Raise your hand if you or someone in your family dislikes the feel of sunscreen.

Raising your hand if you find applying sunscreen to be a chore.

Are both hands up, because mine are!

For our family, the reason for our dislike of sunscreen is the feel, especially the texture of our preferred mineral sunblocks. The squeeze bottles are too goopy and the sprays tend to provide too much product. We tried a few, working with a few sensory needs; if the scent was tolerable the texture wasn’t, and vice versa. I found that a huge reason for the texture was the amount, in general, from the sprays, which formulas we preferred over others.

Another reason for our dislike was the application. It always takes a bit of time and is such a mess, especially when E and V are anxious to play.

One of the options I use on myself is powdered sunblock. While these are great for when I can’t handle creams at all on a particular day (they can feel like my skin is suffocating!), or for reapplying to the face, albeit they aren’t as effective as the creams.

What can provide a better texture, is quicker to apply, and is still effective?

The Answer: Sunscreen wipes!

This is, by far, the best thing I have created for the whole family and they are super easy to make. The texture is more bearable as it’s an even application, the perfect amount, and it’s faster to apply.

What you need to create your own:

-A bowl

-Sunscreen (we used this kind for our recent trip)

-paper towel

-reusable ziplock bag (like this or this)

–rubber gloves *optional* these are great if you find sunscreen to be a sensory trigger–the ones I linked have a fabric lining

Because we are making our own we can create sizes that work best for us. For E and V I cut the paper towels to be about 4×5 inches in size. For my husband, 6×6.

I put one paper towel down, spray the sunblock over top, then lay another, spray the sunblock over top…continuing until I have them all covered. E, my little sensory seeker, then enjoys smooshing them together, gently so as to not tear the paper towels, but ensuring that the towels are completely coated. We try to create them a week at a time–I’m not sure how stable or effective they are after that.

We then separate them, fold them up, and place them in the zip lock bags ready to be used.

When it’s time to use I just pull one out, unfold, and wipe where needed. E and V usually only require one wipe each and there’s usually enough that I can do my own arm or leg as well.

Do you think your family would benefit from sunscreen wipes?

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