CleanWell hand sanitizer

CleanWell with Ingenium(TM) hand sanitizer

I'm somewhat of a germaphobe.

(I used to be an extreme germaphobe, but I'm in recovery. To anyone who has trouble relating, just try riding the NYC subway for a while and see if you don't start washing your hands compulsively.)

I guess the technical name for this fear-of-germs is mysophobia. I think the fear has been pretty well ingrained and promoted by sensationalist media programming hyping pandemic fears, which explains why millions of Americans lather themselves in 'antibacterial' soaps containing triclosan, despite some concerns about bacterial resistance and health effects on humans and other creatures (like frogs).

When it comes to hand sanitizers, of course, the most prominent ingredient is usually alcohol. Johnson & Johnson, for example, has achieved tremendous success with its Purell sanitizer, which relies on 65 ethyl alcohol for its germ-killing power. The advertising on Purrell bottles claims the product will kill 99.99% of germs.

Aside #1 - According to HowStuffWorks, ethyl alcohol is the same alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, so theoretically you could carry around a pint of vodka to use as a hand sanitizer, although it would probably be a more pricey solution -- unless you know where to get really cheap vodka.

Aside #2 - I have heard contradictory information over the years about whether hand washing or alcohol gels do a better job of sanitizing the hands. Internet research failed to clear up the issue to my satisfaction -- although it did reveal a disturbing report from USA Today that use of alcohol gel in one Nebraska hospital failed to lower infection rates.

The estimable Mayo Clinic says that antibacterial soaps are no more effective at killing germs than regular soap. It also says that alcohol gels do a better job at slaughtering bacteria than soap and water, but it still recommends washing if your hands are visibly dirty.

All of which brings us (at last!) to the review of today's product - CleanWell natural sanitizers.

One of the main selling points of CleanWell is that they are alcohol-free, but still claim to kill 99.99% of all germs thanks to an ingredient called Ingenium(TM), which as near as I can tell from CleanWell's website is made up of essential plant oils, primarily thyme.

Now lots of people might be interested in having an alcohol-free sanitizer. Despite Purell's marketing claims, I know from personal experience with alcohol-based sanitizers that they do sometimes leave my hands feeling a bit dry and irritated. The question is whether thyme (and other essential oils) kill germs as well as alcohol does.

I found one abstract of an article online (from Applied Microbiology) that purports to show that thyme does in fact do a good job of killing E. Coli bacteria.

More important, CleanWell points to results from ATS Labs in Egan, MN to support its claims for the germ-killing power of Ingenium. According to the results in the CleanWell press kits, the lab tests showed that Ingenium killed 99.99% of various nasty germs (staph, pneumonia, etc.) in 15 seconds.

The safety aspect of CleanWell is certainly appealing. CleanWell's press materials state that the product has the EPA's lowest possible toxicity rating and therefore does not have to carry any warning labels. In fact, it is marketed as 'safe for kids'.

CleanWell with Ingenium(TM) hand sanitizer

CleanWell's sanitizer is available both in wipe and spray format. The wipes are labeled as being cruelty-free. It's not clear if they are biodegradable, however.

The pocket-size sample spray that CleanWell sent over has a nifty design, although it's not clear if the plastic bottle is recyclable. (It's not labeled with any recycling number.) Also I wasn't sure if one pump of the mist/spray was enough to kill germs on my hands or if I should pump once for each hand? It might be nice if CleanWell could add some instructions to the label.

If you do have sensitive hands, CleanWell could be a great sanitizing option since the wipes didn't dry out my hands at all. In fact, they're pretty much saturated with moisturizing liquid. If anything, CleanWell could reduce the moisture a bit and still have a very nice wipe product -- although perhaps the wipes really need to be saturated with Ingenium to work properly...

Finally, the scent is really nice. Plenty of wipes have a harsh chemical or highly perfumed scent that can be embarassing, even nauseating to use -- especially if you're wiping or gelling right before/after eating. The light herbal scent of CleanWell is subtle, pleasant and generally inoffensive.

In conclusion, CleanWell looks like a nice hand sanitizer option. As a non-scientist, it's hard for me to say for sure whether it's really safer or cleaner than an alcohol-based gel/wipe, but I'm inclined to say that it appears a bit safer and greener. I would love to see the company move toward biodegradable wipes and recyclable/recycled bottles if it truly wants to embrace an eco-friendly identity.

FYI, The Daily Green published an interesting article last year on the whole hand sanitizer gel craze. I think The Daily Green may be overstating risks of triclosan (and I believe there plenty of alcohol gels on the market that don't contain triclosan), but triclosan's prevalence in human waste streams is disturbing.

On the other hand, The Daily Green wasn't a huge fan of CleanWell either partly because of a lack of information around inactive ingredients. Well the spray bottle I received did have an ingredient list including aloe leaf juice, citric acid, orange oil, oats, litsea oil, oregano oil and water -- all of which seem relatively innocuous to me from a human health standpoint. It does also contain Copper PCA and dicapryl sodium sulfosuccinate, both listed as low hazard ingredients by the Enivronmental Working Group, and sodium citrate, which apparently is safe enough to be an ingredient in ice cream! :)

Overall, I think CleanWell deserves strong consideration by eco-friendly shoppers looking for some portable protection from germs.

Where to buy:

Purchase online from CleanWell (8 pack of 10-wipe packets for $21.99, 6 pack of 1-ounce spray bottle with 225+ sprays for $16.99). Incidentally, these prices are much lower than the cost of other hand sanitizers I've seen marketed as eco-friendly.

You can also use the CleanWell store finder to locate a retailer near you that carries the product.

Disclosure - CleanWell provided me with complimentary samples of its hand sanitizing products to test while writing this review.