Aldi shoppers say having the wipe tied to your trolley will stop you from doing the unthinkable while getting your groceries.
It’s a supermarket habit that would have been almost subconscious pre-pandemic – but now might get you a few dirty looks.
To open a plastic bag in the fresh produce section most of us require a little help, usually in the form of licking a finger to pry the bag open.
But licking your finger in public is strong discouraged during a pandemic. (It would probably make an infectious diseases epidemiologist weep as well.)
It’s also made impossible in some states like NSW that have mask mandates in place for grocery shopping, prompting one mum to come up with a nifty solution.
Posting in the Aldi Mums Facebook group said she had noticed “customers struggling to open the fruit and veggie bags”.
“I always use a trolley wipe for the handle of the trolley and then tie the wipe on the trolley side to repeatedly dampen my fingers,” she said.
“My shop is much quicker. No problem opening them then. Not sure about the safety of the wipe once I’ve wiped the trolley though.”
It’s not the first time the solution has been shared on Facebook, with another Aldi shopper previously sharing a photo of their trolley with a wipe attached to the side.
While several shoppers praised the “brilliant” solution, others said the woman who posted about the hack should be wary of using the same wipe to clean the trolley and then open the bags.
“Remember pre-Covid days when we used to lick our fingers to open them,” one shopper commented, adding a vomit emoji.
“I’m happy to hear you do this. Better than when I see people licking their fingers and putting the bag on the bag to open it. Checkout person has to touch it,” one person wrote.
“I always do this. I get two wipes. One for the trolley, one for opening the plastic bags,” another commented.
But other shoppers had a different solution: Don’t use the single-use plastic bags at all.
“Better still, purchase reusable fruit and veg bags. No struggle to open and better for the environment!” one person wrote.
“I work in a deli and easy way to open them is to rub the top corner between your fingers and it will separate,” another person commented.