Review and Giveaway: Wet Ones® Antibacterial Wipes (CLOSED)

Ugh, ‘tis the season for sure – and I don’t mean the holidays. Nope – germs are here and seem to be infesting schools all over town. And just as I start to feel more human again after being sick, my oldest daughter woke up on Monday with a high fever and has been home from school for two days. From what I hear, it’s going around – not only at my girls’ school but many others throughout the area. There have even been schools closed due to illness.

As soon as my daughter’s fever spiked, I immediately shifted back into germ-fighting mode and disinfected everything I could think of. Whether that will be enough to keep anyone else in our family from getting sick, I can only hope. But there’s another product that I have in my arsenal against viruses and bacteria now, and it’s one that we’ll be using from here on out – antibacterial hand and face wipes from Wet Ones®.

What they are:

The most recommended way to prevent the spread of germs – whether in the classroom, daycare, playgroup or at home – is by washing hands with soap and water. But as most of us know – there are times when it’s just not possible to wash hands properly. However, “as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), alcohol-based hand sanitizers or antibacterial hand wipes are an effective alternative when soap and water are not available”.

According to the manufacturer, Wet Ones® Antibacterial Wipes clean hands and kill 99.99% of germs and are proven to be just as effective as a gel hand sanitizer in killing germs. However, they also clean away dirt and grime and won’t dry out skin like alcohol-based hand sanitizers. The wipes are hypoallergenic and enriched with skin conditioning Aloe, and come in two scents – Fresh Scent and Citrus.

Courtesy of Playtex Products, LLC/Wet Ones and GolinHarris, I received a 40-ct. canister of Wet Ones® Antibacterial Wipes to try out and review.

Here’s my take on them:

Up until about a year ago, I always traveled with baby wipes ‘on board’, since I had one child or another in diapers. And the wipes were just as handy to have around to clean messy hands and faces after meals as well. Once my youngest was potty trained, I found myself without a good solution for those quick clean-ups that are often necessary with kids around, so I went looking for an alternative. I needed something that worked well, without making hands feel sticky or tacky, didn’t have an annoying scent, didn’t dry out the skin, and came in a small-enough size that I could keep a package in my purse at all times.

What I found – and have used exclusively since, are the Wet Ones® Sensitive Skin Hands and Face Wipes. They come in a 15-count travel pack that works perfectly, and I always have a pack on hand when we’re out and about. I love the wipes – they’re durable and strong, and I’ve never had one rip or fall apart when I’ve used them. They are unscented and have never irritated or dried out our skin – I’ve used them on my own hands and face without issue, and I tend to be allergic to all kinds of things. When I found out that Wet Ones also makes an antibacterial wipe, I was thrilled – especially coming in to the fall season with the kids going back to school and picking up who knows what kind of germs from everywhere. I’ve carried hand sanitizer before, but always worried about the container opening and spilling in my purse accidentally.

One handy aspect of the 40-count canister of wipes is that it is made to fit easily into a standard-sized cup holder. I keep them in our van, so that they’re always handy. And I also have a travel pack in my purse for those times when we’re not in or near the car as well. It’s taken a little while for me to get in the habit of using the wipes even when the girls’ hands or faces aren’t specifically messy, but we’re now in a pretty good routine. I try to have them wipe their hands whenever we’re out and about where there isn’t a sink available to wash hands in.

Obviously I can’t say for certain if these are keeping us from getting sick at all – that would be impossible to know. And seeing that my oldest is sick right now, she must’ve picked up the germs from somewhere. But I do absolutely believe that by using the antibacterial wipes I am helping to keep my family safer and healthier. And that makes me feel just a little bit better as I send them off every morning.

The bottom line:

Wet Ones® Antibacterial Wipes are an easy and convenient option for not only keeping hands and faces clean – but virtually germ-free as well. And especially during this time of year when colds and flu are going around just about everywhere, they’re one good way to wash hands when soap and water aren’t available.

Where can you find them?:

You can purchase Wet Ones products at most convenience or retail stores where personal care products are sold. They are also available online, both at Playtex’s store site at http://www.playtexstore.com/cgi-bin/category/PTXP-12 and at Amazon.

Would you like to try them?:

I have the opportunity to give away two 40-count canisters of Wet Ones® Antibacterial Wipes to two lucky readers (one canister per winner)! If you’d like to try these out for yourself, here are the rules:

1. Enter by leaving a comment here to let me know if there’s anything you’re doing differently this year to help keep your family healthier. Please don’t just say ‘choose me’, or your entry will be discarded.
2. The contest will run until Wednesday, November 4th at 11:59 pm EST. The winners will be selected through random drawing, contacted by e-mail, listed on this post and also submitted to PRIZEY. US entries only, please.
3. Please leave a valid e-mail address or other way to contact you! If either of the winners hasn’t responded within 3 days, an alternate winner will be chosen by random drawing.
4. If you’d like extra entries, you can:

• Subscribe to my RSS feed (click on the orange icon in the upper right sidebar) or subscribe via e-mail – leave me a separate comment to let me know.
• Mention this contest on your blog with a link back to this post, and leave a separate comment with the link to your post so I can find it.
• Either Twitter about, ‘Digg’ or ‘Kirtsy’ this post – leave me a separate comment with your username at whichever site(s) you chose (one extra entry per method).
• Become a ‘fan’ of this site on Facebook – there’s a link in the sidebar or you can click here.

So that’s a total of 7 comments/entries if you do all of the extra entry options.

Good luck! 

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED – the random number generator has chosen comments #21 and #45 as the winners:

Congratulations to:

• Heidi V. who said, “I’m always cleaning doorknobs and reminding my kids to wash their hands.“
• Susan (no blog) who said, “Since I got the flu last spring and flu season around now I have started wiping down everything anyone can touch – twice a day. All the doors knobs, banister, bathroom sink area, etc. I’m even more cautious about it since the 5 year old grand-daughter started kindergarten.“

I will be e-mailing you both shortly to work out the details!

This post courtesy of: Playtex Products, LLC/Wet Ones and GolinHarris. No payment or compensation, other than product samples as described above, was received for this post.