Are you looking for more sustainable eco friendly baby wipes? Wipes that will gently clean your baby using more natural ingredients that are better for the environment?
Yep, I was too! Anyone with a little one will know how important baby wipes are. They’ll also know just how many you go through!
Over the past year, we’ve gone through thousands of baby wipes. Probably more.
As I try to consider the environment in my choice, I’ve tried to buy the most environmentally friendly plant-based biodegradable baby wipes where possible.
Rather than negatively impacting the environment, wouldn’t it be great if baby wipes could do a gentle and effective job on your youngster, and be eco friendly? It would certainly help to solve a rather large single-use waste issue
As a parent, I’m sure you’d love to use more natural products on your baby. So, let’s take a look at the best eco baby wipe alternatives out there.
10 Best Eco Friendly Baby Wipes
1. Eco By Naty – Plant-based Wipes
Eco By Naty are a highly rated, eco friendly baby wipe that have been lightly scented with aloe vera. These wipes don’t contain any nasties ingredients and have been made from 100% tree pulp.
Made in Sweden, the newer wipes on offer from Eco By Naty are compostable and are one of the first wet wipes to be certified by TUV as OK to compost.
I’ve been using these baby wipes recently and they’ve been great.
2. The Cheeky Panda – Biodegradable Baby Wipes
The guys at the Cheeky Panda have produced these biodegradable baby wipes that are natural, vegan friendly, contain no chemicals or plastics, and are made from sustainable bamboo.
They’re made from 99% purified water with a drop of aloe vera and fruit extract. You have the option to bulk buy from their website to save some money over the long term. Even more from Cheeky Panda, you can buy eco friendly dry wipes made from 100% bamboo that can be wetted before use, then composted afterwards. Fantastic.
The Cheeky Panda are also a certified B Corporation, showing they genuinely care about the environment. The sell other products too such as nappies and bamboo toilet roll.
I’ve used thees wipes and I thought they were excellent – they smelled great too!
Use the code TINY for 20% off!
3. A Slice of Green – Organic Cotton Reusable Wipes
Swap your single use wipes for reusable cotton ones!
Produced from a GOTS certified organic cotton in India, these wipes from A Slice of Green are responsibly sourced, plastic-free, reusable and compostable.
Their fully natural material means they are suitable for sensitive baby skin. Superb.
4. Mama Bamboo – Biodegradable Wipes
Based in Aylesbury, Mama Bamboo are a sustainable baby company helping to make it easier for greener parenting.
Mama Bamboo produce a biodegradable baby wipe that is 99.4% water with the material made from bamboo viscose, a plant-based derivative.
Alongside being a biodegradable baby wipe, Mama Bamboo’s wipes are compostable too. You can put these wipes into your composter or food waste bin and the material will break down within 3 months.
The wipes come packaged in recycled FSC certified cardboard, which is an added bonus.
5. Beaming Baby – Organic Wipes
Beaming Baby produce organic and natural baby products for the UK market. Their fragrance-free organic baby wipes are hypoallergenic and contain a few key ingredients, such as aloe vera and grapefruit extract.
The packaging is resealable to keep your wipes nice and moist and they say that 50% of the pack is carbon neutral. A good sustainable choice.
6. Natracare – Organic Cotton Wipes
Natracare have produced these 100% certified organic cotton cloth wipes that are 100% plant-based. They’re also free from parabens, chlorine and alcohol.
These wipes have been infused with natural plant extracts and essential oils that are suitable for sensitive skin. They have even been certified by the Soil Organic Association, which is great.
7. Earth Friendly Gentle – Biodegradable Baby Wipes
Made in the UK, these wet wipes from Earth Friendly Baby are an excellent sustainable choice.
The wipes contain no artificial fragrances, are vegan friendly, are made from natural ingredients and contain a drop of aloe vera and chamomile to help soothe a baby’s sensitive skin.
They are also 100% biodegradable baby wipes, but not ones that can be composted.
8. Water Wipes
As the name suggests, the magic for these wipes is all in the water. They are made from 99.9% specially purified water with a drop of grapefruit extract, and claim to be the purest baby wipes in the world.
The wipe itself is made from bamboo-based viscose, contain no plastic and meet the criteria for biodegradability. You can read up more on my Water Wipes review post here.
You can buy Water Wipes from supermarkets.
9. Bambo Nature – Biodegradable Baby Wipes
Bambo’s 100% biodegradable wipes have been made from sustainable viscose, which comes from the bamboo plant. Although it does take a bit of processing, the wipes are plastic free and fully plant-derived. The packaging is a resealable plastic pack.
Bambo’s wipes are gentle and soft on the skin, and as the name suggests, will biodegrade naturally afterwards.
10. Cheeky Wipes – Reusable Cloth Wipes
East Sussex based Cheeky Wipes wanted to provide an alternative to single wipes, so decided to create a reusable cloth wipe. They produce a range of a cloth wipes made from a different materials, including bamboo and organic cotton.
Their reusable wipes have no nasty chemicals, are easy to wash, and of course are a better alternative for the environment.
Problem with standard baby wipes
Traditional baby wipes are often plastic-based and contain a cocktail of chemicals and ingredients (all safe to use I should add), but not particularly good for the environment.
Some may also cause skin irritation for your baby. Upon disposal there’s only one place for them – in the general waste and sent to landfill or incinerated. It’s a similar story for nappies, which is why opting for more eco friendly nappies is a good choice.
To be more planet friendly, we need fully biodegradable baby wipes, which don’t contain plastic and artificial ingredients.
Best types of baby wipes for the environment
Most baby wipes are single use items. This in itself is bad for the environment.
One of the most sustainable habits you can form is to reuse an item. This can also go for baby wipes too.
Reusable baby wipes
It is possible to reuse certain baby wipes that are made from a cloth material. This will save you buying a new lot each time and save the resources being created and used.
For example, you can get a set of 5 organic cotton reusable wipes or brands such as Cheeky Wipes have some great reusable wipes too.
All you have to do with a reusable wipe is to wet it with pure water and possibly an essential oil or two and away you wipe.
Afterwards, the used cloth wipe will need to be put into a washbag and washed before it’s used again.
Chemical free natural baby wipes
I do understand that reusable wipes, just like reusable nappies, aren’t for every parent.
In general, the best baby wipes for the environment are those that contain as few chemicals as possible and have been made from natural, plant-based ingredients instead of plastic.
Sticking to this should leave you with a more ethical, natural and non-toxic baby wipe.
Let’s take a look at the other disposable eco alternatives.
Are biodegradable baby wipes an eco friendly alternative?
If we aren’t reusing an item, then the next best thing is to be able to dispose of it correctly and in the best way for the environment. For example, if you recycle an item you hope that it’ll eventually be put to another good use.
With that in mind, are biodegradable baby wipes a good disposable answer?
If a baby wipe is labelled biodegradable and it’s made from 100% plant-based materials, then yes it’s a good eco friendly alternative.
However, some ‘biodegradable’ wipes will still contain plastic. This is why the term biodegradable can be a little misleading.
But they’re still degrade naturally over time into smaller chunks.
A biodegradable wipe that’s part made with fossil-fuel plastic doesn’t necessarily make for an eco friendly alternative as these smaller pieces may go on to cause other issues – this is why microplastics are such a problem.
Being careful with green terms
When we start to see terms like ‘biodegradable’ used on packaging, we’re putting our toes into the land of potential greenwashing. It’s here where we need to be careful.
As I’ve mentioned previously when talking about eco friendly compostable dog poo bags, biodegradable is a rather meaningless term. It has no regulated basis. You can learn the real means of terms in my eco glossary.
However, I hope we’ll start to see a change here with the introduction of the Green Claims Code. As of January 2022 the Green Claims Code is now live in the UK meaning that businesses have a legal obligation to make sure any environmental claims are not misleading.
Compostable baby wipes are the most eco friendly
Generally, a much better term to look out for is compostable.
Any item that is labelled as compostable needs to be accredited by a certified organisation. This means that compostable is a regulated term that has proper meaning behind it.
An item that is compostable must break down into its natural parts that go back to create soil. For this reason, compostable wipes are the most natural wipes you can use for your baby.
The issue with a compostable baby wipe is that it will contain poo and potentially other ingredients that might not be fit for your home compost pile. This should be fine in an industrial composter but do check with your local council.
Frequently Asked Questions
Before you go…
That rounds up my list of the most eco friendly baby wipes out there on the UK market.
If you want ideas to live more sustainably with your little baby, you might want to look at more eco friendly nappies. My blog goes through 8 of the best sustainable nappies on the market.
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