Updated July 2024
IMPORTANCE:
Traditional wipes contain a plethora of chemicals, preservatives and toxic fragrances. Similar to diapers, wipes frequently touch your babies porous skin (and your hands), so avoiding toxicity is a priority! Surprisingly, some of the brands that make some of the best choices for diapers, still have toxic ingredients in their wipes. This guide goes further than many others to avoid ingredients like sodium benzoate and citric acid, which are extremely common in baby wipes.
There has been a lot of misreporting about PFAS in wipes. There is a lawsuit against Costco regarding PFAS in Kirkland baby wipes, which mentions “private testing.” But no details are known how the PFAS was detected, and I’ve seen it incorrectly attributed to Consumer Reports. CR simply had an article about baby wipes with concerning ingredients; they did NOT test for PFAS. Moreover, in my opinion they weren’t very stringent in their criteria of things they looked at AND they didn’t even follow their own recommendations to avoid things like fragrance in their “best choices” (all of their best choices are on my bad list). I have not found ANY data available on PFAS testing of wipes.
This post may contain carefully selected affiliate links including Amazon Associates, that I may earn small amounts from. This does not bias my recommendations. See the bottom of this page for more details.
LEAST TOXIC DRY WIPE OPTIONS:
-Dry wipes are least toxic because they don’t contain any liquid that usually contains toxic additives. They are also available in organic cotton, whereas wet wipes aren’t. I included some non-organic options because they cost less, but certified organic cotton is the very least toxic. For all of these dry wipes; wet them with water just before use. For newborns I keep a thermos bottle with warm water nearby to wet them. For older babies, I use a re-usable bottle of room temperature water, or just run them under a sink faucet if nearby.
-NOLEO Pure Organic Cotton Pads are my top non-toxic choice for any wipes. These are somewhat small rectangles but are the only certified organic thing similar to a wipe that I could find. They are double layer to be thick, or you could pull apart if you prefer thinner. They are certified organic and here is their website link.
-A similar, but higher priced option is Ipek Baby Organic Large Dry Pads. Pictures of their packaging show the GOTS certified organic logo. Amazon Associates link: https://amzn.to/3IzkgCi.
-Another option is Swisspers Organic Cotton Rounds (like the ones you use to wipe toner on your face) but I’m not sure they would be big enough to work well, at least for me. These cotton rounds appear to have a USDA organic logo on the package, but I have never bought them to verify it. Amazon Associates links: https://amzn.to/4bHzyD0 (by the way, don’t trust the Amazon AI to tell you whether something is certified organic or not. It’s often incorrect.)
-As of July 2024, these were the lowest priced ($.02 each wipe) cotton (not organic) dry wipe by MPK, but I haven’t bought them to verify quality or size: https://amzn.to/3WjcBBW. The variety of cotton dry wipes on Amazon continues to expand, so you can check for new offerings or prices.
-These Winner 100% Pure Cotton Dry Wipes claim to be GOTS organic but I don’t think it’s true because the logo is not pictured on the packaging. They are large and thick. https://amzn.to/4a0yWbw
-Whoopsie Dry Wipes are cotton but aren’t organic. https://amzn.to/3xTIIhY
-Here are dry wipes that aren’t organic but are cotton: Cloud Wipes. These are large, thick and smooth (not textured). Amazon Associates link: https://amzn.to/432Yqm1
-Honest Company makes an “organic” cotton dry wipe. They claim it is “sustainable” but wouldn’t give me a straight answer if it is certified organic, and the packaging doesn’t have a GOTS logo. Therefore, I consider these to be cotton but not organic. https://amzn.to/4bHFA6T
BAMBOO DRY WIPE OPTIONS:
Bamboo fabric uses a lot of chemicals to create; I’m looking into whether it’s true for the wipes material as well. This is still better than any pre-wetted wipe in my opinion.
-Careboree baby dry wipes are made from 100% rayon derived from bamboo only, and are unbleached. https://amzn.to/3uVy0Go. There are a few other brands on Amazon that appear similar but are bleached.
-Terra diapers also makes bamboo dry wipes. They are textured and thick. https://amzn.to/3JpanJK They appear to be bleached.
LEAST TOXIC WET WIPES:
These are the least toxic wipes that are wet already and ready to go (but not perfect; there are #noperfectoptions; look into ingredients and decide what you’re comfortable with.) Be aware there was a scientific study linking baby wipes with food allergies. Most people overlook the material and impact of the wipe material itself (aside from the liquid added to it); almost all are polyester (petroleum/ plastic), or sometimes viscose which involves heavy chemicals in the production. Another viscose article and another. Interesting tidbit: If you hear the term “non woven” it probably means a synthetic wipe material.
-Believe Baby Bamboo Baby Wet Wipes. Made from 100% bamboo and 100% water. There are no harmful chemicals, additives, preservatives or fragrances for a simple, pure, hypoallergenic clean. They claim they are naturally resistant to mold. They’re completely biodegradable. For every pack you buy, they donate one to a U.S. family in need. I have seen some reviewers who are suspicious that there might be undisclosed ingredients, but I have seen no proof of this, and that could be true of any wipes brand. I used these occasionally. Here is a discount link to their website (not an affiliate link). Also available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3xWXRiD (associate link).
-Ecoriginals is available on Amazon https://amzn.to/3xTsipQ (associate link) and have quite a few ingredients but they look good:
- Ecoriginals Purified New Zealand Water Wipe: Purified New Zealand Water, Japanese Soybean Amino Acid, New Zealand Certified Organic Aloe Vera Extract, German Chamomile Essential Oil and Vitamin E.
- Ecoriginals Organic Goat Milk Wipe: Purified New Zealand Water, Japanese Soybean Amino Acid, New Zealand Goat Milk, NZ Organic Aloe Vera Extract, German Chamomile Essential Oil and Vitamin E.
- Ecoriginals Organic Manuka Honey Wipe: Purified New Zealand Water, New Zealand Manuka Honey, Japanese Soybean Amino Acid, New Zealand Organic Aloe Vera Extract, German Chamomile Essential Oil and Vitamin E.
-Bets and Emy looks to be about the same as Water Wipes but they claim the grapefruit extract isn’t chemical derived like water wipes. Not sure if that’s true. Also I couldn’t find them last time I looked, so I think they may have gone out of business.
-Water Wipes have changed to a viscose material, which is plant based but do note it takes a lot of strong chemicals to process it. There was a big hullabaloo about the trace amount benzalkonium chloride stated on the package, but that is claimed to be a naturally occurring by product of grapefruit seed extract (GSE). However, this site claims that isn’t true. There is also controversy about GSE possibly not being antibacterial enough to prohibit mold growth on the wipes. There is also a report that says they (and Honest and some mainstream brands) contain formaldehyde, BUT Consumer Reports testing found none. This is still the best wet wipe option available in stores (the other best options are only available online). All other in-store options contain sodium benzoate and/ or citric acid and other harmful ingredients. https://amzn.to/4cyDSWL (Amazon associate link).
WIPES WITH TOXIC INGREDIENTS:
-Millie Moon
-Bambo
-Naty
-Aleva
-Cutie Pea
-Honest
-Mum&you
-Caboo (contains Phenoxyethanol, fragrance, citric acid, etc)
-Bumboosa
-Burts Bees
-Little Toes- contains tea tree oil and citric acid
-Parasol- citric acid (not sure if synthetic)
-Joonya- synthetic citric acid
-Open Nature
-Offspring
-Attitude
-Natracare
-Pipette
-Healthy Baby
-Parent’s Choice (Walmart)
-Dyper Wipes
-Rico
-Coterie
-Amazon Elements
-Seventh Generation
-Momcosy. This company has admitted to having “inactive” ingredients that they don’t include on the label.
-Pura. This brand claims to be so pure but if you dig deeper you’ll see the wipes contain a bunch of ingredients such as sodium benzoate.
-Made Of. These are “certified” by EWG yet contain sodium benzoate and citric acid.
-Doctor Butler’s Organic Soothing Baby Wipes: Good ingredients except sodium citrate, which is derived from citric acid.
-Jackson Reese Kinder by Nature: The wipes are biodegradable wood pulp, but contain glycerin and sodium citrate. Available on Amazon.
-Kirkland (Costco): Contains PFAS. There is a lawsuit associated with this.
-Pampers and Huggies and conventional brands in stores all contain toxic ingredients even if labeled as “natural” or “fragrance free.”
Note that many of these brands make safer diapers, but their wipes are not at the same level. Many contain sodium benzoate (you can look into it and decide how you feel about it, but won’t use it), or other preservatives or ingredients such as citric acid (made using black mold) that are a hard no for me.
Glycerin has some questionable info about it online, but is in so many things and usually considered safe. It can either come from natural sources (both plants and animals), or it can be made synthetically (derived from petroleum). If anyone has thoughts about this link about glycerin let me know!
NON-TOXIC DIAPER GUIDE:
My free guide available at this link.
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