Diaper Wipes are the stable of any family with a baby or infant. They are in fact multipurpose for this age group. They can be used for everything from the obvious diaper chance, wiping dirty faces and hands, to even cleaning dirty messes. Although wipes can be easily made at home, most parents use commercially made wipes. Since I have a two children less than two years apart, I have tried every type wipe on the market and have developed a firm opinion on what qualities are important in a diaper wipe. The most important qualities in a good diaper wipe to me are their thickness, wetness, strength, ease of dispense, price, and scent. The two brands I purchase most often are Huggies and Parent’s Choice.
Thickness is essential to a good diaper wipe because you obviously want a good barrier between your hand and the mess that you are cleaning up. Huggies are extremely cloth like. This makes them super thick. Parent’s Choice wipes are made to be cloth like but they are not comparable to Huggies. Moistness are also important because the built in moisture allows you to clean up messes quickly. Huggies is the winner in this category as well. Even though, Parent’s Choice is some what moist, Huggies hold in a great amount of moisture so that you can clean any mess no problem.
Strength is another very important quality. When cleaning a mess you definitely don’t want your wipe to break. Parent’s Choice is very strong and I have never experienced one breaking during a a diaper change. Huggie ;however, is much stronger than Parent’s Choice. I have been able to use a Huggies diaper wipe to clean spills off the carpet without it breaking, while the Parent’s Choice will shred during the same activity.
It is really important that wipes are dispensed easily. The last thing a parent wants to do is wrestle a two year old with one hand, while trying to fish a diaper wipe out of the container. Both Parent’s Choice and Huggies use pop up dispensers. Parent’s Choice wipes tend to fall through the hole in the top of the container or not follow thread through correctly. Huggies; however, are better at having the wipes staying at the top part of the container along with having the wipes actually stay threaded during each use.
Scent is a characteristic only important to the parent, but is still another thing I consider when purchasing wipes. Parent’s choice comes in scented and unscented. Huggies come in fragrance free, scented, naturing, Shea Butter,, and lavender. Huggies is definitely the winner in this category. All their scents are aromatic.
Cost is also a very important factor in choosing a diaper wipe. Both brands can be purchased in a single tub, a two pack refill, or a 400 count refill. Since we are looking at the economic value, I will compare the largest refill. A 400 count Parent’s Choice box sells for $7.99 at my local Wal-mart, where a 400 count Huggies refill sells for $9.99. This averages to 0.019 per Parent’s Choice wipe and 0.025 per Huggies wipe. Obviously, Parent’s Choice is a little cheaper per wipe.
For best value I would definitely recommend Huggies diaper wipes. Even though Parent’s Choice is cheaper, Huggies’ other characteristics overshadow the price. Huggies are thicker, stronger, wetter, easier to get out of the tub, and larger than Parent’s Choice. These characteristics combine to allow you to use less wipes per change than Parent’s Choice. Since there is not a huge difference in price this makes Huggies a better over all value, and my top choice.
