The True Cost of Wet Wipes: Baby Wipes for your Bike?

Cycling is becoming a more accessible and popular form of active transport, particularly in urbanised regions of Australia. As such, more and more cyclists are dedicating time into properly cleaning and maintaining their bike. 

When we asked fellow cyclists at previous Bikey Wipes event(s), as well as passers-by to our Tour Down Under stall in January, the majority either expressed that they clean their bike with baby wipes, a spray wash (and therefore need time and space to wash their bike) or take it in for service.

 From our experiences, as well as understanding consumer behaviours and online trends in cycling community groups, baby wipes are commonly used as a quick solution to clean the grime off your bike. Many online cycling forums and current trends on quick-solution bike cleaning products demonstrate the ease of using baby wipes due to its accessibility, affordability and importantly, it’s gentleness in cleaning residues and oils.

 
However, it brings to question: Are baby wipes the most effective wipes for your bike, are they sustainable and what is their ‘true cost’?

Those who use baby wipes consider it a good alternative. They are portable, leave little residue on bikes, and can be used to wipe grime off clothes and skin. Many online cycling forums and product review platforms praise the use of baby wipes as a long-term option to clean bikes quickly and effectively once cyclists reach home from their daily commute or after a long ride.

However, it can take at least four baby wipes to properly your bike frame and they are not suitable for the cassette, cluster or rotors. They are prone to fraying, thereby extending clean time as well as contributing to confusion for how to dispose of safely and consciously.

Around 80% of baby wipe brands in the market, particularly those used commonly by cyclists for cleaning, are a type of non-woven fabric that consist of petroleum-based fibres (polyester) (6). They are officially considered as single use, even if it’s packaging posits that it can biodegrade, as the fibres are interwoven with micro-plastics. Furthermore, around 90% of baby (wet) wipes are imported to Australia, contributing to over nine million kg of greenhouse gas emissions each year, and resource inefficiency as 80% of the product consists of water (5).

The ‘cost’ of the product therefore is far greater than its retail price – it now includes tons of water, GHG emissions, cost of freight, labour costs across the freight industry and staff in off-shored manufacturing warehouses.

 
There are many arguments in favour of the supposed eco-friendliness of non-woven polypropylene / polyester wipes (7). It usually narrows down to the understanding that the plastic present in such wipes, including its packaging, is made from recycled plastic.
However, according to life-cycle assessments of wet wipes, these products can only be truly and properly recycled under specific industrial conditions, which are only offered at custom recycling plants (3). In Australia, the use of such industrial facilities, particularly for a product which often is incorrectly disposed of, are expensive. Wet wipes which are not certified as compostable under Australian Standards, are not compatible with the current waste management systems, nor it’s drainage system (4)*.
*More on flushable wipes will be explored in a future blog!

With over 25,000 tons of plastic waste accumulated per year from wet wipes alone (4)– it brings to question whether baby wipes are truly worth its low cost?

How can it be advertised as a convenient and ‘eco-conscious’ product when its life cycle extends well beyond its initial use, and emits more carbon emissions than what it took to produce?

Ultimately the true cost of disposing and ‘recycling’ wet wipes (like baby wipes) comes down to the capabilities of municipal waste facilities which are paid for by everyday citizens. Since 2014, the City of Sydney (local government) have issued fines in the millions, starting with a hefty $700,000 fine to one company that falsely advertising and misrepresenting their wet wipes as recyclable, biodegradable and/or flushable in landfill (1).

Baby wipes are posited as a sustainable solution through strategic marketing tactics, which is widely known now as greenwashing. The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) has been quite strict over the years in its assessment and proceedings to hold businesses accountable and in compliance with Australian Consumer Law. Failure to do so can result in large fines for not only misleading consumers on its disposal instructions, but also where they were manufactured (2).

In this sense, the cost of post-consumer processes including suitability in existing waste systems, compliance protocols and the tons of carbon emitted after-use are not considered as its ‘true cost’. Whilst baby wipes are declared as eco-friendly, the environmental and social (consumer behaviour, psychology, and ethics) costs are omitted in branding, advertising, and communications. Consumers, in this case cyclists, are allured by the promise of a cheap, convenient cleaning product which are not 100% effective nor formulated for bicycles. In Australia, consumers are (on a technical standpoint) still paying for the safe removal and disposal of this product through waste levies.

Suffice to say, all productions variables in imported wipes can be localised and centralised to Australian businesses and partners. Thereby reducing not only carbon emissions but also the shipping of microplastics and water. Just as a bike’s quality, its engineering and performance becomes integral to a cyclist, then what is used on it and how it’s cleaned should be given the same level of care and diligence. Wet wipes which are ambiguous in its socio-environmental impact, imported and claims to be biodegradable or even flushable, cannot claim to be truly responsible and ethical in its production and end-of-life practices.

So why not choose a product that is good for your bike and good for planet?

For more info on Bikey Wipes products, click here.

Reference list

1.     Australian Competition and Consumer Commision (2018). Pental to pay $700,000 in penalties for ‘flushable’ wipes claims. [online] www.accc.gov.au. Available at: https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/pental-to-pay-700000-in-penalties-for-flushable-wipes-claims [Accessed 29 Feb. 2024].

2.     Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (2021). Penalty for Kimberly-Clark for false claims flushable wipes were made in Australia. [online] Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Available at: https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/penalty-for-kimberly-clark-for-false-claims-flushable-wipes-were-made-in-australia.

3.     Fibre2Fashion (n.d.). Sustainability Challenges For Nonwovens Industry. [online] www.technicaltextile.net. Available at: https://www.technicaltextile.net/articles/sustainability-challenges-for-nonwovens-industry-9640.

4.     Subra, A. (2023). Reducing plastic waste one wet wipe at a time, starting locally. [online] planetark.org. Available at: https://planetark.org/newsroom/news/reducing-plastic-waste-one-wet-wipe-at-a-time-starting-with-locally-designed [Accessed 29 Feb. 2024].

5.     TheHygieneCo (n.d.). Only Plastic free wet wipes manufacturer in Australia. [online] The Hygiene Co. Available at: https://www.thehygieneco.com.au/about/ [Accessed 29 Feb. 2024].

6.     Zhang, Y., Wen, Z., Lin, W., Hu, Y., Kosajan, V. and Zhang, T. (2021). Life-cycle environmental impact assessment and plastic pollution prevention measures of wet wipes. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 174, p.105803. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.105803 .

7.     Zhuang, A. (2023). Is Non Woven Polypropylene Eco Friendly? Debunking The Myths – Non woven Fabric Manufacturer | www.non-woven.com. [online] Non-woven.com. Available at: https://www.non-woven.com/is-non-woven-polypropylene-eco-friendly/ [Accessed 29 Feb. 2024].