When you’re just not up to giving your dog a bath to have them cleaned up and don’t feel like dealing with all that water, the thought of having them cleaned by using baby wipes suddenly comes to mind! But, are baby wipes safe for dogs?
We can’t really blame you for thinking about doing that, especially since pet wipes are significantly higher in cost than baby wipes, and we all try to save up on some costs here and there whenever possible.
The same way we do with our precious babies when bathing them isn’t an available option or we just don’t feel like it, we can also use these baby wipes on our canines to have them cleaned up as well, right? Well, not really.
Can I Use Baby Wipes On My Dog?
The short answer to this question is NO – you can’t safely use baby wipes on your pup, there’s a lot of negative effects that far outweigh any benefit from you doing so.
There’s just one too many ingredients in baby wipes that have proven to be harmful in more ways than one when dogs come across them, so it’s just not worth the risk at all.
So, if you’re ever considering using baby wipes on any part of your pooch’s body for cleaning purposes, or whether you’re considering doing that to disinfect a wound of theirs, think again.
And, if you ever see anyone you know using baby wipes on their pet(s), warn them about the dangers of doing so that you’re going to be learning about in this article.
Instead, there are many pet wipes manufactured and sold out there that have been specifically designed to be safely used on canines.
For this reason, we’ve listed what we believe to be the best dog wipes on the market today for your reference in the following shortlist below.
Best Dog Wipes (Our 5 Favorite Options In 2019)
Top Pick: Pogi’s Grooming Wipes
Pick #2: Nature’s Miracle Deodorizing Bath Wipes
Pick #3: Earthbath All Natural Grooming Wipes
Pick #4: Petkin Paw Wipes
Pick #5: Dechra MalAcetic Wet Wipes
*Note: The links in the table above, as well as several links in the remainder of the article below, will take you to over to Amazon.com where you can find out more information about the products, such as current prices and customer reviews.
Why Are Baby Wipes For Dogs Bad?
Baby wipes aren’t bad for canines just because of the fact that they haven’t been specifically manufactured for pet use by a company that focuses on pet products.
Baby wipes are harmful to dogs (and puppies) simply due to the fact that they contain more ingredients than one that have been proven to be fairly toxic and poisonous to caniness when they come across them.
When using baby wipes on your pooch to clean areas such as their paws, ears and feet, toxic ingredients such as propelyne glycol [1] stay on those areas for a relatively long period of time.
And, what happens when your dog decides to lick their paws, or any other area on their body that you’ve cleaned with baby wipes? They will also going to be licking away those toxic ingredients, which ultimately means a very high risk of poisoning.
Since babies don’t lick themselves at places you’ve used the wipes on, this problem is obviously not going to be present with babies the same way it is with pets.
Stories of dogs getting poisoned and dying after they licked areas that were cleaned with baby wipes are not uncommon, so the last thing you’ll want to do is have your pooch become just another number and statistic.
Even in the many different types of baby wipes often described as “pet friendly” out there, such as fragrance free baby wipes, Propylene Glycol is still found in significant amounts and should make it no where near your canine, let alone be present on their skin.
The idea that pet owners argue in favor for is that fragrance free baby wipes are gentle on a dog’s skin, at least much more gentle than ones with fragrance that contain much more chemicals.
Regardless of whether fragrance free baby wipes are more gentle on a dog’s skin or not, the poisonous ingredients are still there and will still lead to toxicity in your buddy if ingested through licking.
Besides the toxicity and poisoning problem mentioned above, these ingredients also wreak havoc on their skin and cause all sorts of skin irritations [2].
When comparing dog wipes and baby wipes, you should also always keep in mind the difference in pH levels in both products, in order to accommodate the needs of humans and pets.
Can Wipes Replace A Bath?
There seems to be a fair bit of confusion among the community of pet owners, especially newer ones without much experience about properly taking care of dogs before, about baby wipes for canines and their ability to replace a proper bath.
Just to set the record straight, this is entirely false. The same way a baby wipe can’t replace a proper bath for your kid, the same holds true for a puppy as well, be that baby wipes we’re talking about here or even pet wipes.
Canines always need to be properly bathed every now and then using shampoo that’s been specifically manufactured to meet their needs and take proper care of their skin and fur, and neither a baby wipe nor a pet wipe will ever be able to replace that.
Check out this video to learn how to properly give your pup a bath!
Resources
1. Propylene glycol compound summary https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Propylene-glycol
2. Common skin conditions in dogs https://www.royalcanin.com/au/dogs/health-and-wellbeing/common-skin-conditions-in-dogs
Thank you Mr. Brooks! I had been using baby wipes instead of giving them too many baths and also using them for ear cleaning as well. Now I feel bad. You might want to mention dihydroxypropane. I looked that up because I use a store brand “HEB” Green Tea and Cucumber, but do not see any glycol or other names for that chemical. I stopped using them for ear cleaning because they had a lot of loose lent and started using wet ones for that. Most of us are looking for affordable ways to keep our fur babies clean without causing dry skin. Thanks for the information you have provided.
You’re Welcome!
Great article, James. I agree on all points. Dog wipes address the skin type and acidity of dogs, so human wipes aren’t recommended for dog use. Much as dog wipes aren’t for human application. I discuss a bit about that in this article, too: https://goldenretrieverlove.com/is-it-okay-to-use-baby-wipes-on-my-dog/
Thanks for Sharing!