The Miracle of Baby Wipes

I was going over my packing list for an upcoming trip and it occurred to me that when I wrote about travel essentials, I forgot to tell you about baby wipes.  Baby wipes are probably the most helpful thing that you can take with you any trip.  In fact, once you see how many uses they have when you travel, you might start carrying them with you all of the time.  I do.

Baby wipes are lightweight and inexpensive and they have so many uses.  They pose no problems whatsoever when going through airport security.  Unlike many other products you might carry with you, they won’t melt in a hot car or spill open and ruin the luggage you’ve tucked them into.

I use baby wipes to:

1. Remove make-up.  They are an economical alternative to the wipes put out by the cosmetic companies.  If you worry that they won’t be gentle enough, consider that they are designed to safely clean newborn baby bottoms.  If you worry that they won’t be strong enough to do the job, consider what they are designed to clean off of those newborn baby bottoms.  Nuff said.
2. Shine shoes. 
3. Wipe down the outside of my purse. 
4. Remove stains from clothing.  They work just as well as stain removing pens. 
5. Clean ATM buttons before I use the machine.  I once saw a man with grimy hands walking away from a machine just as I walked up to it.  I haven’t touched an ATM since then without wiping it down first. 
6. Clean my hands.  Baby wipes are less drying than hand sanitizer. 
7. Freshen up all over.  If you get hot and sweaty while you’re out sightseeing, running a wipe over your neck, legs and arms will cool you down and eliminate that awful sticky feeling.  
8. Wipe down airplane armrests and trays.  Those things never get washed.  After you see what comes up the first time you use a baby wipe to clean the area around you and get a good look at the true ick factor made obvious on the wipe, you will never again sit in an airplane seat without giving it a good cleaning. 
9. Sanitize that infamously contaminated hotel room TV remote control.

These are just a few things that you can use baby wipes for when you are out and about.  Once you start traveling with them, I’m sure you will come up with even more creative ways to put them to work.