We put different wet wipes to the test to see which are best for grease

If you don’t have them in your car, you’ll soon be wanting them. Wipes aren’t wipes, though: with different brands come different benefits. So we tested the most common and most popular wet ones you can get. How did we do it? We got greasy – literally.

We caked our hands in grease from a mate’s project Beemer. As a control, we maxed out the number of physical wiping actions to 20 – for clarity, we are calling these wiping actions 'rubs’. Stopping the number of rubs at 20 meant that our hands never quite ended up perfectly clean, but we went very close! There was no limit to how many wipes you could reach into the packet for, but at the same time we tried to be realistic when deciding whether a wipe was so soiled it needed to be replaced with a fresh one.

These are as gentle on your hands as they are on babies’ bums, which is why they are a popular choice to keep handy in the family car.

The test: They smell and feel, uh, cute. This wipe is so soft that around rub 6 the sheet disintegrated. I reached for another and managed to ‘baby’ it to rub 20. I’d keep these in the car if you have little ones with soft bums; otherwise, they just aren’t tough enough for full-size humans and their full-size hands.

The result: Great for delicate bums and hands, but not for everyone. An honourable fifth place.

It’s a no-brainer to minimise our impact on the environment since the earth is in such peril, so we sought out an eco option. You can find the Maze brand at Bunnings. As stated on the label, these wipes are for skin and surfaces, so they are light-on with chemicals, and, unlike other wipes that are made of plastic, they will break down in the rubbish within months – instead of years or lifetimes.

The test: These have no noticeable aroma and feel mild to the touch. After rub 12, we needed a second wipe, and, as you can see, after rub 20 those hands were still pretty greasy. Still, a good option for the eco crew who don’t mind working a little harder.

The result: Fourth place because they’re stronger than Huggies.

Wet Ones are so popular in the US that they’ve reached proper noun status. Stateside, it’s all: “Hand me a Wet One! I’ve got grease on my hands from the Hoover handle and this Kleenex is just not working.” Why are they so popular?

The test: True to their name, these truly are the wettest of the wet wipes we tested. Such damp. Wow. So moist. After only 6 rubs, it felt like we were making progress – they just lapped up the grease. The first wipe was pronounced soiled by rub 11, so a second wipe was deployed. Not a bad result for 20 rubs, really.

The result: An honourable, and rather wet, third place.

Pine O Cleen is a classic product found in Aussie kitchens from Perth to Patchewollock, and if the wipes are as good as their domestic cleaners, we’re in for a spectacular result.

The test: Immediately, that quintessential pine aroma fills the air and tickles the nostrils. After only one rub: progress! Pine is the smell. The O is our surprise. Clean will be those greasy hands. At rub 6, it seemed like time to change to a second wipe. Another fresh wipe was deployed at rub 13 – because there was a whole packet of clean right there and we thought we might just go all the way.

The result: It’s cool to be clean, if you know what I mean, and those hands are very close to it. Second place.

If you’re a mechanic or a tradie who deals with greasy hands constantly, these are for you. For everyone else, these are so powerful that they might be too much for everyday use. The Aftek brand makes the kind of stuff you can only find at old-school mum-and-dad hardware stores. Tip: try your local independent Home Hardware store.

The test: At first touch, these have a rough perforated texture and are wet – almost as wet as the wettest of them all: the mighty Wet Ones. These are the only product in our test that actually created a lather, which means rinsing afterwards is a good idea. We used three wipes to get to 20 rubs – changing at rub 6 and 12 – and ended up with almost perfectly clean (yet sudsy) hands. These are definitely for the dirty-handed pros out there, and the price reflects that.

The result: The winner! The cleanest of them all. First place.

Related: Three easy ways to keep your car clean and organised

Related: Six eco-friendly car cleaning products

Related: We tried viral car cleaning hacks to see if they worked