Tuesday, July 25, 2017

The Great Baby Wipe Off!

Baby wipe product testing has come to an end for my family! Like all consumer purchase items, the quality and prices of wipes are subject to change at any time. My last Mid-Week Musing talked about how unhappy I am with the changes in the Honest brand baby wipes.


It never fails that you find a product you LOVE...and then the company changes it for the worse...and then you wonder if it's worth the cost...because it was so much better before...big mom sigh...







I know there are many other wipe products on the market. I chose some of the more "natural" ones to try (natural is my jam) but also kept an eye on cost. Several people recommended Costco store brand wipes to me, but my husband and I are not planning on joining Costco due to other practical issues (for us) such as location and store hours. I also received some tips on how to make my own, but that's not happening at this stage in the game.

Here's my quick overview of the brands I tested, the best price, and my Job Performance and Packaging grades (A-F, just like in school). 




I checked online pricing at both Amazon and Target and selected the package option which gave the best value per wipe to the third decimal place (details later in the post). In most cases that is buying a bulk box of wipes. The prices were very similar with the exception of Babyganics which for some reason are ridiculously more expensive on Amazon than from Target.

Read on for details of each product...






Size doesn't really matter... I'm not too picky about the size of the wipe. To me they are all similar enough to not effect my choice. But here are some quick comparison shots. The Pampers Sensitive is in each photo as the control item. The size per the company is on each wipe...I think they must stretch them to get their sizes... But in my opinion - Water Wipes were the smallest and Honest Company and Babyganics were the largest with everyone else falling pretty equally in the middle.








I evaluated the wipes for texture, smell, wetness, if they left a residue on my hands, if they were irritating to my hands or to baby's bottom, and if they were safe for use on face and hands (per the package).

Then I assigned an overall job performance grade and packaging grade. 

I was sad to realize that the changes in the Honest wipes which I am so upset about where also very common in these other brands. 

Durability...The original Honest wipes would not rip. The new Honest wipe and ALL the other wipes I tried would rip if pulled on forcefully.

Packaging...The original Honest wipes pulled out with ease, each wipe pulling up the next. Most of the other "natural" wipes did not dispense this way. In general, I think the these brands could learn a lot about packaging by studying Pampers who had by far the best packaging and dispensing.

See my full results below, wipes are presented from most to least expensive, just cause I had to pick some way to order them ;-)


Water Wipes

Best Price: $0.058 per wipe
Amazon 9-60 count $31.33 / $0.058 per wipe 
Target 9-60 count $32.99 / $0.061 per wipe

Job Performance: B, these soft cloths feel very nice and don't leave a residue. They cleaned baby poop well, but were slightly less efficient with toddler poop. I found myself using more cloths to ensure cleanliness. They are also a little too wet, especially the last 20 or so which is a lot since the package only contains 60. 

Packaging: D, wipes do not feed into one another for easy dispensing and they frequently stuck together making them difficult to pull out of the package. Only 60 cloths per package is skimpy for diaper changes leading to frequent refills.

Summary: These were actually recommended to me by a friend who does not have kids, but uses them on her own face. If I were to use a wipe on my or my child's face these would be my #1 choice. So soft and pure and the extra wetness would be nice when wiping a face. Due to the shortcomings listed above (and the cost), I wouldn't recommend for diaper changes. 




Honest Company

Best Price: $0.052 per wipe
Website subscription $3.75 for 72 / $0.052 per wipe
Target 8-72 count $33.99 / $0.059 per wipe

Job Performance: A, these soft cloths clean gently and do a great job even with a poopy diaper, no dry time required. Completely non-irritating for both my toddler and baby. Non-irritating to face and hands. The patterned cloth is the nicest texture of all the brands I tested.

Packaging: Fwipes do not feed into one another for easy dispensing and mostly pull out in clumps of 6-10 cloths which can not be stuffed back inside the package. My lowest packaging grade, they are basically useless due to this poor packaging.

Summary: Still my all around favorite wipe for diaper changes, face, and hands, even with the changes. However, I cannot recommend due to the abysmal packaging including the fact that their new cloths frequently stick together.





Seventh Generation

Best Price: $0.039 per wipe
Amazon 6-64 count $15.19 / $0.040 per wipe
Target 4-64 count $9.89 / $0.039 per wipe

Job Performance: C, these cloths don't clean the best and you must allow baby's bottom to dry or irritation will ensue. Not to be gross ;-) but I'd notice poop staining, ie orange from carrots, still on the skin after wiping. The texture of these cloths most resembles that of a wet paper towel and they rip the easiest of all the brands I tried.

Packaging: Bwipes feed into each other for easy dispensing. Refill packs with tape pull well from a dispenser. Flip top does not snap closed very securely but is so well attached you cannot tear it off to place the whole package in a dispenser.

Summary: A mediocre product in pretty much every way. I would be comfortable using these for diaper changes and on my child's hands and face, but they would never be my first choice.





Babyganics

Best Price: $0.035 per wipe
Amazon 4-100 count $34.99 / $0.087 per wipe
Target 8-100 count $27.99 / $0.035 per wipe

Job Performance: A, these large, very soft cloths clean gently and very well, no dry time required. Completely non-irritating to my baby's bottom. These cloths were much more heavily scented than I expected from a "fragrance free" product but I didn't find the smell unpleasant.

Packaging: C, the wipes pull out easily but they do not feed into one another so each wipe must be pulled out separately. This was not an issue until I reached the very bottom of the package, the last 10 wipes were more difficult to pull out. The package of 100-count is too large for a standard size dispenser and the tape doesn't stick back very securely.

Summary: These were my #1 favorite wipes for diaper changes. With the smell and slight tacky residue, they would not be my first choice to use on hands/face.






Pampers Sensitive

Best Price: $0.024 per wipe
Amazon 9-64 count $13.67 / $0.024 per wipe
Target 9-64 count $14.69 / $0.026 per wipe

Job Performance: A, these soft cloths clean well. They leave a residue which was unpleasant on my hands, but non-irritating to baby's bottom.

Packaging: A, wipes feed into each other for easy dispensing, flip tops close securely yet tear off easily to put the package in a dispenser.

Summary: For the price and packaging, this is an excellent product for diaper changes. The package does not say they are face/hands safe and I would not use them to wipe my child's face or hands.




Pampers Natural Clean

Best Price: $0.023 per wipe
Amazon 7-72 count $11.64 / $0.023 per wipe
Target 7-64 count $11.39 / $0.025 per wipe

Job Performance: D, the cloths are too rough and leave an unpleasant sticky residue.

Packaging: Awipes feed into each other for easy dispensing, flip tops close securely yet tear off easily to put the package in a dispenser.

Summary: In every way I found this product to be less impressive than the Pampers Sensitive and the Sensitive are only $0.001 more per wipe. If you want to use a Pamper's product, spring for the Sensitive. 
**I will confess that I did not even use one full package of these when evaluating them, I disliked them that much.




Huggies Natural Care

Best Price: $0.021 per wipe
Amazon 3-216 count $13.90 / $0.021 per wipe
Target 3-184 count $12.99 / $0.024 per wipe

Job Performance: D, I was initially very pleased with the texture, lack of smell, and wetness level of these wipes. But these cloths do not glide well across baby's skin, especially when changing a poopy toddler diaper. My toddler also developed pretty significant redness when we reached the end of the package.

Packaging: B, wipes feed into each other for easy dispensing, flip tops close securely yet tear off easily to put the package in a dispenser. The best pricing on Huggies is the giant refill packs which are made to fit only in their giant dispensers.

Summary: I would not recommend using this product.




My top choices for Diaper Changes

Babyganics or Pampers Sensitive

I prefer the Babyganics wipes but like the Pampers Sensitive packaging better.

My top choices for on-the-go (face, hands, & diaper changes)

Water Wipes or Seventh Generation

Target carries travel packs of Water Wipes, 12-10 count for $11.99 or $0.099 per wipe which is pricey but I don't use a lot of travel packs. Seventh Generation are more economical with the flip top.



Please share! 
What is your favorite brand and why?


4 comments:

  1. This is so interesting! We've always used the Amazon brand, either sensitive or unscented. I like it, but then I've never actually tried anything else, so who knows! I love the breakdown you gave, so helpful!

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    1. I see Amazon are fairly well priced at $0.023 for the sensitive :-) Really I'm probably way too picky about baby wipes! Beyond baby's bottom...I definitely notice a difference in my hands getting dry (especially with 2 in diapers now) with different brands.

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    2. That's so interesting! I would probably experiment more, but my little guy doesn't seem to have very sensitive skin, he's never gotten a diaper rash (yet!). I'm curious what brands they have / how the prices at Costco compare too. I don't have a membership, but my mom does and I'm planning to go with her when she visits next week so I'll have to check it out!

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    3. I used the Kirkland wipes (costco brand) after my son vomited all over himself outside my friend's house a few weeks ago. I remember the wipes pulled out really easily, but I wasn't paying too close attention because of the vomit! My husband has had eczema since infancy so we try to pick products geared towards sensitive skin.

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