Overheard over the fence (Antimustachian neighbours)

[Chris22]

You hand wash solo cups?  Uhhh…no. Amazon tells me at a glance I can get 240 for $25 (not solo brand but whatever).  No way I’m hand washing a $0.10 cup.  I don’t think we ever use them though unless we get a keg of beer (once every 10 years).  Parties we usually have beer in a can/bottle, wine from a glass, and juice boxes for the kids. If you want water help yourself to a glass in the cabinet by the fridge.

Not everything is about money. Personally, I will never buy paper plates, solo cups, etc because I find them wasteful. It has nothing to do with money or my children being delicate, but is a result of the values I hold and want to pass on. Solo cups and paper plates could be free and I would still refuse to use them.

I understand and respect that, but it wasn’t what I was responding to. I was responding to someone who washes and reuses disposable cups specifically. I understand not using solo cups (I almost never do either, but I will tell you they are great for painting, pour some paint in them, use them, then throw them away and cheaper than specific paint cups).  I don’t understand buying disposable things and reusing them.  Just get the not reusable version.

Also, when we do use paper plates, we use Chinet which I think is from Costco; it is made of recycled material and it’s biodegradable/compostable (aside from kid’s birthday parties when we get the themed ones but that’s 2x a year)

[chaskavitch]

You hand wash solo cups?  Uhhh…no. Amazon tells me at a glance I can get 240 for $25 (not solo brand but whatever).  No way I’m hand washing a $0.10 cup.  I don’t think we ever use them though unless we get a keg of beer (once every 10 years).  Parties we usually have beer in a can/bottle, wine from a glass, and juice boxes for the kids. If you want water help yourself to a glass in the cabinet by the fridge.

Not everything is about money. Personally, I will never buy paper plates, solo cups, etc because I find them wasteful. It has nothing to do with money or my children being delicate, but is a result of the values I hold and want to pass on. Solo cups and paper plates could be free and I would still refuse to use them.

I HAVE paper plates and solo cups for picnics sometimes, but I hate it when people use them for regular meals.  I think we've had a bag of 50 solo cups for like 6 years now?

I'm pretty sure some people just don't even think about it when they use disposable dishware.  One of our friends always uses a paper towel to dry his hands after washing, and it blows my mind when there are dish towels literally right next to the sink.  I have a mug, bowl, plate, and flatware in my drawer at work.  We have office coffee mugs in the cupboard above the coffee maker, a sink to wash them in, and every year there is an offer of free company water bottles, but I have multiple coworkers who still use styrofoam or plastic cups for coffee/tea/water every single day.  Every day. 

[Imma]

I legitimately don’t know how you’d go about eating a hot dog (on a bun) with cutlery, or why you’d want to.

Honestly I've never had an American hotdog so I have no idea. On pictures they look massive and filled with loads of stuff and just generally way too big to eat with your hands without creating a mess.

The version of hotdog I'm used to eating looks like this: https://media.istockphoto.com/photos/typical-german-dinner-of-currywurst-with-bread-or-brotchen-picture-id173897210  and is pretty convenient to eat.

[Plina]

I legitimately don’t know how you’d go about eating a hot dog (on a bun) with cutlery, or why you’d want to.

Honestly I've never had an American hotdog so I have no idea. On pictures they look massive and filled with loads of stuff and just generally way too big to eat with your hands without creating a mess.

The version of hotdog I'm used to eating looks like this: https://media.istockphoto.com/photos/typical-german-dinner-of-currywurst-with-bread-or-brotchen-picture-id173897210  and is pretty convenient to eat.

I probably would not either eat a hotdog with a bun with cutlery but I would not either have it on a plate. Hotdogs have a paperwrap to them. I don’t normally eat pizza with hands. If I am lazy I eat from the package with cutlery instead of putting on a plate. Burgers eaten home and that is not delivered in a paper wrap are definitly eaten with cutlery. Another difference versus US is the straw in drinks. Here it is for kids or for elders in a nursing home.. You would not receive it in a regular restaurant.

I saw some people eating pizza with plastic gloves  in a Italien restaurant in Thailand. Why not use the cutlery.

All the offices I have worked at have plates, glasses, coffee cups, cutlery as part of their kitchen as well as one or several dishwashers that the cleaning crew empties. I can’t remember seeing paper cups in an office for the last ten years. Foamcups and plates I think dissappeared from most of the places around that time due to environmental reasons.

[RWD]

I legitimately don’t know how you’d go about eating a hot dog (on a bun) with cutlery, or why you’d want to.

Honestly I've never had an American hotdog so I have no idea. On pictures they look massive and filled with loads of stuff and just generally way too big to eat with your hands without creating a mess.

The version of hotdog I'm used to eating looks like this: https://media.istockphoto.com/photos/typical-german-dinner-of-currywurst-with-bread-or-brotchen-picture-id173897210  and is pretty convenient to eat.

American hot dogs are much smaller than a sub sandwich and are easy to hold in one hand (except maybe specialty ones that are literally overflowing with toppings). You wouldn't eat a sandwich with cutlery so the same goes for a hot dog.

[chaskavitch]

I feel like a large subsection of popular Americanized foods are designed to be eaten with your hands. 

Tacos, quesadillas, burritos, hamburgers, hot dogs, pizza, sandwiches, calzones, all chicken limbs whether fried or grilled.  I'd have a plate for all of those to hold the meal and any sides, but I'd almost never use cutlery to actually eat any of them.  Maybe a particularly floppy pizza, or a giant burrito that wasn't wrapped.

[Imma]

I guess eating with your hands is just less common here. For example, in polite company I would certainly use cutlery to eat a sandwich (unless it's a thin, afternoon tea type sandwich). And even if I would eat a taco, burrito or pita kebab I would use a fork to eat anything that falls out - and I would always try to avoid eating those with company. At parties I would expect most fingerfoods to be served with cocktail sticks so you don't have to get your hands dirty.

[SwordGuy]

RE: US Hotdogs

On pictures they look massive and filled with loads of stuff

Back in the 1970s a US 100% All Beef Hot Dog could, by act of Congress, have up to 30% other ingredients in it.

I shudder to think of what the percentage is now after another half century of corporate bribes to congressmen.

Oh, you just meant the condiments.    Never mind.  Pretend I didn't just say that...

[RetiredAt63]

Corn on the cob at a corn boil is the perfect use for a paper plate.  And hands.

[OtherJen]

I guess eating with your hands is just less common here. For example, in polite company I would certainly use cutlery to eat a sandwich (unless it's a thin, afternoon tea type sandwich). And even if I would eat a taco, burrito or pita kebab I would use a fork to eat anything that falls out - and I would always try to avoid eating those with company. At parties I would expect most fingerfoods to be served with cocktail sticks so you don't have to get your hands dirty.

Yep, different food cultures. One isn’t more right or less gross than another.

[solon]

Corn on the cob at a corn boil is the perfect use for a paper plate.  And hands.

"corn boil"? Sounds like a painful foot infection

[shelivesthedream]

I legitimately don’t know how you’d go about eating a hot dog (on a bun) with cutlery, or why you’d want to.

You should meet our three year old son. He wants to eat everything with cutlery. Including bananas.

[RetiredAt63]

Corn on the cob at a corn boil is the perfect use for a paper plate.  And hands.

"corn boil"? Sounds like a painful foot infection

Painful for the corn, maybe.

Large group of people (often at an agricultural fair).  Big pot of boiling water.  Lots of sweet corn.  Shuck corn, pop into boiling water, wait 10 minutes, serve with butter and salt.  On a paper plate, because this is not a sit-down affair. 

[Blue Skies]

You hand wash solo cups?  Uhhh…no. Amazon tells me at a glance I can get 240 for $25 (not solo brand but whatever).  No way I’m hand washing a $0.10 cup.  I don’t think we ever use them though unless we get a keg of beer (once every 10 years).  Parties we usually have beer in a can/bottle, wine from a glass, and juice boxes for the kids. If you want water help yourself to a glass in the cabinet by the fridge.

I had to stop buying paper plates to have on hand for picnics because my father prefers them for some reason I could never understand.  He will use them for every meal, every time.  So, when the package I had purchased for crafts and picnics ran out I have never replaced it.  It forces him to use washable plates at my house.

At his house he has several styles of reusable cups as well as plastic disposable cups.  I use the reusable ones.  He uses disposable, every time.  So when I am at his house, yes, I wash disposable cups.  I think it is a ridiculous waste for him to be using them in the first place, so I'm going to get him at least two uses of each of them if I can.

[dragoncar]

Corn on the cob at a corn boil is the perfect use for a paper plate.  And hands.

"corn boil"? Sounds like a painful foot infection

Painful for the corn, maybe.

Large group of people (often at an agricultural fair).  Big pot of boiling water.  Lots of sweet corn.  Shuck corn, pop into boiling water, wait 10 minutes, serve with butter and salt.  On a paper plate, because this is not a sit-down affair.

Plate sounds unnecessary.   Just get a cob quickie and ur good https://youtu.be/A2goIhnIy1Y

[RetiredAt63]

Corn on the cob at a corn boil is the perfect use for a paper plate.  And hands.

"corn boil"? Sounds like a painful foot infection

Painful for the corn, maybe.

Large group of people (often at an agricultural fair).  Big pot of boiling water.  Lots of sweet corn.  Shuck corn, pop into boiling water, wait 10 minutes, serve with butter and salt.  On a paper plate, because this is not a sit-down affair.

Plate sounds unnecessary.   Just get a cob quickie and ur good https://youtu.be/A2goIhnIy1Y

For 300 people?  Walking around with corn dripping butter?

It's a fun idea for family use,

[rockstache]

I’ve never heard of a cardboard fork, that sounds truly awful. I don’t like the paper straws either, blech.

[Sugaree]

I just got back from vacation in a place where every place gave us paper straws.  I thought I'd hate it, but I actually don't mind them.

[Dicey]

You hand wash solo cups?  Uhhh…no. Amazon tells me at a glance I can get 240 for $25 (not solo brand but whatever).  No way I’m hand washing a $0.10 cup.  I don’t think we ever use them though unless we get a keg of beer (once every 10 years).  Parties we usually have beer in a can/bottle, wine from a glass, and juice boxes for the kids. If you want water help yourself to a glass in the cabinet by the fridge.

I had to stop buying paper plates to have on hand for picnics because my father prefers them for some reason I could never understand.  He will use them for every meal, every time.  So, when the package I had purchased for crafts and picnics ran out I have never replaced it.  It forces him to use washable plates at my house.

At his house he has several styles of reusable cups as well as plastic disposable cups.  I use the reusable ones.  He uses disposable, every time.  So when I am at his house, yes, I wash disposable cups.  I think it is a ridiculous waste for him to be using them in the first place, so I'm going to get him at least two uses of each of them if I can.

This sparks a memory. At my parents house in their retirement community, we each had a red Solo cup with our name on it in Sharpie marker.  Except for formal meals, each of us was expected to use and wash our own cup. I'm sure mine was at least five years old. Since I visited often, I got the distinction of being the top cup on the stack.

[OtherJen]

I’ve never heard of a cardboard fork, that sounds truly awful. I don’t like the paper straws either, blech.

Cardboard fork? Yikes.

We've used these compostable cutlery before. Husband first bought these when he organized a work event with food, brought a piece home, and stuck it in the kitchen garden patch to see what would happen. It was completely gone when he checked a few months later.

[dragoncar]

Corn on the cob at a corn boil is the perfect use for a paper plate.  And hands.

"corn boil"? Sounds like a painful foot infection

Painful for the corn, maybe.

Large group of people (often at an agricultural fair).  Big pot of boiling water.  Lots of sweet corn.  Shuck corn, pop into boiling water, wait 10 minutes, serve with butter and salt.  On a paper plate, because this is not a sit-down affair.

Plate sounds unnecessary.   Just get a cob quickie and ur good https://youtu.be/A2goIhnIy1Y

For 300 people?  Walking around with corn dripping butter?

It's a fun idea for family use,

You know I never considered that butter would be dripping.  I’ve never had butter drip off my corn or ever needed a plate to eat it.  Sounds like a waste of good butter if it’s dripping onto a plate, really a bowl would make more sense so you can eat it with a ladle after the corn party

[Imma]

I guess eating with your hands is just less common here. For example, in polite company I would certainly use cutlery to eat a sandwich (unless it's a thin, afternoon tea type sandwich). And even if I would eat a taco, burrito or pita kebab I would use a fork to eat anything that falls out - and I would always try to avoid eating those with company. At parties I would expect most fingerfoods to be served with cocktail sticks so you don't have to get your hands dirty.

Yep, different food cultures. One isn’t more right or less gross than another.

To be fair, I used the word gross about paper plates, straws and cutlery. Not about eating with your hands. I wouldn't want to do it, but if people wash their hands it's not more unhygienic than using cutlery.

I legitimately don’t know how you’d go about eating a hot dog (on a bun) with cutlery, or why you’d want to.

You should meet our three year old son. He wants to eat everything with cutlery. Including bananas.

I was like that. There are pictures of me eating a bread roll and a boiled egg with cutlery when I was still in a high chair.

Just out of curiousity, after people eat food with their hands at parties, what do they do next? Just wipe their hands on a paper napkin and think that's clean enough? Form a queue for the kitchen sink so everybody can take turns washing their hands? If you have a lot of guests they would get in the way if they all wanted to wash their hands. Sometimes we picnic in the park and I fill up an extra bottle of water just to wash my hands afterwards......

[gaja]

I'm far too lazy to use paper plates. They have to be bought at a store, transported home, unwrapped, put into a trash can after use, and then I have to take the trash out. If our trash can gets full, I have to drive the extra trash to the central garbage disposal. Normal plates are available in the cupboard, and can be easily cleaned in the dishwasher.

Also, I find it difficult to eat from paper plates, especially at events. Unless you carry they very carefully, preferrably with both hands, they bend and the food slides off.

[Plina]

I'm far too lazy to use paper plates. They have to be bought at a store, transported home, unwrapped, put into a trash can after use, and then I have to take the trash out. If our trash can gets full, I have to drive the extra trash to the central garbage disposal. Normal plates are available in the cupboard, and can be easily cleaned in the dishwasher.

Also, I find it difficult to eat from paper plates, especially at events. Unless you carry they very carefully, preferrably with both hands, they bend and the food slides off.

Not to mention if you have to balance it on your knees while you try to eat with single use cutlery. But it also feels crappy from an environmental perspective.

[shelivesthedream]

@Imma Yes, I absolutely just wipe my hands and call it good. I do carry real cloth hankies around, so I've always got that if there's nothing else, and at the moment if I'm out with the children then I also have a muslin and/or some large cloth wipes and/or a pack of wet wipes.

Imagine the worst case hand food scenario of a cheeseburger with condiments (as opposed to a dryish sandwich). If I've wiped my hands and there is no visible food and I'm not sticky, why do I need to wash my hands to continue to sit around chatting and drinking? If I then went to do something "clean", I could wash my hands BEFORE doing that.

Our second born takes after me in that regard, except she currently omits the "washing hands" step between "digging in bag of compost with hands" and "eating lunch" if she can get away with it. Mr SLTD and our firstborn are from the same mould - wearers of gardening gloves, users of superfluous cutlery.

[Imma]

I don't know, to get rid of the yucky feeling of your hands? But I guess not everyone has that yucky feeling if their hands are not visibly dirty.

I forgot about wet wipes, I've been known to steal them from my mum friends after a picnic or other outdoor food eating. But honestly I think wet wipes are also a bit yucky because they leave this smelly layer on your skin.

I fully admit there may be something wrong with me.

[zolotiyeruki]

I don't know, to get rid of the yucky feeling of your hands? But I guess not everyone has that yucky feeling if their hands are not visibly dirty.

I think that's very specific per person. I can't stand the feeling of anything on my hands, but it doesn't faze DW at all. When I load the dishwasher after a meal, her glass usually has visible fingerprints and smudges, while mine is almost spotless.

[RWD]

I don't know, to get rid of the yucky feeling of your hands? But I guess not everyone has that yucky feeling if their hands are not visibly dirty.

I forgot about wet wipes, I've been known to steal them from my mum friends after a picnic or other outdoor food eating. But honestly I think wet wipes are also a bit yucky because they leave this smelly layer on your skin.

I fully admit there may be something wrong with me.

I absolutely get that feeling. In which case I just wash my hands immediately after. Though there are varying degrees depending on the food. If I'm eating a burger and my hands get greasy then washing my hands is priority #1, napkins won't cut it. But if I'm eating a hot dog with little to no condiments it's likely all that has got on my hands is some light bread dust which is sometimes easy enough to just brush off.

[OtherJen]

I don't know, to get rid of the yucky feeling of your hands? But I guess not everyone has that yucky feeling if their hands are not visibly dirty.

I forgot about wet wipes, I've been known to steal them from my mum friends after a picnic or other outdoor food eating. But honestly I think wet wipes are also a bit yucky because they leave this smelly layer on your skin.

I fully admit there may be something wrong with me.

I absolutely get that feeling. In which case I just wash my hands immediately after. Though there are varying degrees depending on the food. If I'm eating a burger and my hands get greasy then washing my hands is priority #1, napkins won't cut it. But if I'm eating a hot dog will little to no condiments it's likely all that has got on my hands is some light bread dust which is sometimes easy enough to just brush off.

This. If the food is dry, wiping my hands with a napkin is sufficient. If it's greasy or messy, then soap and water (or wet wipes) are needed.

[shelivesthedream]

@Imma I think I know the feeling you mean - I have it about getting wet and getting dry again. I'm fine with being wet, like being in the shower. I'm fine with being dry, like having dried off. But the feeling of getting wet or getting dry is awful. I have to mentally push myself to wash my hands because the feeling of putting dry hands under the tap or drying wet hands on a towel is so unpleasant. I fantasise about having one of those Dyson blasting dryers that you lower your hands into in my house because they dry so quickly and completely.

But dirt? Nah, I don't really register the feeling on my hands at all. I don't know that I ever wash my hands because they *feel* dirty as opposed to because it's "time to" wash them. Its definitely an intellectual act for me based on what I'm doing before/after, rather than a subjective need to feel clean.

[dragoncar]

Just out of curiousity, after people eat food with their hands at parties, what do they do next? Just wipe their hands on a paper napkin and think that's clean enough?

Lick all my fingers in succession, moaning optional

[NorthernIkigai]

But honestly I think wet wipes are also a bit yucky because they leave this smelly layer on your skin.

Aargh, those smelly ones are disgusting. Try to get your mum friends to buy the plain ones (they are better for the kids as well)... ;-)

[Plina]

But honestly I think wet wipes are also a bit yucky because they leave this smelly layer on your skin.

Aargh, those smelly ones are disgusting. Try to get your mum friends to buy the plain ones (they are better for the kids as well)... ;-)

I use wetwipes for babies to clean the chain on my bikes and my hands when I get oil on them. The fact that they are great for that would make me hesistant to use them on kids.

[Dicey]

But honestly I think wet wipes are also a bit yucky because they leave this smelly layer on your skin.

Aargh, those smelly ones are disgusting. Try to get your mum friends to buy the plain ones (they are better for the kids as well)... ;-)

I use wetwipes for babies to clean the chain on my bikes and my hands when I get oil on them. The fact that they are great for that would make me hesistant to use them on kids.

Well, babies do do gross, messy things...

[Plina]

But honestly I think wet wipes are also a bit yucky because they leave this smelly layer on your skin.

Aargh, those smelly ones are disgusting. Try to get your mum friends to buy the plain ones (they are better for the kids as well)... ;-)

I use wetwipes for babies to clean the chain on my bikes and my hands when I get oil on them. The fact that they are great for that would make me hesistant to use them on kids.

Well, babies do do gross, messy things...

That they do but I meant from a chemical perspective.

[Sugaree]

My kid was allergic to the solution that regular baby wipes were soaked in, so I ended up having to send "sensitive" wipes to daycare (we used cloth wipes/warm water at home).  Sensitive wipes are either more expensive than regular wipes or come in a smaller pack for the same price. 

[NorthernIkigai]

Sensitive wipes are either more expensive than regular wipes or come in a smaller pack for the same price.

Ah, fortunately this is not the case here. Or maybe it is for the fancy brands (organic, etc.), but not for the Lidl ones I bought for years.

What is (much) more expensive is the non-baby kind of small packs of wet wipes, I guess made for ladies' handbags rather than big changing bags. Hence the suggestion that Imma a get her mum friends to swap brands rather than schlep around a big pack of cheap, great baby wipes herself :-)

I'm not sure our baby wipes are tough and gooey enough to handle bike oil etc. I'm fortunate to have outsourced that stuff to my spouse, so I'm not planning to find out.

[zolotiyeruki]

But honestly I think wet wipes are also a bit yucky because they leave this smelly layer on your skin.

Aargh, those smelly ones are disgusting. Try to get your mum friends to buy the plain ones (they are better for the kids as well)... ;-)

I use wetwipes for babies to clean the chain on my bikes and my hands when I get oil on them. The fact that they are great for that would make me hesistant to use them on kids.

Well, babies do do gross, messy things...

That they do but I meant from a chemical perspective.

Don't get too worked up over it.  Things can have multiple uses without being damaging.  For example, I've found that Dawn dish soap is remarkably effective at removing various kinds of grime and grease from my skin after I've been doing car repairs.

[Chris22]

But honestly I think wet wipes are also a bit yucky because they leave this smelly layer on your skin.

Aargh, those smelly ones are disgusting. Try to get your mum friends to buy the plain ones (they are better for the kids as well)... ;-)

I use wetwipes for babies to clean the chain on my bikes and my hands when I get oil on them. The fact that they are great for that would make me hesistant to use them on kids.

Well, babies do do gross, messy things...

That they do but I meant from a chemical perspective.

Don't get too worked up over it.  Things can have multiple uses without being damaging.  For example, I've found that Dawn dish soap is remarkably effective at removing various kinds of grime and grease from my skin after I've been doing car repairs.

Dawn also works great on grease stains on clothing.

[OtherJen]

But honestly I think wet wipes are also a bit yucky because they leave this smelly layer on your skin.

Aargh, those smelly ones are disgusting. Try to get your mum friends to buy the plain ones (they are better for the kids as well)... ;-)

I use wetwipes for babies to clean the chain on my bikes and my hands when I get oil on them. The fact that they are great for that would make me hesistant to use them on kids.

Well, babies do do gross, messy things...

That they do but I meant from a chemical perspective.

Don't get too worked up over it.  Things can have multiple uses without being damaging.  For example, I've found that Dawn dish soap is remarkably effective at removing various kinds of grime and grease from my skin after I've been doing car repairs.

Dawn also works great on grease stains on clothing.

It's what rescue teams use to clean fur/feathers on wildlife caught in oil spills because it isn't toxic to them.

[Dicey]

But honestly I think wet wipes are also a bit yucky because they leave this smelly layer on your skin.

Aargh, those smelly ones are disgusting. Try to get your mum friends to buy the plain ones (they are better for the kids as well)... ;-)

I use wetwipes for babies to clean the chain on my bikes and my hands when I get oil on them. The fact that they are great for that would make me hesistant to use them on kids.

Well, babies do do gross, messy things...

That they do but I meant from a chemical perspective.

Don't get too worked up over it.  Things can have multiple uses without being damaging.  For example, I've found that Dawn dish soap is remarkably effective at removing various kinds of grime and grease from my skin after I've been doing car repairs.

Dawn also works great on grease stains on clothing.

It's what rescue teams use to clean fur/feathers on wildlife caught in oil spills because it isn't toxic to them.

Dawn is a brand name I'll happily pay for. On sale. At Costco.

[dragoncar]

But honestly I think wet wipes are also a bit yucky because they leave this smelly layer on your skin.

Aargh, those smelly ones are disgusting. Try to get your mum friends to buy the plain ones (they are better for the kids as well)... ;-)

I use wetwipes for babies to clean the chain on my bikes and my hands when I get oil on them. The fact that they are great for that would make me hesistant to use them on kids.

Well, babies do do gross, messy things...

That they do but I meant from a chemical perspective.

I use dihydrogen monoxide to wash gross poop off the toilet!  The fact that it's great for cleaning poop off the toilet makes me extremely hesitant to drink it.   

[Green_Tea]

I use wetwipes for babies to clean the chain on my bikes and my hands when I get oil on them. The fact that they are great for that would make me hesistant to use them on kids.

Well, babies do do gross, messy things...

That they do but I meant from a chemical perspective.

I use dihydrogen monoxide to wash gross poop off the toilet!  The fact that it's great for cleaning poop off the toilet makes me extremely hesitant to drink it.   

Funny.
Plina's point is still a good one I think. You don't want to degrease a baby's skin unnecessarily and on many occasions whatever's on their skin isn't oily at all, so no need to use something with a degreasing component. Dicey has a point, too, I'm thinking of people who use the wipes on their babies for everything.

[Plina]

But honestly I think wet wipes are also a bit yucky because they leave this smelly layer on your skin.

Aargh, those smelly ones are disgusting. Try to get your mum friends to buy the plain ones (they are better for the kids as well)... ;-)

I use wetwipes for babies to clean the chain on my bikes and my hands when I get oil on them. The fact that they are great for that would make me hesistant to use them on kids.

Well, babies do do gross, messy things...

That they do but I meant from a chemical perspective.

I use dihydrogen monoxide to wash gross poop off the toilet!  The fact that it's great for cleaning poop off the toilet makes me extremely hesitant to drink it.   

Maybe, you can take your dihydrogen monoxide from the tap for drinking instead from the toilet so that you don’t need to hesitate.

I don’t have kids, only bikes.

[shelivesthedream]

We stock both cloth wipes (large squares cut and overlocked from an old flannel sheet by yours truly) and store-boughten wet wipes (sensitive are the same price so we buy those). I have been surprised since acquiring the cloth wipes with our second child the number of child-cleaning applications for which the cloth wipes (wetted with water or dry) are vastly superior. Greater surface area, greater scrubbing power. Often child cleaning is about removal of actual substantial matter rather than degreasing - and the cloth wipes vastly outperform the wet wipes at the former.

My preferred child cleaning strategy for either end is to do as much as I can with one or more dry cloth wipes, do further cleaning with a wet cloth wipe as necessary, and only use a wet wipe at the end when its meagre surface area compared to my hand and its flimsy texture are not the huge downsides they are at the beginning.

That said, I feel like my children generally look dirtier than your average child in our (somewhat upper middle class) area. I see other toddlers at the playground and can only assume that their parents must have changed their clothes between breakfasting and leaving the house because there is no other explanation for their 100% food-free appearance. So maybe don't take child-cleaning tips from me. (Though we do bathe ours every night and I just have no idea how people manage to not do that with food-eating babies and toddlers because there is no way a "spot clean" or "top and tail" actually gets our pair of octopuses greased hogs children clean when considering the physical reality of attempting it. And it's mostly just dirt from meals! At least in the bath, the dirt mostly swirls off passively while playing with the water.)

[Chaplin]

But honestly I think wet wipes are also a bit yucky because they leave this smelly layer on your skin.

Aargh, those smelly ones are disgusting. Try to get your mum friends to buy the plain ones (they are better for the kids as well)... ;-)

I use wetwipes for babies to clean the chain on my bikes and my hands when I get oil on them. The fact that they are great for that would make me hesistant to use them on kids.

Well, babies do do gross, messy things...

That they do but I meant from a chemical perspective.

I use dihydrogen monoxide to wash gross poop off the toilet!  The fact that it's great for cleaning poop off the toilet makes me extremely hesitant to drink it.   

Maybe, you can take your dihydrogen monoxide from the tap for drinking instead from the toilet so that you don’t need to hesitate.

I don’t have kids, only bikes.

It's criminal that utilities still allow chemicals like dihydrogen monoxide to come out of our taps. There are no controls, no mitigation, no max ppm, nothing!

[ysette9]

But honestly I think wet wipes are also a bit yucky because they leave this smelly layer on your skin.

Aargh, those smelly ones are disgusting. Try to get your mum friends to buy the plain ones (they are better for the kids as well)... ;-)

I use wetwipes for babies to clean the chain on my bikes and my hands when I get oil on them. The fact that they are great for that would make me hesistant to use them on kids.

Well, babies do do gross, messy things...

That they do but I meant from a chemical perspective.

Don't get too worked up over it.  Things can have multiple uses without being damaging.  For example, I've found that Dawn dish soap is remarkably effective at removing various kinds of grime and grease from my skin after I've been doing car repairs.

Dawn also works great on grease stains on clothing.

It's what rescue teams use to clean fur/feathers on wildlife caught in oil spills because it isn't toxic to them.

According to my sister it is also a preferred product for removing unwanted temporary hair dye…

[ysette9]

We stock both cloth wipes (large squares cut and overlocked from an old flannel sheet by yours truly) and store-boughten wet wipes (sensitive are the same price so we buy those). I have been surprised since acquiring the cloth wipes with our second child the number of child-cleaning applications for which the cloth wipes (wetted with water or dry) are vastly superior. Greater surface area, greater scrubbing power. Often child cleaning is about removal of actual substantial matter rather than degreasing - and the cloth wipes vastly outperform the wet wipes at the former.

My preferred child cleaning strategy for either end is to do as much as I can with one or more dry cloth wipes, do further cleaning with a wet cloth wipe as necessary, and only use a wet wipe at the end when its meagre surface area compared to my hand and its flimsy texture are not the huge downsides they are at the beginning.

That said, I feel like my children generally look dirtier than your average child in our (somewhat upper middle class) area. I see other toddlers at the playground and can only assume that their parents must have changed their clothes between breakfasting and leaving the house because there is no other explanation for their 100% food-free appearance. So maybe don't take child-cleaning tips from me. (Though we do bathe ours every night and I just have no idea how people manage to not do that with food-eating babies and toddlers because there is no way a "spot clean" or "top and tail" actually gets our pair of octopuses greased hogs children clean when considering the physical reality of attempting it. And it's mostly just dirt from meals! At least in the bath, the dirt mostly swirls off passively while playing with the water.)

I suspect it has to do with the nature of the particular kid in question. My kids are usually fairly clean but it isn’t because I am making any special effort to keep them that way. The baby adores bathing and has at minimum one bath (with his sisters) and one shower (joins a parent) a day. He also asks to wash his hands because he finds it fun. That said, he drools copiously and often needs a shirt change halfway through the day because the front is soaked.

[shelivesthedream]

We stock both cloth wipes (large squares cut and overlocked from an old flannel sheet by yours truly) and store-boughten wet wipes (sensitive are the same price so we buy those). I have been surprised since acquiring the cloth wipes with our second child the number of child-cleaning applications for which the cloth wipes (wetted with water or dry) are vastly superior. Greater surface area, greater scrubbing power. Often child cleaning is about removal of actual substantial matter rather than degreasing - and the cloth wipes vastly outperform the wet wipes at the former.

My preferred child cleaning strategy for either end is to do as much as I can with one or more dry cloth wipes, do further cleaning with a wet cloth wipe as necessary, and only use a wet wipe at the end when its meagre surface area compared to my hand and its flimsy texture are not the huge downsides they are at the beginning.

That said, I feel like my children generally look dirtier than your average child in our (somewhat upper middle class) area. I see other toddlers at the playground and can only assume that their parents must have changed their clothes between breakfasting and leaving the house because there is no other explanation for their 100% food-free appearance. So maybe don't take child-cleaning tips from me. (Though we do bathe ours every night and I just have no idea how people manage to not do that with food-eating babies and toddlers because there is no way a "spot clean" or "top and tail" actually gets our pair of octopuses greased hogs children clean when considering the physical reality of attempting it. And it's mostly just dirt from meals! At least in the bath, the dirt mostly swirls off passively while playing with the water.)

I suspect it has to do with the nature of the particular kid in question. My kids are usually fairly clean but it isn’t because I am making any special effort to keep them that way. The baby adores bathing and has at minimum one bath (with his sisters) and one shower (joins a parent) a day. He also asks to wash his hands because he finds it fun. That said, he drools copiously and often needs a shirt change halfway through the day because the front is soaked.

I must say, we have never had problems with drool, even when teething. Never used dribble bibs or needed a drool-related clothing change or had that red chin rash they can get. Funny how different they can be! Maybe my children are so dry on the inside they need to coat themselves with a thick, moisturising layer of food at each meal so they don't dessicate?

[NorthernIkigai]

Maybe babies are like homes, your own always looks dirtier in your own eyes than those of others (extreme examples excepted...)?