Best Disinfectant Wipes
We put popular Clorox and Lysol wipes to the test, as well as Amazon Basics, Target's Up&Up, Walmart's Great Value, and other brands
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I’m at the tail end of my first winter with a toddler in day care, and I feel like I’ve survived an epic battle. Each (rare!) week in which all three human members of my family are healthy seems like a miracle. There’s one weapon I find myself tempted to wield: disinfectant wipes. After having the flu, two bouts of norovirus, COVID-19, and seemingly endless colds, I’m feeling a bit paranoid.
- Disinfectants We Tested, and More: Amazon Basics Clorox Great Value Lysol Seventh Generation Up&Up How We Tested Sanitizing vs. Cleaning vs. Disinfecting Using Disinfectants Safely
These wipes from the Target brand Up&Up were better than any other disinfecting wipe we evaluated. They were, right from the start, a winner. They were easy to remove from the tube, both when starting a roll and from then on. With the exception of the Seventh Generation wipes, these had the mildest scent, which was a major plus considering how most of the disinfecting wipes smelled (bad).
I was able to easily wipe up sriracha from my counter. Oil on the counter and jam on my stovetop took two swipes each. Up&Up wipes didn’t leave soapy residue behind, although, like all of the disinfecting wipes we tested, they did leave streaks. It’s a reminder that disinfecting wipes aren’t meant for everyday cleaning but are best left for more intense situations where there could be microbial contamination (such as when you drop a piece of raw chicken on your counter while prepping dinner).
These wipes were decent compared with the others. They have a mild scent that I found more tolerable than the rest of the wipes I tried. They’re a bit on the drier side but not to the point where it affects their ability to wipe down surfaces. They’re also thick and substantial-feeling, more like a multipurpose cleaning wipe (read about our favorite nondisinfecting cleaning wipes) than the rest of the disinfecting wipes, which felt flimsy. They did well in the sriracha and jam tests and required three swipes with the same wipe in the oil test.
Clorox is probably the brand you think of when you think of disinfecting, and it appears to me that the company is resting on its laurels with these wipes. They were easy to remove from the tube and were able to tackle the strip of sriracha with ease, but that’s where the accolades end.
The artificial lemony smell is quite strong, and the wipes themselves are thin enough to be nearly transparent. I had to swipe twice to remove jam from my stovetop, and I needed two wipes to get rid of the oil on my counter.
At this point, the wipes started blurring into each other. The ones from Amazon Basics were easy to remove from the tube. They’re a bit dry, and like the Clorox wipes, quite thin. It took two swipes for me to pick up the jam, and I needed two wipes for the oil. Cleaning up the sriracha, though, was a cinch (though it was with all of the wipes I tested). And to their credit, these had a smell that was more minimal than many of the other wipes.
I had a hard time getting these out of the container at first, and a handful of wipes came out at once. These are on the smaller side, they’re pretty dry, and they smell intensely of artificial lemon. I would be worried they’d give me a headache if I used them too long, that’s how strong the fragrance is. They performed well on the sriracha test, but when I did the stovetop test five days later, the next wipe in the tube had dried out, causing waste. I had to use three wipes to remove the oil from my countertop (even more waste!). With all this said, these removed the jam from my stovetop decently.
More small wipes. These tear unevenly, though, so some might be smaller (or bigger) than others. I struggled a bit to get the first wipe out of the container. They seem to come out twisted, so it takes an extra beat to untwist and fold them or otherwise get them to your preferred form.
The Lysol wipes are quite wet and have an overpowering smell that’s characteristic of other Lysol products. I’m not quite sure what the relation is to “lemon and lime blossom,” but that’s certainly not what I thought of when the fragrance first hit my nose.
I was able to wipe up the sriracha with ease, although the wipes left a soapy residue that dried into streaks. I removed the jam from my stovetop in just one swipe. Wiping the oil was more problematic. it took three wipes to get it off my counter, and I was left with a streaky surface.
How We Tested Disinfectant Wipes
These tests were nearly identical to our multipurpose wipes tests.
As soon as I opened each container, I evaluated how easy it was to remove the first wipe, which usually is at the center and must be pulled through a plastic dispenser. I took into account the product’s smell and measured the wipe’s size.
For the cleaning tasks, I used a wipe to clean:
• A squirt of sriracha on my kitchen counter
• A heaping ½-teaspoon of chunky jam on my gas stovetop
• And a squeeze of canola oil on my kitchen counter
I didn’t evaluate the disinfecting properties of these wipes.
What’s the Difference Among Disinfecting, Sanitizing, and Cleaning?
Sometimes “disinfect,” “sanitize,” and “clean” are used interchangeably, but they don’t mean the same thing.
Cleaning removes most dirt and germs. Disinfecting kills germs. And sanitizing reduces germs to a level considered safe.
The Environmental Protection Agency regulates disinfectants meant for inanimate surfaces, like countertops or other household surfaces. It verifies that each disinfectant (they’re considered pesticides) is effective against certain microorganisms, which are listed on the packaging of the product.
Disinfectant Safety
As ubiquitous as disinfectant wipes are, they’re not the safest product to use in your home, particularly if you have children. Research shows that they may worsen asthma symptoms. And the overuse of some antimicrobial products like disinfectants has led to a rise in microbial resistance. In addition, research has found that disinfecting products, particularly sprays, are associated with an increased incidence of respiratory conditions, including wheezing.
As someone whose toddler shows signs of asthma and has been hospitalized three times in his short life for having trouble breathing (asthma tests aren’t accurate until age 5 or so), this is concerning. And I admit that conducting these tests was pretty anxiety-inducing. Even though my family has had seemingly endless illnesses since September, I’m not keen to keep disinfectants in my house. I’ll stick with simple cleaning products to make sure that germs, dust, and dirt are kept to a minimum. (But I’ll keep a single tube of disinfecting wipes at home in the event of another norovirus incident.)
Whether or not you want to use disinfectant wipes is up to you. We want to reach our audience where they are, and if you’re going to use these products, you should at least know you’re using the best. But it’s worth noting that I conducted my multipurpose wipe tests and my disinfectant wipes tests back-to-back, and although I didn’t directly compare them, I can say that I had an easier time cleaning up messes with the multipurpose wipes than I did with the disinfectants.
The EPA maintains a searchable list of safer cleaning products. And for more information about disinfectants and safe cleaning products, check out CR’s article about disinfectant risks and how you can choose nontoxic cleaning supplies.
Attached to Your Disinfecting Wipes?
