How do you clean your hands in a workshop setting? What about your tools? I started using these Wypall hand wipes a couple of months ago, and so far they’ve been working out well.
A couple of years ago, a package of baby wipes made it into the garage, and it was convenient for a quick hand-cleaning or for wiping down tools and equipment. After that, I started keeping a pack around for shop use. For anything other than very light cleaning, I’d grab a shop towel and some cleaning spray.
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If I need something stronger for my hands, I’d get to a sink, sometimes using a hand scrub first, such as Fast Orange, GoJo Cherry, or something with walnut shells.
Baby wipes are far from ideal for workshop use, as they can leave physical and chemical residue, but I was using them anyway. They’re inexpensive, at $2 or so per small pack of 56 wipes.
You can buy an 8 count box of 72 Pampers Sensitive wipes for $18 and change at Amazon. That comes out to around 3.2 cents per wipe.
But, there’s the residue issue, the lint and tearing issue, the fact that baby wipes are very gentle cleansers, and the small size usually means one isn’t enough.
I hesitated about these Wypalls. At the current price of $75 per 75-count 6-pack, that comes down to 16.7 cents per wipe.
The Wypalls are industrial cleaning wipes that are pre-moistened with a waterless alcohol-free “citrus cleaning agent” that they say is tough on grease but gentle enough to use on your hand.
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I thought these were hand wipes at first, but as it turns out, they’re hand and tool wipes.
When you unfold the wipes, something I don’t always do completely, one side is smoother for wiping, and the other is textured for scrubbing.
There’s a light cleanser smell to them. I taped the pop-up cover plugs closed, to prevent drying out.
The price seemed a bit high at first, at more than 5X the price of baby wipes, but I’ve really enjoyed using these wipes. I use them in place of baby wipes now, and also in place of liquid cleaners in some instances.
I at first wondered if I should have purchased a smaller quantity, but I’m glad I have these on-hand, and they will be used.
Zoro sells them individually at $15.10 per tub and with $5 shipping. Shipping is or free on orders over $75 or $50 for registered customers.
There are also more portable 50-sheet containers, and I might buy that size next time. Wypall also sells these in 220-count buckets.
You can get lost in the different packaging options industrial suppliers offer for things like this. The 75-count tubs are much larger than the typical household cleaning wipes container, but easy to use and move around, and so far the cleanser doesn’t seem to dry out easily.
Hand and tool cleaning wipes aren’t the most glamorous things to talk about, but it’s worth keeping these in mind, especially since I know I’m not the only one who uses – or used – baby wipes in the workshop.
Price: $75 per case
Buy Now via Amazon – sold by the case
Buy Now via Zoro – sold by the tub
Jared
I like baby wipes as convenient hand cleaners too. Probably not uncommon for those who bought wipes for their… intended purpose first and then realized how convenient they can be to have around all the time. There is a pack in each of my vehicles right now, even though my son is well-beyond the age were I would need them.
I like the idea of HD versions with a bit more aggressive cleansing. Might have to give these a try.
My most common work-around is a bottle of simple green and some shop towels. I don’t clean my hands with that (though I can’t say I worry if I get some simple green on me), but it works very well for getting grease off tools. Grease on my comfort grip plier handles, for example, wipes off easily with simple green where basically everything else I’ve tried struggles. I don’t rinse after – just wipe dry – and I haven’t noticed any ill effects over the years.
I have noticed Simple Green can darken aluminum if left on too long though.
Matt
I keep a combo of Joe’s hand cleaner, paper towels, rinse kit sprayer, and liquid wrench hand sanitizer since covid. What I use depends on what I’m doing.
MM
I really don’t like wet wipes of any sort because I hate the wet feeling when I wipe my hands with them. I also do my best to avoid buying “throw-away” products like wet wipes and paper towels; they just generate waste, though at least paper towels are biodegradeable. That said I do keep some in my truck because they are practical when nothing else is available. One container lasts me years because I use them so infrequently.
In my workshop I use rags–repurposed from old clothes or towels–for wiping tools. I have a huge commercial restaurant sink where I wash up, I use various brands of hand cleaner with pumice. I just tossed my old empty container (Goop brand) and replaced it with a classic favorite, ZEP Cherry Bomb.
I know this isn’t related to tools but I figured I’d mention anyway: the kitchen. I bought a whole bunch of commercial kitchen towels from Amazon. I have a pile of clean ones in a cabinet and a dedicated laundry basket for them in another. Those are what I use for wiping up kitchen messes and drying dishes when there’s not enough to warrant running the dishwasher. Once they get used once they go in the laundry basket. When the basket nears getting full I go launder them with the hottest cycle and bleach added. I’ve found that these are not only much more effective at cleaning than paper towels it’s saved me quite a lot of money not having to buy paper towels repeatedly. I do use this same scheme in my workshop to an extent. If I have lightly soiled rags I wash them in a dedicated workshop washing machine, but of course anything that’s really dirty or has oil or grease on it cannot be washed.
Tom D
Uline sells something called “wipers” that are like super duty paper towels and are great for oily things that would make the rag unwashable.
JD
I’ve been using the Gunk wipes from Advance Auto. I get them with the rewards coupons, but I think the retail price is about $5.99 a pack. They manage to clean even better hand cleaner. They also have more texture than Tub ‘O Towels, which seems to help.
I also use the X80 wipers for general shop towels. Can’t say enough good things about those either.
I’ll give these a try when I run out of Advance Auto bucks 😉
Jammer
The last time I brought up using baby wipes for general cleaning tasks on a tool forum all the macho guys yelled loudly and ran away flailing wildly like a wasp was buzzing around them. It’s good to see I’m not the only one who uses them for shop related tasks.
Maybe I’ll start using a sharpy to re-brand them…
“Super-dude tool wipes”
Marc Cohen
There’s a brand of baby wipes called “Dude”. There not very durable but they don’t leave lint behind. I have a container in each car.
TimL
I am in the cleaning supply distribution industry for work. I was lucky enough to get some of the waterless wipes as a sample a few years ago and I love them. The towel is textured so it can scrub, and the chemical gets off most of the “garage / yardwork” type messes. It is not really absorbent enough to clean a spill though. They have tons of different sized containers and cases but I would recommend someone trying them out.
skfarmer
i almost always have a roll of blue scott towels and a can of sprayway foaming glass cleaner in every truck and tractor they work for nearly every scenario from cleaning up spills, to washing window and cleaning your hands . they even come in handy when nature calls in the middle of the field miles from home. not ideal for every use but they work in a pinch and are multi purpose.
skfarmer
i also carry some of those same type of wet cleaning towels individually packed and branded as sk. i have a few scattered around in tool boxes and glove compartments. they do work better than blue towels and glass cleaner for heavy dirt and grease but i would not recommend using them as tp. . . . . just saying.
Tom D
Better than poison ivy!
Frank D
I don’t see it mentioned if they are bio-degradable?
Not bio-degradable = hard skip for me, as far as buying these by the bucket.
I don’t mind that my wife keeps a small package of sanitizing wipes in the car, given the era that we now live in, but generally speaking, enough is enough. There’s way too much trash already! Wherever I have resided, I have observed that most Americans recycle zip nada (YMMV) and plastic pollution is getting out of control. So, I’ll stick to an old fashioned roll of paper towels and some cleaner or another.
HH
Almost all of the “heavy duty” wipes are melt blown polypropylene and are a micro plastic NIGHTMARE. It’s extremely unfortunate they’re so popular but that’s the world we live in now.
David Zeller
Just want to say, in much of the northeast, the streets are lined with containers on recycling days.
MM
If they’re contaminated with grease or oil they are not recyclable. This is especially true for paper products. A single pizza delivery box with grease soaked into the cardboard ruins an entire truckload of recyclable paper.
And the sad truth is that an awful lot of “recycling” consumes more energy and generates more waste than it saves. We might feel good about tossing it in a “recyling bin” but that doesn’t necissarily mean we’re being helpful to the enviornment. A lot of things the western world “recycles” ends up being transported on a series of smoke-belching trucks, trains, and ships before it ends up being burnt somewhere with lax enviornmental laws. A good rule of thumb is money. If someone is willing to pay you for the “waste” then there is an overall net energy and waste savings. And I don’t mean state rebate programs like giving you a quarter for returning a glass bottle. I’m referring to things like metal scrapyards paying for steel, aluminum, copper, cans, etc.
Tim D.
MM nailed it. Most recycling is a feel good sham. Penn and Tellers “bullsh**” show covered this one episode. Plenty of other info on this as well.
Frank D
Having grown up outside of NA, without a landfill anywhere nearby for 30 years, every city and community having a dedicated recycling center at the public works department, glass & paper bins at supermarkets … it is not all doom and gloom, we shouldn’t do anything because … reasons.
Does it cost some money? Sure.
At the same time it employs a few people at the recycling parks.
Recycling is maximized. Incinerating is minimized.
David Zeller
I was simply responding to the aspect of his comment where he says US folks recycle zip, nada. Whether that effort is effective wasn’t part of his comment.
Jim
I use Tub O Towels. Great product!
90 count tub, $13.98, free prime shipping from Amazon.
Can get them occasionally for 11.98. Put them in your cart and keep watching.
I will buy them from O’Riley’s if I’ve got a coupon that makes their price competitive with Amazon.
I found them also at Fry’s food store on clearance. First for $6.99 and then for $4.29. I bought all they had at these prices.
This product has the best closing plug in the lid that I’ve ever found.
If the plug is no good I don’t care how good the wipe is.
I’m in Phoenix and along with dry air, this time of year, my garage/shop never gets below 100*.
Dino
I just picked up a Tub O Towels from HD for $11.48 for the 90 count tub.
Javier A.
Another Tub-O-Towels user here. Andy I also get them at HD cheaper than Amazon.
Andy
Sorry, but NOTHING can touch Tub O Towels….literally NOTHING! Ive tried these WypAlls, and they dont remotely touch Tub O Towels!
BKNY
Pile on here, Tub O Towels are great.
My wife has since discovered them in my man space (garage).
So I’m gonna eat up more of ’em.
I get them by the case of 6 from Amazon already.
Use them out in the garage and down in the basement in my shop.
Amazing what they clean. Do a great job on the hands too.
I don’t use GO-JO or Fast Orange hand cleaner any longer.
Their 90cnt container is smaller in OD, and very convenient than the Wypall container.
Flapper on the lid barely makes it to the end of the roll. Nothing Duct tape can’t fix when it doesn’t.
Since covid, you can find all sorts of wall mounts for containers on Amazon. I married one with some super magnets, and a Tub O Towels is always on my work cart, and I can slip out if I want to take the Tub O Towels with me. Did add a couple of pieces of rubber fuel hose to the cage on the tub holder to tighten up on the container a bit.
My company buys the same black buckets and tops the WypAll come with for our HOCL products and wipes. Bucket and cover are molded in the USA. That black bucket is made very well, but are a “1gal” size and are very large. And no way to mount them.
We fit 360 wipe rolls in there, the roll in the Wypall bucket is swimming in the bucket.
I’ve gotten away from rolls of paper towels too.
I buy a dry wipe bucket from Tractor Supply that comes with a wall mount, simple slide on / off, so I can take with me under the truck. But more convenient than having the 1gal bucket floating loose around the garage.
I also did the same thing with this wall mount, screwed a couple of super magnets to it, and it’s always on the side of one of my main tool boxes in the garage, or storage cabinets in my basement work shop.
Just looked them up, “TOOLBOX Blue Shop Towels Big Grip Dispenser”.
There is a similar one on Amazon, IMHO I think the towel material is better. Same exact bucket and lid, a few more bux, but doesn’t come with the little wall mount for the dispenser.
Just looked that up..
“Tork Advanced 450340 ShopMax Wiper 450, Centerfeed, Dry Wipe Bucket, 1-Ply, 10″ Height x 8.5″ Width x 9″ Diameter, Blue (Case of 2 Buckets, 200 per Bucket, 400 Towels) ”
The shame of it is, the refills are nearly the same price as a filled bucket at Tractor Supply.
And at Amazon, a filled bucket is much cheaper than refills.
To get spare wall mounts, I buy from Tractor now and then, and tend to buy the one from Amazon.
Jerry
I like tub o towels or GoJo wipes, but I’m usually working with something greasy or oily. The GoJo will often lift a grease or oil spot off clothes if you scrub it right away.
DHCrocks
I’ve been using grime boss $7 for 60 sheets from amazon. They too are heavy duty with a smooth side and a textured side for scrubbing. Super strong and they don’t tear or leave lint behind. So much more convenient then washing and it does a great job on surfaces as well as hands.
Clayton
I don’t have a sink in my shop and recently picked up some of the gojo hand wipes. I absolutely love them. I figured they’d leave my hands feeling sticky or weird, and they don’t. It’s been a gamechanger for a no sink shop
I think these are them – https://smile.amazon.com/Gojo-6282-Hand-Clean-Towels/dp/B000BQNC4Y/
Koko The Talking Ape
Single-use plastics like these wipes are a no-go for me, especially when there are plenty of good alternatives (like GoJo and a towel.) These wipes are either polyurethane (polyester) or polypropylene, and they become microscopic particles of plastic in our landfills, streams, oceans, rain, snow food, beer (believe it or not), etc.
Dave P
A shot of brakeclean on a rag costs almost nothing….. and will clean about anything…..
Joellikedtools
One of my coworkers brought in some pinerite soap. We work around some gnarly grease, gunk, and petroleum gel. The soap is pretty rad. I prefer it to fast orange these days.
Plain grainy
After raising some pups, i was impressed with the puppy pads. I plan to lay one on the bench when working. Laying out the tools on it. Rust, oil , grease should cling to the pad when tools are laid down. The puppy wee pads are pretty expensive, but i won’t use a ton of them.
MM
There are industrial versions of those in common use in auto shops, chem labs, you name it. Pig is a well known brand, “pig pad” is common slang for them the same way people call generic photocopies “xeroxes”. The technology is extremely advanced. You can get pads/sheets that only absorb oil and allow water to run off–and vice versa, ones that repel oil but soak water. Others are generally absorbent. There are ones specialized for acidic spills, caustic materials, fuel, you name it. They come in a myriad of thicknesses and sizes. There are also special ones that are meant to sit under drums, gallon cans, car batteries, 5-gal buckets, fuel containers, etc. There are others meant to be placed underneath a dispensing valve or faucet to catch any drips. My favorite are rolls, basically like paper towels, you can tear off as much as you need. I get the 3-foot-wide rolls. Great for putting on the ground under the car when you might drip oil or trans fluid or whatever. Also great for wiping tools.
Plain grainy
I used to contain oil spills on the water in my younger days. Used pads that absorbed the oil, floated on top of the water but didn’t absorb water. Lots of industrial products that are made for specific tasks.
RobTR8
I keep Dawn Powerwash in the shop bathroom. It cleans but doesn’t dry out your skin. Autozone brake clean and Walmart microfiber towels for everything else.
Mike J
About the same price as Tub O Towels we have been using for sometime. If your lucky they can be found at great prices.
Eddie the Hook
Non flushable. ☺ like all baby wipes
Bob
I went on an EXTENSIVE hand wipe journey a few years ago. My then favorite brand changed the towels (put little plastic dots on the towel for abrasion) didn’t work as well.
After trying a whole bunch of brands I settled on Scrubs-in-a-bucket brand.
https://www.amazon.com/Dymon-Scrubs-Bucket-Cleaner-Towels/dp/B000JFHMPM/
These too have a rough scrubby side and a soft side. I don’t use hand wipes for wiping down my tools as I assumed they contained water and potentialy cause rust issues. I use a rag and a spray bottle of WD-40.
My only gripe is this brand doesn’t come in small packages or individually wrapped packages which would be perfect in the work truck or tool bag.
I had trouble finding them for a reasonable price locally so I ended up getting them online for about $12/tub
To make it worth my while I ended up buying a case. This led me to get serious about shop supply inventory.
I ended up doing the same with a lot of my other consumables: oils,grease, brake cleaners, ppe like nitrile gloves, dust masks etc etc
Was a huge blessing in disguise because once Covid hit I still had a fair amount inventory and still do. Just wish I had bought a few more cases of N95 masks and gloves. I realize not everyone has the shop space to do so but even if you just have one cabinet/shelf set aside for your most used consumables it’s a huge time, money, hassel saver.
Bob
The guys raising the environmental concerns got me thinking.
While the polypropylene in the towels is an excellent abrasive for scrubbing they are right its not very “green”.
Does anyone know of a decent eco alternative? Maybe a wet paper towel paper with pumice in it?
But then again I don’t think you can recycle a used paper towel. I guess you could use recycled paper in its production but once used its going into a landfill. Dirty greasy paper is not cost effectively recycled.
If there is such a thing as a environmentally responsible premoistened shop towel that works pretty decent please let me know. I’m willing to give it the Pepsi challenge.
Matthew
I always have Tub-o-towels on job sites, in the work trucks, etc. I’ve even used them to clean grease and oil left behind on new driveways but also safe for your hands. They’re easily the best IMO.
JoeM
Ugh… Supplier up North of the Border for the Tub? Maybe a link to the original maker so I can look for dealers where I am?
Stuart
Note: your comment was excessive, I trimmed it down for you.
It’s a Kimberly-Clark product. Their products can be hard enough to find via USA dealers if you’re not sure where to look, and even when you do. I wouldn’t know where to begin to find Canadian sources.
JoeM
‘Kay.
(But you got my humour, playing with you, right? You know none of it was serious. Cut it all you want, it was really only for you to get the joke.)
chip hershberger
I’ve been a user of tub-of-towels,wypalls,gojo, scrubs in a bucket since 2004 when I installed auto glass.
Urethane holds windshields in the vehicles,seam sealer keeps rust out of pinch welds,grease keep bearings from seizing, caulk finishes homes (and cabinets in my current job),construction adhesive keeps sub floors from squeaking, brake pads/oil/transmission fluid/brake fluid,gear oil,power steering fluid keep vehicles safe and running.
All are necessary evils,along with latex gloves,contaminated paper products,solvents,soaps etc to remove the aforementioned products off our bodies/environment around us.
I keep 1 tub in my personal vehicle,cabinet delivery truck,and at our cabinet shop.
I grease our equipment, I do most of the maintenance at my home,and color-match caulk custom cabinets in.
My most to least favorites are 1 wypalls,2 scrubs in a bucket,3 tub of towels and the other brands I do not care for.
Occasionally Amazon renews program has refills for $6 per 75 towels.
If I could find wypalls liquid solution, I would soak paper towels and use that.
The citrus cuts many chemicals, can be left in vehicles after use for an airfreshner,and the rough surface scrubs the skin clean.
Let’s be honest about recycling, people remodel/build new homes,upgrade vehicles,drive from their homes to be fed/have fun/use trash bags/have services delivered like to talk.
If you shear your own sheep or raise cotton for clothes,live in synthetic free homes,grow your own food ,walk everywhere ,own trees to provide oxygen, can speak of recycling in earnest…the rest is a lot weird.
Brent
As a mechanic, I use Costco baby wipes they are the best far fewer chemicals than any of the other hand cleaning wipes they get stubborn grease and oil off easily since they are what they are designed to do for babies. Never use any hand cleaner that has grit in it all it does is abrade not clean instead use cheap shampoo.