Review: CleanWell All-Natural Hand Sanitizers

If you're a fan of Seventh Generation disinfectant products, then you're already using CleanWell whether you know it or not. You see, Seventh Generation products are powered by CleanWell, which is a brand committed to making products that are kid-safe and free from potentially toxic, controversial and unsustainable ingredients.

As many of you already know, I'm a bit of an anti-bac freak. So when I had the opportunity to try CleanWell All Natural Hand-Sanitizers for review recently, I jumped at the chance because I've seen these products at Target and other stores (heck, they're even at Bath & Body Works) and I've always been curious about them--especially the spray pump aspect of the bottle.

CleanWell All-Natural Hand Sanitizers

left to right: Original scent (retail: around $3, 1 fl oz)

Original scent (retail: around $5, 4 fl oz)

Orange Vanilla scent (retail: around $3, 1 fl oz)

I'd like to give you a little bit of background on CleanWell before I dive into my personal review:

According to the CleanWell website, Sam DeAth's son Conor was born with an immune system disease. Because of this, Sam decided to investigate alternatives to toxic cleaning agents found in many household cleaners. He enlisted the help of Dr. Larry Weiss, and eventually, Sam and Dr. Weiss, along with a team of doctors, scientists, entrepreneurs and designers, created CleanWell.

So if CleanWell doesn't contain alcohol or controversial ingredients such as Triclosan and Benzalkonium Chloride, then what does it contain, and will these ingredients actually kill germs? THAT was my big question, of course.

According to the CleanWell site, the magical ingredient in CleanWell products is thyme. Yep, good ol' thyme--the same thing we sprinkle on foods to make them more yummy. Turns out that Thymus Vulgaris has been used for centuries as a strong antiseptic, and did you know that thymol (derived from Thymus Vugalris) is one of the main active ingredients in Listerine? As we all know, Listerine kills a whole bunch of ugly stuff going on inside our mouths, so by telling you this, I'm hoping to give you a little better insight into the strong antiseptic powers of thyme.

If you're interested in finding out more about the efficacy of thyme (and absence of alcohol) to kill nasty germs, you can take a look at the results of CleanWell's lab testing here. While you're there, you can also read the details about how biodegradable and sustainable their ingredients are as well.

So now on to my personal review. Let me state for the record that I have no way of absolutely knowing whether or not CleanWell is as effective as the average alcohol-based anti-bac hand product. I hope that by presenting you with the information on CleanWell's site (including lab studies), I can give you a better insight into the brand, and help you to make your own decision. But of course it's entirely up to you if you'd like to use these products. The purpose of this review is just to tell you about my own experience, so that maybe it can help you determine if this type of product might be something that you'd like to try in the future.

That said, I am loving the packaging of these products. As you can see in the image above, I got to try the full-size bottle (original scent) and two of the smaller, travel-size bottles (Original scent and Orange Vanilla scent). I really like the flip-top lid on the travel-size bottles:

The Original scent is very herbal, to my nose. I can definitely smell the thyme, and to me, it reminds me a bit of a blend of thyme, oregano and rosemary, with a hint of mint as well. If you like fresh, natural, herbal scents, you'll probably love this one.

The Orange Vanilla scent is actually a bit more up my alley. To me, it really smells like a orange-vanilla creamsicle. I can smell both the orange and vanilla equally and I just love it.

Some of you may be asking what it's like to use a spray pump bottle to apply this to your hands. Well, it took a little bit of adjusting for me because I'm one of those people who loves to use a good-sized amount of regular anti-bac gel on my hands. After using CleanWell for a few weeks, I've found that four quick pumps of product in the palm of my hand give me just enough liquid to feel as if I've covered both of my hands (including all of my fingers) in enough product to feel satisfied. Since the travel-size bottle promises 225+ sprays, I think that 56 uses from one small bottle (1 oz) seems like a pretty good deal considering the retail price of the travel size bottle is around $3. The larger bottle, which promises 900+ sprays, would yield around 225 uses for me, which is also a good deal considering the retail price for the large (4 oz) bottle is around $5.

So how does CleanWell feel on the skin? Right after I spray the product onto my hands and start to rub it in, it feels like it's going to be a bit sticky and gummy. BUT, after it absorbs into my skin, I can barely detect it at all! My hands don't feel dry, they don't feel sticky, they just feel a bit smoother. I've been using CleanWell as my primary anti-bac hand product for a few weeks now, and I'm very happy to report that my hands aren't nearly as dry as when I was using my regular alcohol-based hand sanitizers.

I hope I've provided you with enough information to determine whether or not you'd like to give CleanWell products a try. While researching this post, I discovered that CleanWell also makes hand wipes, foaming cleansers and other types of products. Also, the All-Natural Hand Sanitizer has a good rating over at Drugstore.com, where it has nearly 27 five-star ratings. So if you're interested in seeing what others have to say about this product, you can check out those reviews as well.

Do you already use CleanWell products? If not, are you considering giving them a try? As always, I'd love to hear from you!

A sample of this product was given to Nouveau Cheap for editorial purposes, either directly from the manufacturer or from the agency that works on behalf of the manufacturer. All reviews on NouveauCheap.blogspot.com are the honest opinion of its author and editorial samples do not, in any way, affect the outcome of product reviews.