The 10 Best Baby Wipes

Marketed for newborns and premature babies, WaterWipes Sensitive+ have one of the shortest ingredient lists around: nearly all purified water plus a drop of fruit extract. There's no fragrance, alcohol or plastic in the cloth, which is strong and soft. The pack doesn't always reseal well, wipes can be hard to pull out one at a time, and water can pool at the bottom, so the top wipes can feel drier.

Families who go through a lot of wipes get good value from Pampers Sensitive, a fragrance-free wipe that Pampers says the National Eczema Association accepts. They're nearly all water, and in a big box like this one, each wipe costs very little. The flip-top dispenser works well. The cloth can leave a slight oily film after wiping, and wipes can come out in clumps.

Parents who want to skip phenoxyethanol, a preservative some avoid, can choose Huggies Natural Care Sensitive wipes, which also leave out fragrance, alcohol and parabens. They're nearly all water, mostly plant-based by weight, Huggies says, and carry a skin-care group's seal for eczema-prone skin. The cloth is soft and sturdy but on the thin side, and it can feel mushy when wet. A fruit acid in the formula can bother some very sensitive babies.

Seven ingredients and a plant-based cloth with no plastic define Honest Clean Conscious wipes, which are fragrance-free and nearly all water. They grip messes on hands, toys and surfaces without going soggy, and they hold up without pilling. They're thinner than the box suggests, so fold them for big messes. Honest calls them compostable, but that's doubtful for home compost, and the cost per wipe is on the high side.

Budget-minded parents can count on Mama Bear 99% Water wipes, Amazon's own brand, which stay moist and come out one at a time. The formula skips fragrance, alcohol, parabens and phthalates, the cloth is plant-based, and the flip cap seals snugly to keep the stack from drying out. The packs use some recycled plastic. The cloth is a little thin, so heavy messes can take more than one.

For wiping hands, faces and toddlers when cost matters more than softness, Huggies Simply Clean is a low-cost, fragrance-free choice. It leaves out alcohol, parabens and two common preservatives, and it's meant to be hypoallergenic and pH balanced. The cloth is plastic fiber rather than plant fiber, which matters if you avoid plastic. It's a little stiff, and it doesn't always dispense one at a time.

The messy end of diapering is the job of Pampers Ultraclean, whose extra-thick, quilted cloth is meant to grip rather than smear. It's made from plant fibers with no plastic, and the formula is nearly all water, with no fragrance or alcohol. Pampers claims it's much stronger than a leading value brand, a claim only it vouches for. Owner feedback is thin so far, and the cost per wipe is a bit high.

Thick cloth is the reason to buy Coterie The Wipe, which held up without tearing in a Today.com mess test of pudding, peanut butter and juice. The formula is nearly all water plus five ingredients, and the plant-based, plastic-free cloth carries a seal for eczema-prone skin. The catch is a high cost per wipe, and it's a bit too wet for liquid spills.

Bamboo instead of wood pulp or plastic makes up the cloth in Caboo Tree-Free wipes, and bamboo grows back in months. The seller lists a formula free of fragrance, alcohol, chlorine, parabens and phthalates, several safety marks and a certified B Corp status for Caboo. Each pack closes with a peel-back tab instead of a hard lid, and the tabs can lose their stickiness as a pack runs down. Softness and strength claims come from Caboo alone.

For the diaper bag, Aveeno Baby Sensitive All Over wipes come in slim packs with resealable tops that feed one wipe at a time. The formula adds aloe and oat extract and leaves out fragrance, alcohol and phenoxyethanol, and Aveeno says the wipes are safe from birth. The wipes are large and moist but thin, the one-at-a-time pull gets slow when a change needs several, and small packs cost more per wipe.