It will not be an overstatement to say that wet wipes represent indispensable inventions for our everyday life. You may ask, why can unsophisticated, simple, and easily accessible wet clothes be so unreplaceable? What outstanding qualities do they possess to have the right to be one of the most necessary household essentials?
Let us imagine for a moment the situation when we have to spend a certain amount of time without access to water, a piece of soap, and paper towels as a result of some emergency situation or being simply far away from home or any other institutions where we could use toilets? How can we, in this case, remove a speck of dirt or a stain that appeared on our skin or on our clothes? What to do when we need to wipe some surfaces surrounding us or our belongings to provide protection to ourselves or our children from bacteria and infections? It is a piece of wet cloth steeped with a special cleaning solution that can help you.
Moreover, when you have children of any age, the wipes purposely for babies acquire particular importance in your everyday life. Perhaps you don’t remember the time when wet wipes did not exist, but our grandmothers do. We can not even imagine how they coped with their everyday household duties providing their small children care and keeping the surrounding things and surfaces clean.
It is quite understandable that wet wipes are needed every day and every hour for all of us, no matter where we go or where we are. Fortunately, we live in a time when this extremely useful product is generally available and has comparatively affordable prices for us to have some packs of wet wipes fitting various purposes, for instance, being a part of cleaning supplies, a means of body care, and as a disinfectant.
This article will get you acquainted with the main types of wet wipes, their benefits, and the difference between them.
What Makes Wet Wipes So Popular?
All the wet wipes represent disposable non-woven pieces of cloth steeped in the special solution used for wiping or cleaning various surfaces, things, equipment, the parts of the interior (tables, door handles, shelves, kitchen countertops, etc.) as well as the skin of all parts of our bodies (including our own bottom or our baby’s bottom, or hands). They are also often called towelettes. Others call them moist wipes.
Today you can also buy moist wipes for cleaning the screens of PCs, laptops, TV sets, and smartphones, as well as eyeglasses and photography equipment. So today, it is very easy to keep all your devices and personal things clean, thereby increasing their operational period.
Today it is very hard to imagine how we could do without such an extremely useful thing as a wet wipe. Moreover, we all must have realized the meaning and significance of all the types of wet wipes during COVID-19 pandemic as we had to use almost all the types of wet wipes numerous times a day in our everyday life treating the surfaces surrounding us as well as our hands.
No matter what we call them and with what purpose we are going to use them, moist wipes can be individually wrapped or can be sold in big multipacks. The material the moist wipes are usually made of can be bamboo, polyester, rayon, polypropylene, etc. The solution wet wipes are steeped in can also vary. It can be fragrant-free, or vice versa, have various fragrances, disinfecting, or have some softening and soothing agents.
Having realized the importance that a piece of cloth steeped in some cleaning solution has for all of us, please get acquainted with the classification of main types of wet wipes we can use in our everyday activities to provide comfort and hygiene.
Main Types of Wet Wipes
It will not be an exaggeration if we say that wet wipes represent the most frequently sold product for our personal care and hygiene and taking care of the household. What types of wet ones to choose depending on the purposes?
This section will provide you with a detailed classification of main wet wipes types.
1. Baby wipes
People who have small children are happy to have an opportunity to use this type of wet wipe in everyday life. It is impossible to imagine how the previous generations of parents could do without these small wet pieces of clothes. Baby moist wipes can be found in diaper bags of all the parents representing literally necessities of life alongside diapers.
Baby wipes are distinguished by the gentle formula of a cleansing solution. They are worked out, especially for the babies’ sensitive skin, and are fragrance-free as a rule. Sometimes they have a subtle, delicate scent.
The USA market today represents numerous brands of baby wipes. The rich choice can make you be at a complete loss when selecting the best variant for you and your children. We can recommend you to choose the wipes steeped in a special solution containing natural non-allergic ingredients based on pure water, such as Nice’ N CLEAN® BABY Wipes, for instance.
If we speak about wet wipes for babies, you might think that the range of applications for them is limited. Such moisture wipes can be used almost everywhere and for numerous purposes.
They are as follows:
- Wiping baby’s skin when changing a diaper and in any other case
- Cleaning toys, things, and surfaces (tables, shelves, countertops, etc.)
- Wiping children’s faces, hands, and clothes when they eat
- Wiping hands when you don’t have access to the water
- Makeup removal if you don’t have an opportunity to clean your face with water and some detergent. It can be surprising, but baby wipes fit women’s skin much better than anything else.
It can be a paradox, but the water from our waterworks that we use in our daily life can significantly dry the sensitive skin on our faces and result in our face skin premature aging.
Indeed, baby wipes make our daily life significantly easier, saving our time and nerves.
2. Flushable Wet Wipes
Today such widely used types of wet wipes as wet toilet paper or moisture towelettes for intimate hygiene have become extremely popular. Wet wipes for feminine care purposes or those used as wet toilet paper are very frequently bought. It is not surprising as due to them, we can easily practice good hygiene all day long between morning and evening showers.
As a rule, such wipes are flushable wet wipes. But of course, you should take into account that not all the types of wet toilet paper, as well as wipes invented for feminine care, are flushable. You should always read carefully the information printed on the packaging before using the wipes. We recommend Nice ‘N CLEAN® Flushable Wipes as a good variant of flushable toilet paper and the means for your hygiene when there is no opportunity to take a shower. Cottonelle Flushable Wet Wipes can be another good variant of flushable wipes for your personal care allowing you to avoid blockage of septic systems of your plumbing.
3. Antibacterial Wipes
They represent the most popular type of moist wipes as they guarantee the cleanness of your hands and (which is very important) an opportunity to remove almost all the bacteria and germs from your skin in case you don’t have access to the water, soap, toilet paper and towel. They especially come in handy for you or your kids when you need to clean your hands before taking food.
They are used mostly for the following purposes:
- Hygiene of hands before taking food
- Wiping surfaces if water and some cleaning supplies are unavailable
All the modern antibacterial wet wipes kill 99,9 percent of the most widespread bacteria. Nice ‘N CLEAN® Sani-Hands® Antibacterial Hand Wipes are one of the best examples of the above-mentioned type of moist wipes. It should be noted that antibacterial wipes can not be flushed in most cases. Antibacterial hand wipes are produced both for normal and sensitive skin, they can be fragrance-free or have a fragrant fresh scent, and they are paraben-free as a rule.
To feel comfortable in all situations, we recommend you have some packages of antibacterial hand wipes in stock. For instance, keep one pack in your purse, another one in your car, and the third package of moist towelettes should be kept in your glove compartment and, of course, on your working table at your office.
4. Disinfecting Wipes
Disinfecting wipe is a special type of wet wipe representing not only the means for cleaning the parts of your body and the surfaces surrounding you. It can also guarantee disinfection of everything it touches and cleans.
This type of wet wipe gained enormous popularity during COVID-19 pandemia as they can cope not only with various types of bacteria but also with numerous viruses. If you would like to be 100 percent sure that the definite disinfecting wipes can kill the COVID-19 virus, you can easily consult list N.
Disinfecting wet wipes have found a widespread application in the disinfection of various surfaces in public venues and at home. Indeed, it is very convenient to use a disposable wet wipe steeped in special disinfecting liquid and treat some surface, door handle, or a countertop instead of taking some cloth, wetting it with the pre-arranged disinfect detergent, and wiping. That is why this king of wipes is used in hospitals, polyclinics, gyms, offices, department stores, and of course, in our homes.
The main ways of disinfecting wet wipes usage are as follows:
- Cleaning frequently touched surfaces (door handles, gadgets, switches, and remote control devices)
- Wiping liquids of organic origination such as blood
- Cleaning surfaces in the case of a person’s or pet’s disease (flu and other infectious diseases)
- Wiping hard surfaces, such as kitchen countertops, after their contact with food (meat, for instance). A hot potable water rinse is strongly recommended afterward
- Disinfecting the surfaces in your bathroom and toilet (floors, walls, toilet seat, as well as cleaning items, such as brooms, baskets, and bins)
To use this type of moisture wipe correctly and to reach the desirable effect, you should read the instructions written on the pack attentively.
5. Cosmetic Wipes (for Makeup Removal)
Undoubtedly, the market for wet wipes is huge, offering a significant amount of items for cleaning or wiping almost everything that you can only imagine. Of course, alongside the wipes intended to clean your body, hands, and the things surrounding you, there is a special type of wet clothes that enables you to take care of your sensitive and delicate facial skin while removing any dirt from your face.
Cosmetic wet wipes are used mostly by women for makeup removal. Besides cleaning, such moisture wipes provide delicate care for the skin, preventing it from drying. As was mentioned above, baby wipes can easily replace cosmetic wipes.
6. Household Wipes
Disinfecting wipes that we have already mentioned can be attributed to the household wet wipes, and yet not every disinfecting wet wipe can be called a household wipe and vice versa; not all household wet wipes are disinfecting.
Household wipes are convenient because they allow for cleaning or wiping all the surfaces fast and without using water and a detergent that has to be preliminarily added and dissolved in the water.
Household wet wipes can be represented by the following types according to the purpose of their usage:
- For bathrooms and toilets (in this case, household wipes contain disinfecting agents as a rule)
- For gadgets and their screens
- For glass surfaces (windows and mirrors)
- For wood cleaning and polishing (they are delicate and do not fit for cleaning of any other surfaces)
- For white hard surfaces (they contain bleaching agents as a rule)
- For kitchen and kitchen appliances (such products contain degreasing agents and fit for the ovens, kitchen countertops, fridge, and kitchen walls cleaning).
Wet Wipes as Must-Have for Survival
As far as you can see, all sorts of wet wipes are unexpendable for all of us in our daily life, especially if you have children and pets. They allow you to shorten the process of clean-up significantly, providing you an opportunity to spend more precious time on other important and pleasant things.
No matter where you go, a pack or two of wet wipes must always be with you for you to feel comfortable and pleasant all day long, whatever can happen.
Undoubtedly, such unsophisticated inventions as wet wipes can make our lives easier and let us think of numerous much more significant things in our lives than cleanness and hygiene issues.
Frequently Asked Questions — FAQ
Where to buy wet wipes?
You can find a wide variety of moisture wipes, such as Nice ‘N CLEAN® wet wipes, for instance, for all of your life’s emergencies on the brand’s website. The company’s production is also available on well-known marketplaces such as Walmart and, of course, Amazon. Various supermarket and hypermarket stores offer you a rich choice of wet wipes that you can easily find in the corresponding departments.
How long can wet wipes be stored?
Until you open the pack containing towelettes, they can be stored for up to 2-3 years, whereas when you open it once, the storage period will amount to 3-4 weeks, perhaps, a little bit more, up to some months depending on the storage conditions.
How to store wet wipes?
Once you open the pack with towelettes, their lifetime significantly decreases as compared to the sealed pack. And yet you can extend the lifetime of the package of your wet wipes if you store them in a proper way. Store them away from cold or heat at an indoor temperature. Wet wipes can be dried out extremely fast if the lid is not tightly closed. So make sure that your moist wipes are kept in a tightly closed pack.
Are wet wipes antibacterial?
There exist such types of wet wipes as antibacterial wet ones. But not all the wet towelettes have antibacterial qualities by default. If wet wipes are antibacterial, it is written on the pack for you to know for sure.
Can baby wet wipes be used by adults?
Initially, baby wet wipes are designed for babies’ delicate and sensitive skin. That is why they are paraben-free; they are fragrant-free as a rule or at least have a subtle, delicate fresh scent. Some of them contain hypoallergenic skin nutrients allowing to clean the baby’s skin while simultaneously taking care of it. The good news is that adults can use these wipes too. Moreover, many adult people have sensitive skin, and almost all the towelettes designed for them do not simply fit them, causing allergies and various types of skin irritation. The only way out for them is to use towelettes intended especially for babies.
Can I flush wet wipes after use?
There is a type of flushable wet wipes. Such wet towelettes are produced from special clothes that do not harm your plumbing system. Wet toilet paper belongs to this type of flushable wet wipe. You should carefully read the instructions to be sure that you can flush wet wipes.