Question: Can
we use baby wipes on Shabbos?
Answer: Squeezing
a wet sponge on Shabbos is forbidden because of sechita. There is a lot of debate as to whether
this poses a problem for using baby wipes, too.
R' Yitzchak
Yaakov Weiss (Minchas Yitzchak 10:25) forbids using baby wipes. Likewise, R'
Pesach Eliyahu Falk maintains that as the very purpose of baby wipes is to
squeeze out liquid for a constructive purpose, one cannot claim that one isn’t
transgressing on sechita.
Some
recommend only using wetter wipes, as the liquid is less absorbed and won’t
need to be squeezed out (See The 39 Melochos, Ribiat, p352), while others only
permit the drier wipes. R' Yechezkel Roth gave a hechsher to a brand that
manufactured their wipes from man-made materials, such as polyester, as opposed
to cotton (gidulei karka) which would be more problematic.
R' Yehoshua Neuwirth (Shemiras
Shabbos Kehilchasa 14:33, note 94) quotes R' Shlomo Zalman Auerbach as
permitting their use. R' Ephraim Greenblatt (Rivevos Ephraim 6:194:3; 7:118) and R’
Ovadia Yosef (Yalkut Yosef Kitzur Shulchan Aruch 320:38) write that it is okay
to use baby wipes, though one shouldn’t press on them too hard, causing extra
liquid to be extracted. R' Simcha Bunim Cohen writes (Children In Halacha p111)
that they are only forbidden if after using the wipes on one’s skin,
there is enough moisture to wet another who touches the skin.
In
conclusion, while there are stricter authorities who advise using tissues with
water or lotion, many rely on the more lenient authorities. Care must be taken
not to tear perforated wipes.
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