One of the things every parent has gone through by the bucket load is baby wipes. When shopping, you will begin by scouring the shelves for the best quality – the most gentle, least harmful to your new baby, though it’s impossible to know what works and what doesn’t until you’ve tried them. We put seven through their paces.
Proderm Thick Wipes
As promised on the pack, these wipes do come out easily, one-by-one, and are nice and thick, however their camomile scent is almost overpowering and they are a little drier than most other brands. They do work, but the smell is too strong for the neutral pH and no-alcohol benefits to be truly believed.
Price: £1.50 for 72 wipes
Rating: **
Pampers Sensitive (Camomile & Aloe Vera, unperfumed)
One of the most expensive wipes on the market with a good 10-20 wipes less than most of its competitors, Pampers Sensitive should be the first pack you buy. Why? Because it comes with an unparalleled durable and exceptionally practical (opens with the push of a button!) dispenser tub in which you can put any other brand afterwards if you wish. The wipes themselves are lovely: soft, smooth, moist and very gentle on little bottoms, so if you don’t mind the expense, these are definitely one of the best!
Price: £1.67 for 63 wipes
Rating: ****1/2
Nannys Fresh
True to its name, the scent of these wipes is very fresh: somewhat indistinct but not at all unpleasant. However, although they are perfectly moist, these wipes annoyingly don’t come out of the little mini-dispenser very easily at all. Therefore, despite the fact they serve their purpose, the packaging makes for considerable difficulty, especially when dealing with messy nappies.
Price: £1.87 for 80 wipes
Rating: **1/2
Dr. Fischer Sensitive
A nice fat pack of 84 wipes is tempting, however these wipes are so “moist” they are almost dripping! A pleasant lotion scent is given and although the hypoallergenic properties are very reassuring, practically-speaking, these wipes make it difficult to put cream on afterwards as you have to wait for the area to dry.
Price: £1.88 for 84 wipes
Rating: **
BabyCare Sensitive (Aloe Vera)
These wipes have quite a good combination of moistness, a light fragrance of aloe vera – a plant known for its soothing/gentle nature – and dispense easily from their packet. Although quite expensive in single packs, this brand has had an on-going special 2+1 free offer for as long as I can remember, so works out at better value. A bonus is that no excess moisture collects at the bottom of the pack.
Price: £1.98 for 72 wipes
Rating: ***
Johnson’s Baby Gentle Cleansing
Known world-wide, Johnson’s is quite the household name when it comes to babies and children, however I was quite disappointed with the wipes they produce, particularly when so many people rave about them. I found they were not as gentle as I had hoped for, given that they clearly have a lotion additive, nor were they as moist as I would have liked.
Price: £1.69 for 72 wipes
Rating: **
Event (Camomile)
Given that these wipes are considerably cheaper than almost every other brand (causing unnecessary suspicion), they are surprisingly good. They are nicely moist and come easily out of the pack. The scent is a little overpowering, so personally, I wouldn’t tend to use them on a newborn, however on my 13-month old, they worked just fine.
Price: £1.39 for 80 wipes
Rating: ***1/2
