bit concerned that the sharp edges of the dispenser would tear the wipes, but I’ve only had one or two wipes that ripped. It’s easy enough to operate with one hand while holding down a squirming child with the other.

Setting up the canister is easy. You unscrew the top and pull the center-most wipe out slightly, pressing it up against the middle of the “X” (you can use the little triangle on the top of the can to press the wipe through if you like, although I found it to be too flexible) As soon as a small amount of the wipe shows on the other side you can use your fingernails to pull it through a bit more. It’s quick and easy as long as you follow the instructions “Do not push finger through opening”. Seriously. Do not push finger through opening. I did the first time I used one of these canisters, and the edges of that “X” have a bit of a bite. Not quite enough to easily cut yourself on, but definitely enough to make me regret not having read the instructions before use.

VALUE

These wipes are a bit pricier than the cheap packages of baby wipes, so it does beg the question “Why not just use baby wipes?”

With the antibacterial wipes it’s a no brainer: No baby wipes are antibacterial. For the “extra gentle” formula the line is a bit more blurred. For me, I like these wipes because they’re more gentle on my baby’s face, and the canister has a much more convenient shape than baby wipes containers. It fits into the oft-unused inner bottle pocket of my diaper bag, the “parent” cup holder on my stroller, and the cup holder in almost every car I’ve driven.

I generally don’t use these wipes while at home, as baby wipes or soap and water are cheaper. Although I’ve been known to break out the antibacterial wipes on more than one occasion to clean up after a blow-out or during our recent family experience with the intestinal flu.

WHY NOT HAND SANITIZER?

I have a hate-hate relationship with the little bottles of alcohol-based hand sanitizer that have become a staple of every diaper bag. First of all it’s impossible to use on most surfaces without wasting a baby wipe or using your hand to wipe the surface down. Secondly, most of the hand sanitizers I’ve used have taken forever to dry and have left my hands feeling sticky. These wipes don’t leave your hands feeling sticky and your hands will dry quickly after you’ve used them. Most sanitizers also use a single antibacterial agent: Alcohol, which needs to be present in high concentrations to work, and which always leaves everything smelling a bit too much like an accident in the first aid aisle. Then there’s the fact that they’re so drying that I can’t use them more than a few times a week without my hands becoming chapped. There are lots of reasons there why hand sanitizer doesn’t quite work for me while these wipes do.

QUALITY

These wipes feel a bit like a hybrid between the thick cloth-like baby wipes and the thinner “hand wipes” that you get with a rack of ribs, bucket of chicken or lobster dinner.

They’re very strong and hold up to scrubbing spilled baby food out of a carpet, but are also gentle and soft enough to use to wash your baby’s hands or face. (I would not use the antibacterial ones on my child’s face, simply because of the harsher ingredients.)

SCENT

The sensitive skin wipes are fragrance free. If you hold the wipes container to your nose and sniff, there’s a slight smell of witch hazel and aloe (two of the ingredients) which is rather neutral. They leave no odor behind once they’ve been used.

The antibacterial wipes have a strong smell to them that is mostly from the alcohol base. The added “fresh scent” does a pretty good job of masking the alcohol smell, but the resulting scent has a bit of that “expired perfume” smell to it for a little while. Once the alcohol smell wears off (give it about 5 minutes), it leaves behind a pleasant smell not at all dissimilar to the scent of a perfumed hand soap that sort of smells like a floral bubblegum if that makes sense.

My favorite two things about the scent of these wipes: 1. When I have the misfortune to get a bit of poop on my hands while cleaning up a blow-out, these wipes clean the smell away wonderfully. Scrubbing my hands under scalding water with regular soap always leaves the phantom scent of poo. 2. When I use one and toss it in the diaper pail it drastically improves the scent of the pail for up to 24 hours later.

HOW EFFECTIVE?

Both the antibacterial wipes and the gentle wipes are excellent at removing visible dirt. Their thick cloth-like texture is slightly on the rougher side which minimizes the need to scrub. (It’s still gentle, just not the super slick gentle of baby wipes)

The scent in the antibacterial wipes is very effective at removing odors of poop, vomit, and other pervasive odors that most soaps and cleansers have a hard time fully getting rid of.

As for the antibacterial properties… It’s hard to measure exactly how effective antibacterial wipes are at actually killing bacteria. We’re not set up for scientific tests, so I can only guess based on some quick internet research. These wipes use a solution of 0.3% Benzethonium Chloride, a common antibacterial agent in wound wipes. These wipes also contain alcohol which has some antibacterial properties of its own. I was unable to find a study on the effectiveness of Wet Ones wipes themselves, but a study of a similar product with half the concentration of Benzethonium Chloride showed that the wipes were effective against Staph and Salmonella.

HOW GENTLE?

The Gentle wipes are extremely gentle as you can guess from their name. I found that they caused fewer issues with breakouts and redness on my son’s and daughter’s face than similar “gentle” and “scent free” baby wipes.

The antibacterial wipes are, by the very nature of their alcohol content, slightly drying. Wet Ones attempts to offset this drying effect with added Aloe and lanolin. While I wouldn’t want to use these wipes obsessively for hand washing purposes, using them one or two times a day doesn’t seem to dry out my hands much at all. And I’m prone to dry hands.

I’ve found these wipes to be more gentle than some of the competing products that I’ve used.

INGREDIENTS

Sensitive: Water, Hamamelis Virginiana Water (Witch Hazel), Chamomilla Recutita Flower Extract (Matricaria), Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), Panthenol (Pro-Vitamin B5), Guar Hydroxypropyltrimonium Chloride, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Cucumis Sativus Fruit Extract (Cucumber), Potassium Sorbate, Disodium Cocoamphodiacetate, Propylene Glycol, Disodium EDTA, Cetearyl Isononanoate, Ceteareth 20, Cetearyl Alcohol, Glyceryl Stearate, Ceteareth 12, Cetyl Palmitate, Citric Acid, Butylene Glycol, Sodium Hydroxymethylglycinate

Antibacterial: Active Ingredients: Benzethonium Chloride (0.3%) (Topical Antibacterial) Inactive Ingredients: Water, SD Alcohol 40, Propylene Glycol, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Potassium Sorbate, Quaternium 52, Fragrance, PEG 60 Lanolin, Citric Acid, Disodium EDTA

THE BOTTOM LINE

I love these wipes, and regularly buy both varieties and use them frequently. The canister is convenient and I love how the scent of the antibacterial wipes can mask unpleasant smells.