CleanWell’s Kid-Safe Hand Cleaning Products
March 16, 2008 by Peggy
CleanWell seems to care about making products naturally and kid-safe. They sent me their hand wash and hand sanitizer spray to try out. By the way, CleanWell is available at Target, but you can also order online.
So, I’ll make this easy. I’ll tell you what I liked, then what I’d change if I could. But please click over to read the rest of this review. I don’t want you to miss the really nice hand sanitizing spray.
All-Natural Antibacterial Hand Wash (foaming)
What I liked:
•Rinses easily and leaves hands feeling clean
•Has all-natural ingredients, including the fragrance
•Certified cruelty-free
•Biodegradable and paraben-free
•Uses sustainable ingredients, including thyme
•The bottle is made of an easily recycled plastic
•You can peel off the label and have a nice, colorful dispenser like above
What I would change:
•Make an unscented version
(Nothing about the Orange Vanilla scent I tried was offensive. It reminded me of an orange cream soda. So, probably a kid would like it. However, I don’t particularly like to have a scent linger on my hands, no matter how yummy. I found the Orange Vanilla scent at my local Target, but didn’t see the two other scents they offer: Lavender Absolute and Ginger Bergamot.)
•Make the container refillable (Offer a larger refill size)
(I usually buy a large container of hand soap and refill my soap container. This is more earth-friendly than buying a new bottle each time. I’ve never seen refills for foaming hand soaps, so it may not be possible.)
Now, for my favorite — the hand sanitizing spray.
All-Natural Hand Sanitizer
What I liked:
•You can spray it instead of pouring/spilling gooey gel all over your hands
•Impossible to spill and you get more uses out of it than gel
•I love the flip top
•Hands feel clean instead of sticky like with some leading brands
•Has a nice citrus scent
•You can really tell it doesn’t have alcohol (It feels much nicer on the hands than some leading brands.)
•The spray is probably more convenient to use with kids since they won’t have to rub their hands together to make it work
•And many of the same things I said about the hand wash — naturally antibacterial, cruelty-free, use of sustainable ingredients and biodegradable with a recyclable container
What I would change:
•Not much at all
(The scent didn’t seem to linger like with the hand soap, but husband Michael still noticed it. I think he’s a super-smeller. So, maybe make an unscented version?)
Just a note to parents — they also make hand sanitizing wipes (which I also tried). I can see these being useful for big messes when kids can’t wash. Also, probably great for long road trips, but overall I can’t see using them on a daily basis. I guess the thing I’d change about them is the packaging. Each wipe is individually wrapped, so there’s a lot of packaging involved.
And in case you’re wondering what in the world Ingenium is (on the label over there) — it’s a patented formula of essential plant oils that are proven to zap 99.99 percent of harmful germs. I guess they had to give it a cool name since they don’t want to reveal the formula.
So there you go — natural and green and kid-friendly hand cleaning products you can find at Target. I will probably buy the refreshing hand sanitizing spray. I think I might be hooked on it.
Don’t forget about our contests going on right now — win some BabyBam Collection or Envirosax reusable shopping bags for kids!





I am currently using the Orange/Vanilla hand soap. Nobody in my family, including myself, likes the smell, and it does linger. We are also going through it really fast. It also has Sodium Lauryl Sulfate. I emailed the company about that. If you are interested in their response, let me know. So, I’m not happy with the soap, but do like the hand sanitizer. Can someone suggest a hand soap that I don’t have to order on the internet? Does anyone use Dr.Bronners for their hand soap?
Lea, I thought this soap was all natural. Hmm. Sure, let us know if you hear anything. Like you, I like the hand sanitizing spray much better than the hand soap.
I’m always searching for the perfect hand soap. Some of the greener ones (like Bronners) just cost more than I’m willing to spend : (
Personally, I try to skip the triclosan, phthalates, parabens and fragrance in products like this.
Here is their response – sorry so lengthy:)
Hi Lea – Thank you for your email. We use Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) in our Foaming Hand Wash because itis extremely effective and completely safe. The primary issues we hearabout from consumers are concerns that it causes skin irritation or thatit may be linked to cancer. When properly formulated at lowconcentrations (1.5%) and blended with other foaming agents as inCleanWell hand wash, the final product is less irritating to the skinthan many comparable products without SLS including most “natural”soaps. As for the claim that SLS is linked to cancer, this is completelywithout merit or scientific support and appears to be an urban legendborne on the sales sheets of companies to promote the sales of “SLSfree” products. SLS is the most studied foaming agent and numerousexperts, authorities, and agencies have weighed in on this matter,including Dr. Andrew Weil and the American Cancer Society. Copies oftheir statements have been attached for your use. In addition, SLS is sustainably manufactured from coconut oil in aprocess that leaves essentially no environmental impression from harvestthrough production to disposal/biodegradation. Our consumers are our most important asset and your health and thehealth of your families is paramount in the work that we do. We believethat every product we make is the very best it can be – the mostenjoyable to use, the most effective at killing germs naturally, themost sustainable – in short, the best solution available on the market.That said, given the amount of misunderstanding and number of mistakenimpressions that exist in the marketplace, we continue to look for waysto create a soap without SLS that is as effective and enjoyable to useas our current soap. We hope to have something in the near future – sostay tuned! Best, Elizabethelizabeth@cleanwelltoday.com
CleanWell sells a 32 oz refill for these soaps, check out their website.