Please, please, please do not use baby wipes and beware of what wipes you do use to clean your stoma area before applying your next appliance.
Baby wipes all have some sort of skin protectant product embedded in the wipe so that after it's used on baby's skin or even adult skin, it leaves behind something protective of the skin below in the form of an oil or lotion or grease, or in other words, a form of moisture barrier product.
Please read the label. Most commonly, you will see oil-based products on the ingredients list. These include:
Dimethicone
Paraben
Sodium laureth sulfate
Glycerin
Tocopheryl, form of vitamin E
Decyl glucoside
And this is just a partial list of the most common ingredients that could be a problem when they are leaving an oil residue behind, even micro millimeters thin, that then prevent your wafer or faceplate from sticking to your skin.
You'd think that something advertised as: WaterWipes Plastic-Free Original Baby Wipes, 99.9% Water with a drop of fruit extract Unscented Hypoallergenic for Sensitive Skin,
Would be safe to use on your stoma, and you'd be wrong. The "drop of fruit extract" is actually grapeseed oil and olive oil.
I've frequently been asked, "Well, Julie, what about using wipes designed for the maintenance of piercing and tattoos or other wound care?"
Well, I say, read your labels. And if at all possible, get an ingredients list before you spend any money.
For one example:
Steri-Wash Aftercare Piercing Wipes 100 Count https://a.co/d/b8DpIcR
Clearly wasn't sterile and didn't have enough preservatives to prevent them from growing mold.
Most parents and grandparents have heard of boogie wipes. The most notable feature being that they do not sting when they wipe a raw nose. As much as they are touted as a saline wipe though,
Boogie wipes Ingredients include Water/Eau (Naturally-Derived Ingredient), Sodium Chloride (Naturally-Derived Ingredient), Aloe (Aloe Barbadensis) Leaf Juice (Naturally-Derived Ingredient), Chamomile (Chamomilla Recutita Matricaria) Flower Extract (Naturally-Derived Ingredient), Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), Levulinic Acid
Here, I want to caution you against products containing aloe. The trouble with aloe juice or derivatives of the aloe plant is that they leave behind a thin film. It is not per se an oil, but it does make a barrier between the wafer (face plate) and the skin and frequently easily allows the wafer to simply fall off.
Because new versions of wipes are emerging all the time, I cannot say with certainty at any given time what may be available to you. However, two products I feel like I can confidently recommend are:
Steri-Wash Aftercare Piercing Wipes 4x6"100 Count https://a.co/d/hqE09u8
These are sold as aftercare wipes for piercings, tattoos, and wound care; they actually are nothing more than normal saline that has been sealed and sterilized the same way something would be in the operating room.
Finally, here's the product I most usually recommend, and there are a couple of reasons why. The first reason is that they do contain preservatives, which means once they're open, they do not have to be sterile to do their job. Secondarily, they are sold as adhesive remover wipes. I suspect this is due to the fact that in the US, Medicare will reimburse for them based on the name of the product, whereas Medicare will not reimburse for any other wipes on this list. This may not always be true in the future, but as of the date of my writing this, April 20, 2023, they are covered by United States Medicare.
Safe n' Simple Adhesive Remover Wipes - 50 Large No-Sting Skin Prep Wipes Medical Skin Adhesive Remover - Adhesive Removing Wipes for Skin - Non-Alcohol https://a.co/d/2afJD9m
There, and now you know more about wipes than you ever wanted to.
