Customer Reviews

Heininger 1031 CommuteMate InstaCloth Towelette (32 Tablets)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Length:: 1:05 Mins

These instant towels are very handy and easy to use. Just pop one out, add water and Viola! you have a handy, emergency towel.

I used only 15cc of water during my test. The towel size is approximately 8" x 11". They remind me of a very thick paper towel. For quick clean-ups and emergency use they will work adequately.

The 'pills' are packaged in a sealed blister type package. This keeps them ready and moisture. My wife cut them up individually for purse carrying.

I have added photos and video.

These little InstaCloth tablets are extremely handy to have around. They are small tablets (coin-sized but thicker) that pop to life with a bit of water and becomes a hand-towel sized cloth towel. Perfect for travel and actually quite durable. Much better than carrying around paper towels or trying to clean up messes/spills with tissues or cheap fast-food napkins. I tried one out on a dried and sticky salad dressing spill on my kitchen counter, and it cleaned it up no problem. It could handle the "elbow grease" I was dishing-out without issue (no shredding or fraying). I rinsed it a few times under the sink and continued to use it to clean off the remainder of the kitchen counter and sink (it works much like a real dish cloth). I'm traveling to Europe in 2 weeks and I will absolutely have a few of these in my bag. A great idea that really works! Also it does not have any weird chemical smell or anything like that (which is something I was afraid of when I first read about it). Five stars!

I could not believe how these grew into super strong but still very soft towels. Bought the pack of 32 for trip to Norway and wish I had bought the Qty of 96!! They weigh nothing and are great in your carry-on, backpack, purse......anywhere! This was my find of the summer, LOL!

When expanded this becomes a strong, extra-thick, paper towel. It also can be rinsed, dried and reused when camping. The packaging, however, takes up too much space. Also the sharp plastic edges of the packaging can damage other items stored with them. These "instant towels" used to be available in a resealable tube package similar to a roll of certs or lifesavers candy, a far more convenient packaging.

This version does leave a few threads on rough surfaces, like a whiskered face. Not perfect, but if you trim down the packaging it a useful camping item and I was glad to see them available again.

I don't eat or drink in my car, but I also don't give people "rules" when they get into my car. Therefore, sometimes people get in my car with a beverage and of course I cringe. Just a few days after receiving these, a friend of mine got in with her Starbucks disposable coffee cup. She drank most of it but left the cup in the cup holder. I was driving down the road after dropping her off and it flew out of the cup holder as I took a turn. Very little coffee got on the floor mats, but I immediately stopped at the nearest gas station and went in to wet this compressed towelette. Surprisingly, the texture and strength of this towelette was very good. If I had used paper towels they would have shred to pieces, but this stayed together nicely and completely cleaned the spill up. This is fairly lint free and very strong. I could also see frequent travelers/hikers using these to wash their face and hands with only needing a little bit of water. The texture of these makes clean up very easy. I tried it on my own face and hands and it worked like a washcloth. The waffle weave fibers are very strong yet great at capturing dirt. I see three groups of people that could really benefit: campers/hikers, moms/dads of little ones, and for messes/spills in your vehicle.

I requested my InstaCloths with one specific purpose in mind. Seems like the kids are always spilling things in the car and paper towels are too bulky plus the roll tends to get beat up... these store away right in the glove compartment, invisible till you need them! And they work as advertised BUT that means you have to also have water around because the "pill" is a super compressed synthetic material and you need the water to release it.

The uncompressed towelette is about the size of a sheet of copier paper so it's equivalent to a very sturdy paper towel in its usability. Thus, though they're sold in Amazon's automotive department, they wouldn't be adequate for a really messy engine job. I think the sweet spot for these is in the fact they take up virtually no space in storage plus they stay pristine until you need them. I'm now distributing my supply to the glove boxes of our cars, my briefcase, odd pockets of suitcases; they weigh virtually nothing so why not spread the wealth?

But, I have to take off a star for the packaging. It really does look like a blister pack of pills and I can see a curious kid making a bad decision as a result. Also, I can see the used package getting disposed of in an environmentally unfriendly way since they're likely to get opened in places where there are no trashcans around. Individual packaging in a biodegradable plastic would have been better.

They are not towels you would want to steal from a five star hotel, but they will wipe the dirt of your face and hands. If you are an outdoorsy person you may want these in your pack just in case.

I love them! The towels are like strong Clorox wipes, not incredibly strong but great for needing something stronger than a napkin on the road. Remind me of those little dinosaur toys, the pills you put in water that expand into sponges. Good amount of product for the price.

Fun! Great concept, expands to a very usable size. I can see how these could come in handy in hundreds of ways. A quick spritz of hand sanitizer and you have yourself a disinfectant wipe. Got kids/pets/spills/dirty car? This could be what you've been looking for. Not to mention that they're so lightweight - ideal for travel, and particularly in a foreign country. Highly recommended.

While I see these as a good product and they do serve a very nice purpose but they are also limiting at the same time.

Do they soak stuff up.. Yes
Are they durable.. Yes
Are they convenient.. yes

Well what's the problem?
It's the fact that you have to get them nearly soaked before you can unpack/unfold them. it seems like they are just compressed into a form and allowed to dry. You can't just get them damn and start unfolding them. Makes it pain if you don't have a bottle of water handy...

On the other hand though, they do stand up to some decent abuse and I do keep a pack in the car as well as a in my camera bag and luggage. you never know when you are going to need something like this and they are small enough to simply just cut a strip or 2 or 5 and leave in a bag.

also keep in mind that these aren't "towels" as we would normally think of a towel, they are more very thin cloths. not really towels...

Will I buy these again:
I don't really know... Depends on if I find them truly useful by the time I run out of them. I've only use a couple of them to date. So we will see how it goes.