What's lurking in disposable wet wipes?

I'm sure by now you've seen the news article circulating that exposes the terrible rashes little ones are getting from disposable wet wipes. Wet wipes are a quintessential "mommy staple" but the report of terrible reactions definitely makes one second-guess using them. Per the article, "..this is because manufacturers have bumped up the amount of MI [methylisothiazolinone] used in wipes 25-fold." Methylisothiazolinone is a powerful biocide and preservative within the group of isothiazolinones, used in personal care products.

Photo credit: Dr. Mary Wu Chang

Isn't that rash terrible? Ouch! According to the Skin Deep website, almost all of the wipes made by Pampers, Huggies, and Luvs score in the 3-5 range on their scale. Products rated 2 and under are encouraged, anything that scores over a two is cautioned. One variety of Pampers wipes even comes in with a whopping score of 7 on the Skin Deep scale. That is really concerning -- everything scoring 7 or more is considered a "high hazard". The good news is that there are easy alternatives to disposables wipes. eLeMeNO-Pee carries several different types of cloth wipes and cloth wipe solution also.


We carry three different lines of cloth wipes:  Bummas, Planet Wise, and Thirsties and each offer different materials and color options.

We also carry two wet wipe solutions, Hosie Naturals and Earth Mama Angel Baby (in unscented, orange vanilla, and calming lavender). As a comparison to the scores for disposable wet wipes, the Earth Mama Angel Baby wash we carry scores a perfect zero on the Skin Deep scale. That is a drastic difference compared to the disposable wipes available in most grocery stores. For those times you absolutely must have a disposable wet wipe, we also carry gDiapers biodegradable gWipes which also score very well (a one)  on the Skin Deep chart.

There are a couple common ways that people use their cloth wipes. Some people use a small bottle,  prepare the solution, and just spray each wipe as you're ready to use it. Others prefer to fill a recycled wet wipes container,  fill it with their cloth wipes and pour the wet wipe solution over it so they're ready to use when you need them. Either method works fine, it's all a personal preference.

Cloth wipes are extremely soft and so much easier on gentle skin. They are SO much softer than disposable wipes! They also make a great alternative to Kleenexes as well. We have all been struggling with major allergy issues in our household and we all prefer to use the cloth wipes because they are so much more gentle on our noses! The best part about cloth wipes is that they are such an easy alternative and they require very little maintenance. It's quite easy to get in to the routine of using cloth wipes instead of disposable because it's such a simple process. Give them a try, I know you won't be disappointed!