A wet wipe, also known as a wet towel, moist towelette, disposable wipe, disinfecting wipe, or a baby wipe (in specific circumstances) is a small to medium-sized moistened piece of plastic or cloth that either comes folded and individually wrapped for convenience or, in the case of dispensers, as a large roll with individual wipes that can be torn off. Wet wipes are used for cleaning purposes like personal hygiene and household cleaning; each is a separate product depending on the chemicals added and medical or office cleaning wipes are not intended for skin hygiene.
In 2013, owing to increasing sales of the product in affluent countries, Consumer Reports reported that efforts to make the wipes "flushable" down the toilet had not entirely succeeded, according to their test.
Invention
American Arthur Julius is seen as the inventor of wet wipes. Julius worked in the cosmetics industry and in 1957, adjusted a soap portioning machine, putting it in a loft in Manhattan. Julius trademarked the name Wet-Nap in 1958, a name for the product that is still being used. After fine tuning his new hand-cleaning aid together with a mechanic, he unveiled his invention at the 1960 National Restaurant Show in Chicago and in 1963 started selling Wet-Nap products to Colonel Harland Sanders to be distributed to customers of Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Production
Ninety percent of wet wipes on the market are produced from nonwoven fabrics made of polyester or polypropylene.
The material is moistened with water or other liquids (e.g., isopropyl alcohol) depending on the applications. The material may be treated with softeners, lotions, or perfume to adjust the tactile and olfactory properties. Preservatives such as methylisothiazolinone are used to prevent bacterial or fungal growth in the package. The finished wet wipes are folded and put in pocket size package or a box dispenser.
Uses
Wet wipes can serve a number of personal and household purposes. Although marketed primarily for wiping infants' bottoms in diaper changing, it is not uncommon for consumers to also use the product to clean floors, toilet seats, and other surfaces around the home. Parents also use wet wipes, or as they are called for baby care, baby wipes, for wiping up baby vomit and to clean babies' hands and faces.
Baby wipes
Baby wipes are wet wipes used to cleanse the sensitive skin of infants. These are saturated with solutions anywhere from gentle cleansing ingredients to alcohol-based "cleaners". Baby wipes are typically different pack counts (ranging up to 80 or more sheets per pack), and come with dispensing mechanisms. The origin of baby wipes most likely came in the mid-1950s as more people were travelling and needed a way to clean up on the go. One of the first companies to produce these was a company called Nice-Pak. They made napkin sized paper cloth saturated with a scented skin cleanser. Rockline Industries of Sheboygan, Wisconsin (which has a large part of the private label wipe market in several segments) went on to be the first to innovate the first baby wipe refill pack and pop-up packs which have become common in the marketplace.
The first wet-wipe products specifically marketed as baby wipes, such as Kimberly-Clark's Huggies wipes and Procter & Gamble's Pampers wipes, appeared on the market in 1990. As the technology to produce wipes matured and became more affordable, smaller brands began to appear. By the 1990s, most super stores like Kmart and Wal-Mart had their own private label brand of wipes made by other manufacturers. After this period there was a boom in the industry and many local brands started manufacturing because of low entry barriers.
Some green-minded parents, or those looking to save extra money, use washable baby wipes, typically small squares of material (such as cotton, bamboo or fleece) that can be pre-soaked ready to use, or wet as required. The cloths are wetted with either just water, commercial wipe solution or homemade solutions. Some parents prefer to use only water or their own homemade solutions as they can more directly control the ingredients used on the child's skin. Some parents feel that cloth wipes are more effective at removing solids from the skin than commercial one-use wipes because of their textured nature.
In December 2018, a New Zealand company launched the country's first ever wet and baby wipe alternative, the BDÉT Foam Wash.