If you are a parent of a child who isn’t potty trained, then you have an abundance of baby wipes on hand. We buy the Costco brand, which is sold in a box of 9, giving you 900 baby wipes for only $20. Not bad. My kids diaper changes are always the worst, but they are also huge mess makers. Though I guess what child isn’t?

Three years ago, there was an incident at my house involving red wine and my white carpet. It went something like this. While enjoying the company of good friends, our kids playing nicely with one another, I placed my glass on my son’s train table so I could tickle and wrestle with him. Yes, I know this was not the brightest idea and as you can guess it got knocked over. Wine was quickly spilling over and puddling onto my carpet. As my husband and I frantically ran for paper towels to desperately soak up the never ending stream of red wine, we prayed  we could get it out. This was brand new carpet, having only been in the house for a year, and it would be devastating to have the carpet ruined by a big red stain right in the middle of our family room. At some point we questioned aloud as to whether or not we had any carpet cleaner and that is when our friend told us to get the baby wipes. What? Baby wipes? He insisted that they “clean up anything.”  At the time, we had Pampers Sensitive wipes and though he insisted the Costco brand was better, it would do. Still I was skeptical about their ability and effectiveness. As I handed over the tub of Pampers wipes I was thinking, “I gotta see this.” Sure enough, as my friend was lying in my family room, vigorously rubbing, the wine started to disappear. It actually worked. To this day I could not tell you the exact spot where the wine spilled. In fact, you would never know wine had ever been spilled in there.

A month later my son drew on the carpet with highlighter and I immediately thought of the baby wipes. Sure enough, the highlighter came out. So I started to wonder what else these baby wipes would be able to clean. Over the years I have put them to the test and discovered a whole list of things baby wipes can do.

• So there is the obvious wiping of hands and faces after meals, crafts and other messes. I always keep a travel pack in my car, purse, etc. They are a great addition for your beach or camping trip.

• They can clean dirt from doormats, though it takes a lot of wipes and probably not the most efficient way to clean them. But it does work.

• If you are a Scrapbooker, Card maker, or general Crafter, they are perfect for cleaning rubber and polymer stamps. I don’t use stamp cleaner because, with having kids, I always have baby wipes on hand and they work great at getting the ink off my stamps.

• They clean up Benadryl, juice, ground in M&M’s, crayons, pen, and pencil marks from the carpet. Don’t ask, but yes, all of the above have been removed from the carpet of my house at one point or another.

• Do you have creative kids who have a hard time keeping their “art” on approved surfaces? Crayola Dry Erase Crayons come off with ease from painted walls.  Learned this one tonight. I was surprised how easy it wiped off. Thought, for sure I’d have to use the magic eraser. In case you were wondering, they also remove regular Crayons from walls as well. Same for cleaning up spills and splatter from kids crafting paints.

• Believe it or not they can actually remove your make up too. My daughter recently marked her face up with my eye shadow and eyeliner, it came off super easy. No scrubbing required.

• Don’t you hate those embarrassing white streaks caused by deodorant? Next time, grab a baby wipe for easy removal from your clothing. Also, great for wiping down coats that have been wiped with grimy hands, or boys (and girls) who roll on the ground and rub up against dirty cars any chance they get.

• Wipe down your countertops and floors in a pinch, even hardwood and granite. Also, great for wiping down your car’s dashboard, as well as infant car seats, highchairs and plastic baby toys. Works great on microwaves too.

• Dirty shoes? How about yogurt and other sticky spills on your leather couch? Wipe them clean with ease. I can’t tell you how many times I have done this my own couch. Not to mention the shoes my son ran through the mud and is now crying about how they aren’t white anymore. I even got them clean in time for car pool.

• I’ve been told they remove stray hairs from your pet, but since we don’t have any, I can’t verify that one for sure. But try it and see.

• Baby wipes are very good at cleaning wounds, scrapes and other boo-boos when you don’t have, or your child will not let you use, those medical wipes that come in travel medical kits.

I swear this list could go on and on. My point, though, is this; baby wipes are not just for cleaning your baby’s bottom anymore. If you have a stain or a mess to clean up, why not try grabbing for those baby wipes first. It just might surprise you, and could possibly save you some money in the long run, by not having to buy those expensive brand name cleaners anymore.