Updated October 20, 2026
Illustration: Quartz
Flushable wipes have become a bathroom staple, used alongside or instead of dry paper for a more thorough clean. Flushing them, despite the label, can clog household pipes, overwhelm septic systems and leave owners with repair bills far larger than the cost of a package. Consumer Reports put 11 popular brands through lab tests for strength, cleaning power, drying time and dispensing, and these five picks are worth a look before your next order.
Amazon Basics Flushable Wipes
Credit: Amazon
Consumer Reports rated these wipes above average overall, and only Kirkland Signature held up better in the lab's strength testing. The pack costs $4.90 and comes to roughly 3 cents per wipe, matching Kirkland Signature on per-wipe cost. Clearing honey from skin took two passes with a single wipe in CR's evaluation, and the sheets dried fast without leaving a damp film. CR did detect a light scent despite the fragrance-free label, though testers described it as pleasant and far milder than the fragrance on the Up&Up wipes.
Cottonelle Flushable Wipes
Credit: Amazon
No other wipe in CR's test group dispensed as cleanly, with one sheet emerging after the next and none tearing during the evaluation. Two passes from a single wipe lifted sticky honey off a tester's skin, though that skin stayed damp longer than it did with most of the other wipes. At $15.79, or roughly 4 cents per wipe, these are not fragrance-free, and they have a laundry-like scent that some people will still notice on their skin afterward. CR placed these in the bottom three for drain line passage, and that outcome clashed with the "Plumber Approved" claim printed on the label.
Caboo Flushable Bamboo Wipes
Credit: Amazon
At 7.9 by 6.7 inches, these fragrance-free wipes cover more skin in one pass than the rest of CR's lineup. Viscose sourced from bamboo and plant pulp sets the material apart from every other pick, and the $19.99 pack works out to 11 cents per wipe, which only one other brand matched. Clearing sticky honey from skin took a tester two passes with a single wipe, and drying followed fairly quickly. CR still placed these below every other wipe it tested, citing a sheet that ripped during dispensing and drain line travel that lagged most of the field.
Kirkland Signature Flushable Wipes
Credit: Costco
Priced at $19.99 for 3 cents per wipe, this Costco $COST pack is genuinely free of fragrance. CR's strength testing placed these wipes ahead of every other brand in the lab, and they moved down the drain line at an average rate. Honey removal took four passes from two wipes in CR's evaluation, and dispensing proved awkward enough that one sheet ripped. Costco denies a 2024 class-action claim that its Kirkland Signature Moist Flushable Wipes were not flushable and did not answer CR's question about whether the tested pack uses that same formulation.
Good Wipes Flushable Wipes
Credit: Amazon
Scent is the reason to pick this $18 package over the others, since CR rated its light coconut fragrance ahead of the other 10 wipes tested. The brand credits hydrosols for the smell and describes them as naturally derived through steeping plant material in water. CR's tester needed only two passes of one wipe to clear honey from skin, though the damp feeling lingered longer than with other wipes in the group. Strength and drain-line results landed near the middle of CR's field, while dispensing from the clickable-lid package rated above average at 5 cents a wipe.