There are many brands of baby wipes on the market these days, even among the natural options, so it can be overwhelming to decide which one is best for you and your baby. I’ve used and tested almost every wipe out there at this point so I thought it would be nice to give people a comparison between popular brands if they are on the fence. Today, we’ll look at the Hello Bello wipes vs Water Wipes.
In a direct comparison, Hello Bello wipes offer more features and value for your dollar that outweighs the superior ingredients list of Water Wipes. With practical use, you likely won’t notice much difference between the two brands in terms of performance and quality.
Let’s see how those ingredients compare along with my personal experience concerning the quality, durability, fragrance, and value of both wipes.
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Hello Bello wipes vs Water Wipes Overall
Both of these wipes will hold their own and generally do a great job when they are used in everyday situations such as changing a diaper or cleaning up your baby after a messy meal.
Performance-wise, this makes them basically interchangeable so we’ll need to dive into some of the finer details to see which will come out ahead overall. Basically, I’m looking for what would make me want to buy one of these instead of the other if they were sitting side-by-side on the store shelf.
If you want to, feel free to look at the Hello Bello wipes here (with free 2-day shipping on Walmart) or the Water Wipes here (with Prime shipping available on Amazon) for the best place to buy both, respectively.
I have also reviewed the Water Wipes in more detail so if you want to check that out it’s available here.
Water Wipes have a better ingredient list
Between the two, Water Wipes offers the safest and simplest list of ingredients and notch a win in this category.
When comparing lists of baby wipe ingredients we want to ensure that there are no harsh chemicals included that would be toxic or harmful to our babies. Cleansers, antibacterials, surfactants, chlorine, and alcohol can all be found in baby wipes if you aren’t careful. Unfortunately, these chemicals are likely to cause irritation on your baby’s sensitive areas and can lead to diaper rash and other problems.
In my case, I’ve had zero issues with diaper rash and irritation with my 1.5-year-old son by using wipes that avoid these chemicals. On the other hand, it was a constant problem with my daughters when we used cheap wipes back before we knew any better!
Here’s the full list (all three) of Water Wipes ingredients:
- Water (99.99%)
- Grapefruit extract (.01%)
- Benzalkonium chloride – I’m adding this, but it’s not really a listed ingredient. Since it is a byproduct created during grapefruit extraction, however, the company adds it out of an abundance of caution. The amount is negligibly small.
As you can see, there is nothing alarming on this list. The benzalkonium chloride (BZK, BKC, BAC) should be avoided, in general, because it’s a quaternary ammonium compound but it’s literally a trace amount. In the real world, you’ll find this particular chemical in way higher concentrations around the house in many common products. You would need to worry about those other things long before you worry about exposure from Water Wipes.
On EWG’s reputable toxicity scale, Water Wipes rank 1 out of 10 (with lower being better). This shows that the product is extraordinarily safe compared to other baby wipe brands and poses little or no risk to humans and little babies!
The ingredients in Hello Bello wipes:
- Water
- Sodium Benzoate
- Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice*
- Decyl Glucoside
- Ethylhexyglycerin
- Gluconolactone
- Hydroxyacetophenone
- Chamomilla Recutita flower extract*
- Polyaminoproyl Biguanide
Organic ingredients = *
Clearly there are way more items on this ingredient list and, judging by the names, some of them look pretty scary. In reality, only the sodium benzoate is even mildly concerning with a rating of 3 on EWG’s scale. The overall product, however, would carry a rating of 1 out of 10 on their scale.
The scary-looking ingredients are used to improve the fragrance and cleaning ability of the wipes. In my personal experience, they aren’t really necessary!
Hello Bello offers a bit better quality and durability than Water Wipes
Side-by-side, these two wipes will be similar but not equal. They will both get the job done, but I think that the Hello Bello wipes do it better.
Between them, the Hello Bello wipes have a better texture on the fabric which is a nice feature to have when you are scraping…stuff off of your baby’s bottom. Having that texture picks up more stuff at a time and could mean the difference between two wipes and three (or however many you use!). It also keeps the wipe from slipping out of your hand when you are applying pressure so you won’t get your hand dirty.
In the tear test, Hello Bello wins the contest compared to Water Wipes. I’ve always thought that Water Wipes were pretty weak in general when it comes to toughness, though, so they aren’t necessarily the strongest wipe I’ve tested. Keep in mind that I’m literally trying to rip the wipes in half during this test which is pretty unlikely in the real world – both wipes will hold up well enough!
As far as fragrance, I personally like Water Wipes. Although they are both ‘synthetic fragrance-free’ you’ll pick up notes from the natural ingredients included in both. To my nose, I detect just the slightest fruit scent from the Water Wipes that just always gives me a sense of freshness. The Hello Bello wipes have their own pleasant scent as well. Overall, we could give the wipes a tie in this category. As an aside, sometimes these natural ‘fragrance-free’ wipes can have a bit of an off-putting aroma so I’m glad that these are both pleasant!
What about eco-friendliness?
I would definitely class both of these particular wipes as ‘natural’ based on their ingredients list, manufacturing, and chemical safety scores.
To be considered ‘eco-friendly,’ however, the wipes will need to have a minimal impact on the environment after they are used as well. The best wipes will be fully biodegradable, compostable, or both so that they won’t clog sewers, waterways, beaches, or landfills. This usually means that the cloth part of the wipe is made from plant-based materials such as cotton which breaks down much faster than synthetic materials like plastic.
Since the Hello Bello wipes are fully biodegradable and the Water Wipes are not they win this round for sure. I’ll add that the company that makes Water Wipes has said that it is taking steps to make their product biodegradable in the future, but so far it’s just a promise.
If you are interested, I’ve created a great resource featuring the best biodegradable baby wipes that also avoid harsh chemicals. They are probably my top five favorite wipes ever and won’t break the bank!
Packaging and other details
Both of these wipes will come in all of the standard packaging and bulk options that you would expect so you can buy however many you need and get a discount for buying in bulk. This ranges from a single package of around 60-80 wipes to the bulk-style bags that include hundreds of wipes.
Hello Bello wipes generally come in packages of 60 wipes and feature cute little designs and a flip-top opening. The flip-top is great because it helps keep the package sealed and moist for longer. The wipes are also interwoven so pulling one out will help pull the next one out as well.
The Water Wipes, however, fall a little bit short. Their packages also hold 60 wipes each, but they are not interwoven and don’t have a flip-top. This means that you will have to rely on just the original piece of adhesive to seal the pack back up and it will be a little more annoying to get the wipes out. Not a big deal overall, but definitely not as good as the Hello Bello offering.
Hello Bello offers a better value overall
Overall, it looks like the Hello Bello wipes have won a few categories and the Water Wipes have won some as well. Since they are close, the price will swing the scales towards a clear winner.
As of the time of this writing, the Hello Bello wipes are selling for about $.03 per wipe while the Water Wipes are selling for about $.06 per wipe. These prices have been about the same since I started reviewing and comparing baby wipes so they will likely stay pretty consistent. This means that the Hello Bello wipes are the better deal with all other variable being equal.
One trick that we love when it comes to Hello Bello items is that you can order them through Walmart Grocery so you don’t have to make a special trip. If you haven’t tried Walmart Grocery, sign up here to get $10 off your first order!
With that being said, my opinion is that the Hello Bello wipes definitely beat out the Water Wipes in this head-to-head battle!
