The Problem with Baby Wipes

Families have been using baby wipes for almost 40 years. We’ve used them because there hasn’t been anything better. Unfortunately, there are some problems with wipes.

They’re expensive. On average, families spend between $600 - $1,100, on wipes before potty training. That’s up to $1,100 per child.

Wipes are not environmentally friendly. Baby wipes are not cloth, even though they may have that feel; they are a nonwoven polymer. Nonwovens are “A web of fibers held together by a process technology other than weaving. Nonwoven fabrics are broadly defined as sheet or web structures bonded together by entangling fibre or filaments mechanically, thermally or chemically.”

Typical fibres found in wipes are:

Polyester (PET) & Polypropylene (PP)
Wood pulp
Viscose (Rayon in USA) & Tencel
Cotton

As a result, baby wipes are not readily biodegradable, lasting in landfills for hundreds of years.

Cleaning the dirty bottom of a squirmy baby can lead to a huge mess. Trying to hold feet up, position a wipe in our other hand, and keep little hands at bay can be difficult, and at times, unsanitary. Let’s face it, accidents happen and we occasionally come in contact with fecal waste. Even worse, our little ones sometimes get curious hands and reach down, right into a dirty diaper. With over 160,000 cases of fecal related diseases in children each year, baby wipes just aren’t getting it done.

Flushable wipes aren’t the answer. Major cities across the United States and around the world, are spending millions of dollars cleaning sewer pipes clogged with “flushable" wipes. Some cities have sent letters to residence asking them to stop flushing the wipes.

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?id=9383310

http://www.today.com/money/what-bummer-flushable-wipes-blamed-sewer-woes-4B11235939

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/07/16/wipes-pollution/2522919/