Baby Wipes Could Soon Be Outlawed In New Jersey

Remember how nuts we all got during COVID about toilet paper?  Well now throw a mama bear behind that fear and see what happens.  

Forget drug dealers selling crack on the street corner, Moms will be selling baby wipes on the black market if they misunderstand what this bill is attempting to do.

A New Jersey senator proposed a bill banning disposable baby wipes for good.  Cue moms with pitchforks and fire...before you start a riot, this bill requires more explanation.

Why are we focusing on banning baby wipes anyway?  The beef is specifically about non-flushable wipes.  Non-flushables create havoc when people flush them down the toilet, that part is very true but there is more to this story.

Senator Joseph P. Cryan of Union County introduced the bill which aims to prevent companies from manufacturing non-disposable wipes altogether.  This of course will make the price of wipes go up because it is more expensive to make a non-synthetic, bio-degradable wipe but it would be much better for our environment.  Moms don't have to worry because you will not be left wipeless.  The bio-degradable kind will always be available.  However, this bill can create a false narrative (I personally lived through this) so I want to share my experience in an attempt to save you a 5K dollar mistake.

I understand first-hand that wipes down the pipes are a terrible idea because I had a 5K bill from my plumber as a result.  Here’s the truth, FLUSHABLE wipes are what caused my damage.  They still easily clog any pipes that are rugged on the inside (which most older pipes are). While it may be better to have biodegradable wipes, it in no way fixes the plumbing problem.

I'm all for forcing companies to upgrade to the biodegradable wipe, I just don't want you to think that flushing wipes of any kind is ever a good idea.

The proposed penalty for selling the synthetic version would be no joke.  The first time someone gets caught selling the non-biodegradable wipes they would be fined 10K, and the second time 20K!  That’s a lot of wipes.

The biodegradable ones will break down eventually, but they can still cause extremely expensive clogs.  THE BIG TAKEAWAY:  My plumber told me even when the packaging says “flushable” never, ever flush wipes.

In the end septic systems, pipes, and pumps would love this bill to get passed again, just don’t let the word “bio-degradable” give you a false sense of security by any means.  You can read more about it from The Patch here.

If you are expecting, here are the most popular baby names in New Jersey: