Former Newtowner Invents Something To Smile About

By Nancy K. Crevier

A mother’s admonition to “Wipe that smile off your face!” may soon be changing to “Wipe that Smile on your face!” if Doug Jones and Joe Spinoso, the developers of Smile Wipes, have anything to say.

Mr Jones, the owner of Stand Firm Fitness Center in Wilton and Mr Spinoso, the former owner of Paws and Claws Pet Store in Wilton and Family Pets in Wilton, have created what they believe is a better and safer disposable hand wipe. The tough, antibacterial Smile Wipes come individually packaged in reclosable bags of 75, and the smiling yellow face printed multiple times across each packet will have kids — and parents — eager to keep them on hand, hope Mr Jones and Mr Spinoso.

The men became acquainted a number of years ago when Mr Jones bought an aquarium for his gym from Mr Spinoso’s pet store. They connected, and over the years have put their heads together in a number of ventures. They have done several real estate deals as partners and consider themselves inventors, always looking for a better way to improve on an existing product or improve the quality of life.

With “gym grime and fido filth” an issue for the business owners, they realized that they were not happy with the hand wipes available on the market. “We saw that there was a need for a sturdier and safer hand wipe for children and adults,” said Mr Spinoso, who now lives in Tampa, Fla. “We decided to make something better.”

“Kids don’t like the wipes, so they don’t wash up as often as they should when there is no sink available,” Mr Jones, the father of four children, observed.

What they did not like about the wipes they purchased was that the thin sheets tore easily, meaning several of the tissues needed to be used to do the job. Nor did they like the awkward packaging that left users with either a handful of wipes that wouldn’t stop pulling from the top of a clumsy plastic container or that came in clunky boxes that took up too much storage space.

It was the drying alcohol, however, the medicinal, chemical smell of wipes, and the nasty chemicals used in them, that they felt could be improved upon.

“With Joe living in Florida now, we were also looking for a project we could do easily living far apart,” Mr Jones said.

So, two years ago and many trials and errors later, the men ended up with Smile Wipes. The product became available to the public just four months ago. Carried by several stores in the Wilton area, Smile Wipes came onto the market at an opportune time, said Mr Jones and Mr Spinoso.

“After the MRSA [staph] scare at Newtown High School and Weston High, teachers and parents started to contact us, asking if Smile Wipes could be made available locally. People had seen them in the Wilton stores and wanted them here,” Mr Spinoso said.

The selling point, he said, has been that Smile Wipes contain chlorhexidine gluconate (CHG), an antimicrobial chemical antiseptic approved by the USFDA and used in hospital settings. CHG is considered to be an effective agent in fighting the MRSA infection, said Mr Spinoso and Mr Jones. The antimicrobial activity of CHG lasts for up to six hours after using Smile Wipes, which is nothing to sneeze at — or maybe it is.

“CHG binds to the proteins on the surface of the skin, so it can’t be wiped off,” Mr Spinoso explained. “That means that it can’t be ingested if you wipe your hands, touch food, and put it in your mouth, and it continues to offer protection against germs for hours after you use it.”

Neither Mr Jones nor Mr Spinoso is concerned that CHG is harmful even if somehow it is ingested. Smile Wipes contain the lowest amount of CHG necessary to kill germs, just 0.5 percent, and CHG is a common ingredient in dental mouth rinses at higher concentrations.

“We still don’t recommend that kids under the age of 2 use them without supervision, though. You know how little kids like to put all kinds of things in their mouths,” Mr Jones said.

 Smile Wipes are composed of aloe and vitamin E extracts, and are lightly scented with an all-natural banana extract, leaving them with no chemical smell. Nor are harsh disinfectants and drying alcohol found in Smile Wipes.

There are other details that set Smile Wipes apart from other wipes, said Mr Jones and Mr Spinoso. The microbead cloths exfoliate skin cells and reach beneath fingernails where germs are harbored. The wipe is also one of the strongest on the market, they said, yet is thick and soft. The product is 70 percent biodegradable, reflecting the businessmen’s commitment to having a low impact on the environment.

“Because they are so sturdy, you have to use far fewer wipes, too,” Mr Spinoso pointed out.

To add to the appeal, Smile Wipes offers branding, meaning that smiles can be wiped with tissues pulled from the packet imprinted with a child’s school or organization, or as the men hope, by large businesses like McDonald’s, Wal-Mart, or JetBlue, with whom they are in negotiations.

In response to the requests from schools in the region, Mr Spinos and Mr Jones have had Smile Wipes approved by the State Board of Education for distribution by Connecticut schools. The schools, however, are not allowed to sell the product, said the two men, so they have contracted with the Big Y on Queen Street to carry Smile Wipes. They are sold there at an introductory price of $9.99 for the package of 75 wipes, comparable to the pricing on smaller quantities sold by other wipes manufacturers.

“The Smile Wipes have been very successful there, so far,” Mr Jones said. “We are hoping that after the first of the year, Big Y will carry them chainwide.”

Always looking to make a good product better, the tropically scented wipes will soon be available in other all-natural scents, as well.

A humorous video made by “Dr Doug” Jones and “Joe Germ” Spinoso, online games, and chances to win prizes, as well as more information about Smile Wipes can be found at GetWipes.com, and orders for the wipes can be placed online.

The men are enthusiastic promoters of what they deem to be “the best wipe on the market,” even to the point that Mr Jones’ primary vehicle is a navy blue VW bug plasterd with Smile Wipes promotions. The product will be featured this spring on the QVC shopping network, and they continue to hope that big corporations will realize the superiority of Smile Wipes and make the wipes a national commodity.

And that would put a big smile on their faces.