I was recently asked by the good people at Huggies to try out some new products aimed at keeping toddlers clean.  The line of products that Huggies calls The Cleanteam includes flushable moist wipes, hand soap, shampoo, bath wash, cleansing cloths, disposable wash cloths and detangler.

I was sent everything but the disposable wash cloths and detangler.  The containers are colorful and kid friendly - each product has its own cartoon character on the front.  The first thing we tried was the hand soap.  The soap comes in a hand pump that emits a soap foam onto the hands.  It also has a light built in that flashes for 20 seconds to encourage kids to wash.  Truth be told, however, my kids never saw the light. It wasn’t until just a few minutes ago when I picked up the pump to look at it closely did I notice that it flashes.  The light in our bathroom was too bright and overpowered the little light on the soap.  Nonetheless, the kids enjoyed washing their hands with the soap.

TheMonk loves his wipes.  He will make up reasons to go and take out wipes.  If he’s got even a hint of a booger, he’s making a bee-line to the wipes to fish that bugger out.  He did have a little time opening the flushable moist wipes but once in, they garnered his approval.  They were lightly scented and were strong enough to take care of the most unpleasant of wipes.  Solid if not spectacular.

The cleansing cloths were my personal favorite.  They are thicker than most wipes on the market and provide some real substance and allowed me to clean up a ketchup-smeared face and hands with ease.  This would be one that I would buy again - especially to put in the diaper bag when eating out.

And now we get to the shampoo and bath wash.  The bath started out well when I introduced the products to the kids.  They loved the scented blue-melon (whatever that is) and were excited when I poured the bath wash into the water to create some bubbles to play in.  Both are tear-free and the kids seemed to enjoy their bath.  The shampoo lathered well and rinsed well.  Everything seemed fine.

The next morning, however, Swee’Pea woke up with a small rash on her belly.  The rash soon grew and, almost a week later - after two doctor’s visits, hydrocortisone creams, steroids, and lots and lots of Benedryl - she STILL has a rash over most of her body.  Apparently, our little girl is allergic to something in the body wash or shampoo.  TheMonk, on the other hand, was fine.  Go figure.

So, if you do use the shampoo and body wash, go easy the first time.  If your child has sensitive skin or has had trouble with eczema in the past, I would probably forgo it.

So, overall, the products were good.  I’d use the wipes again.  The hand soap’s novelty has worn off a bit since we introduced it but now that I know about the light we can try and emphasize that.  The shampoo and bath wash?  Well, if you want a only-used-once bottle, I’d be happy to send it to you.