Bamboo is quickly becoming the material of choice for many eco-conscious consumers. You can now buy anything made from bamboo, including curtains, bedsheets, clothes, straws, bowls, cups, cutlery, and now baby wipes!
But are bamboo baby wipes safe for your baby? As long as the bamboo wipes are made from natural and organic bamboo without being treated with chemicals, bamboo baby wipes are safe for your baby’s skin as well as the environment. Look for the MADE SAFE® seal of approval where possible.
We’re always looking at new ways to introduce more eco-friendly products to our everyday lives. This article will discuss the use of bamboo baby wipes to determine their safety, sustainability, and practicality.
Why You Need Safe Baby Wipes
Baby wipes are incredibly useful. They not only help keep a baby’s bottom clean, but they can be used to keep their hands clean, rub the dirt out from under their fingernails, and wipe their little faces after lunch.
A baby’s skin is incredibly soft, sensitive, and delicate. Their skin is also four times as absorbable as your adult skin. So anything we’re putting on our baby’s skin must be gentle and free from any harmful toxins or chemicals.
Bamboo wipes are a relatively new product in the world of baby care products. As with any new care product for our baby, we must question the material and ingredients before rubbing it all over their skin.
Baby wipes are deemed unsafe when they contain ingredients that are either toxic or can easily irritate their sensitive skin. Soap, for example, is one ingredient that can result in irritation and the development of skin allergies.
For these reasons, the baby wipes you buy should be natural and contain none of the following ingredients:
- Soap
- Fragrance
- Alcohol
- Chlorine
- Parabens
- Formaldehyde
- Phthalates
Are Bamboo Baby Wipes Safe for Your Baby?
For bamboo baby wipes to be deemed safe for your baby, you must ensure that they’re non-toxic. You can do this by making sure the bamboo baby wipes you purchase are certified MADE SAFE®.
MADE SAFE® is America’s first and only non-toxic seal of approval for everyday products. Their certification ensures that the products you buy are made with safe ingredients that are not known or suspected to harm human health.
Products carrying the MADE SAFE® seal of approval go through rigorous lab testing to ensure their safety. Their testing covers:
- Behavioral toxins
- Developmental toxins
- Carcinogens
- Endocrine disruptors
- Fire retardants
- Heavy metals
- Neurotoxins
- High-risk pesticides
- Reproductive toxins
- Toxic solvents
- Harmful VOCs
This can help give you peace of mind and confidence in your purchase. Currently, there are only two brands of bamboo baby wipes that carry the MADE SAFE® seal of approval: Caboo and Mamaearth.
The Benefits of Using Bamboo Baby Wipes
Since their introduction to the market, many parents around the world have reported significant benefits in switching to bamboo baby wipes.
Great for Your Baby’s Skin
The regenerated cellulose fibers that are made from bamboo are bio‑based material. They’re also incredibly soft, making bamboo baby wipes ideal for a baby’s sensitive skin. Bamboo fibers are also naturally antimicrobial and hypoallergenic.
You may have noticed that regular cotton wipes are a glistening white color. This is because most cotton baby wipes are bleached with chlorine or other nasty chemicals. These chemicals are then transferred to your baby’s super absorbent skin and can cause irritation or allergies.
Look for bamboo baby wipes that are organic, and that includes Aloe extract or Tea Tree oil. This way, you will get soft baby wipes free from harsh chemicals, and that consists of an antiseptic.
Bamboo wipes also contain vitamins A and B, which can help assist in firming and hydrating the skin. These vitamins have anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory properties also.
Better for the Environment
Traditional baby wipes are made from cotton. While cotton is super soft, the cultivation of cotton is detrimental to the environment. Cotton requires enormous amounts of water, pesticides, and fertilizers to be grown.
Bamboo, on the other hand, is a fast-growing crop that requires much less water and no nasty pesticides or chemical fertilizers to grow. Bamboo is one of the best absorbers of carbon dioxide on the planet, taking in more than 30% more than most other plants or trees. This means bamboo forests can act as natural carbon sinks.
Due to it’s deep and strong roots, bamboo does not require re-planting once harvested. Bamboo plants also generate 35% more oxygen than most other plants during their lifetime.
Compared to conventional cotton, bamboo is a clear eco-friendly choice.
They’re 100% Biodegradable
As mentioned above, because bamboo is natural, it is 100% biodegradable. This is a significant factor to consider when buying baby wipes. We tend to use a lot of baby wipes in the first few years of our little one’s lives. Most of these wipes end up in a landfill, so they must be able to decompose naturally and quickly.
Because bamboo wipes are free of any harmful chemicals, when they decompose, they do not leak any nasty chemicals or toxins into the soil. It’s essential to always buy bamboo wipes that are 100% natural bamboo.
Bamboo wipes mixed with other materials will take much longer to decompose and may include chemicals in their ingredients or have been treated with bleach chlorine.
Bamboo Baby Wipes Vs. Cotton Baby Wipes
Cotton is the conventional material used for baby wipes. When comparing cotton to bamboo, it doesn’t take much research to discover how bamboo is superior when it comes to the benefits to our baby and the wipe’s impact on the environment.
Bamboo is a very eco-friendly material for several reasons already discussed in this article. On the flip side, the cultivation of cotton harms our planet using vast amounts of water, chemicals, and energy for growing and processing.
Beyond the environmental impacts of these two materials, bamboo has even more advantages over conventional cotton.
Bamboo is much stronger and more durable than cotton. Any mum reading this will understand why these two qualities are essential when it comes to baby wipes. You need a strong wipe that can deal with any mess without breaking apart easily and making life more difficult.
Bamboo wipes are also naturally hypoallergenic. As baby wipes are used in intimate areas, this is a huge benefit. There is no need to worry about allergic reactions or unwanted skin irritation on your baby’s soft and sensitive bottom and other parts.
One upside of cotton baby wipes is their price tag. Bamboo wipes tend to cost more, but if you can afford them, then it’s well worth the extra money for a more natural and safer wipe.
You can now buy organic cotton baby wipes. These wipes are made from cotton that hasn’t been grown using excessive amounts of water, pesticides, or fertilizers. Organic cotton wipes remain soft, are durable, and much safer for your baby’s skin than regular cotton wipes.
Organic cotton wipes cost around the same amount of money as bamboo wipes. They’re a reasonable alternative, and if the organic cotton comes from a local source, they may even be less impactful on the environment.
Final Thoughts
Bamboo baby wipes are very safe for your baby. In fact, they offer many more benefits to both your baby’s skin and the environment compared to regular cotton baby wipes.
Organic cotton baby wipes are also an excellent alternative baby wipe. However, bamboo’s naturally antimicrobial and hypoallergenic properties make them the best choice.
