Alcohol-based hand sanitizers, that is.

While I completely understand all the reasons to use hand sanitizer, I hope this campaign has illustrated beyond a shadow of a doubt why you should NOT use alcohol-based hand sanitizer.  And “because the Today Show has got me all in a panic over substance abuse” is not even in the Top 5 reasons why CleanWell should be your hand sanitizer of choice.

First and foremost, wash your hands.  That’s the best way to remove dirt and excess oil, along with killing germs.  “A quick swipe of anti-bac gel does not absolve you of the responsibility to WASH your hands after using the restroom.”  And sensitive skin doesn’t excuse you from washing; do as one of our bloggers does - carry “a trial size bottle of a soap [you] can trust.”

When you’re around “dirt, sand, and much-used playground equipment“, there often isn’t a (clean, well-stocked) lavatory within miles.  If you carry a diaper bag, chances are good that you’ve got wipes in there, which will do in a pinch.  But what would be even better?  Sanitizing towelettes.  And you know I’m not talking about those Wet-Naps that you get when you go out for hot wings.  CleanWell’s “individual wipes are wet, unlike some of the competitors’ portables. The kids can use these themselves safely.”  The towelettes are “moist enough to get the job done without having cleaner dripping everywhere.”  Can’t say that about a Wet-Nap, can you?

Across the board, our bloggers were impressed - for multiple reasons - by the fact that CleanWell natural hand sanitizer is alcohol-free.  But how do you kill germs without alcohol?  Enter Ingenium.

“Ingenium is a collection of plant oils: non-toxic, safe for kids, gentle for skin, and environmentally friendly. It meets EPA and FDA standards for germ killing efficacy, and yet it doesn’t require any health or envionrmental warnings on the label because it is all-natural. Since the plants used to create Ingenium are readily available and rapidly renewable, this product is sustainable and it doesn’t create toxic byproducts.”  One of our reviewers has a child on the Feingold Diet (vigilant restriction and monitoring of any artificial substances - meaning they “are extra careful about chemicals, additives, and other nasties that might cause problems“), which made her a perfect candidate to review CleanWell.

Alcohol belongs in my wine glass, not on my hands - or worse, my children’s hands.  From the time that they realize these appendages belong to them, kids put their hands in their mouths.  Keeping clean is a battle even before the kids can talk: “My babies were thumb and finger suckers…I just didn’t want any possibility that they would ingest some of these powerful chemicals.”

In the winter - when we spend more time indoors, marinating in other people’s germs and our own - the air is drier.  And while you want to keep those infections at bay, “when you have hands so dry and cracked that they catch on things, then the last thing you want to be putting on them is alcohol.  That nice ‘cooling’ and ‘I feel all clean and sterile’ feeling we might relish in the warmer months is now replaced by searing pain.”

The scientific evidence can be found at CleanWell’s site - please do check it out.  The anecdotal evidence is here at The Parent Bloggers Network, and it speaks for itself: “I can tell you that I will be carrying CleanWell towelettes in my purse from now on.”

For more information on CleanWell products, please see their website and their blog.

Updated:  CleanWell is opening new retail accounts all the time.  Please email them at info@cleanwelltoday.com to find out if these products are currently available in your area.  If not, tell them where you’d like to buy it.  Many of the stores that currently sell CleanWell found out about it through a customer request!

If you register at www.cleanwelltoday.com/register, you’ll get periodic emails about new stores, new products, special deals, and other updates.