Mom here, to talk about our experiences using different shower wipes. Yep, you read that right: we don’t always shower every day. Especially when we’re boondocking and need to conserve water, we often use one of these wipes to clean the important bits daily, and only shower every couple/few days. Coupled with our dry toilet, these wipes really go a long way to conserving our water supply, but they’re not all created equal.
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Inspire Premium Washcloths
These wipes are truly terrible. In fact, they inspired us to write this post in the first place; they made us realize that not all wipes are created equal. See, the first wipes we got I’m actually saving for last (spoiler: they’re really good), so these Inspire “Premium” Washcloths came as a bit of a shock. Unfortunately, we didn’t think to take pictures until we were all out, but trust me, these are the worst. Hands down.
TenderProtect Adult Wipes
If you can believe it, these are about twice as thick as the Inspire wipes. Don’t get me wrong; these are still terrible. When I use the TenderProtect wipes, I have to fold them in half, but at least I’m not trying to layer three wipes. The cost is about the same, so if you need to be really cheap, get these over the Inspire.
Honest Wipes
I really wanted to like these, I really did. They’re plant-based, supposed to be better for the environment, etc, but here’s the kicker: they don’t have a scent-free option. We’re rather a scent-free sorta family, so these are definitely not favorites. On top of that, they’re still pretty thin, though a little thicker than TenderProtect. They are smaller, though.
Dude Wipes
Dude Wipes were very disappointing. These came recommended by another nomad. They do have more expensive wipes, and they’re probably better for showering, but they’re more expensive than Medline. These ones are clearly butt wipes, only they start to come apart when you just pull them from the package. Can we say EWWW?!? I’d be wanting to have them a few thick if I were trying to use them for their intended purpose. Oh, and don’t believe the “flushable” part; any plumber will tell you flushable wipes aren’t actually flushable. Luckily, with our dry toilet, that’s not an issue for us.
Medline ReadyBath Wipes
These are the best. They’re thick, luxurious, scent-free, and you can really get clean with just one wipe. Sometimes, they’re put through the laundry (accidentally) and they come out super soft and honestly, we could reuse them. At one point, Dad accused me of romanticizing these wipes and building them up in my memory to be better than what they were. Nope. We got our new package of these after trying the others, and I can say that they’re even better than I remembered. The funny thing is that they’re recommended to use the entire package (8 wipes) for one wipe bath. They even give you directions! These are intended for people who are bed-bound or otherwise unable (medically) to take regular showers, but we can totally just use one wipe a day with these.
So, there you have it. We’ve tried 5 different wipes, and have come back to our originals. The Medlines just can’t be beat. Now, Venture Wipes are also popular in the nomad community, and I thought about buying them, but’re super expensive. Like over a dollar a wipe. No, with the way we use wipes, we’ll stick to cheaper ones.