I carry both. Nice to have choices. The baby wipes come in extra handy when the tire is dirty and has to be wipe off before the offending glass can be found.

I can't believe all you glove ppl. WTF?

Just spit on your hands and rub them together for about 30 seconds and the grime is gone.

Sometimes soap and water won't take chain ring oil off my leg, but baby wipes will take it right off.

I guess I've never noticed it was a problem. Are you fondling your tubes or what? I've changed tons of flats on the road, and never once have i got done and thought "oh no, what to do with these dirty hands?"

Are you grabbing the chain or something?

Remind me not to shake your hand.

I carry wipes and gloves. Wipes are WetOnes antibacterial in the single pouches. I also carry a small bottle of GoJo hand cleaner. The Container Store sells small travel bottles not much bigger than a film canister. GoJo cleans the gnarliest grease and can also get grease off clothes.

vikings do not bathe.

Ive never tried to fix a flat withou removing the wheel from the bike....does that really work? I get more flats than anyone I know...I got two flats in a matter of about 100 yards a few weeks ago. Really torq'd me off too as I had been riding into the wind for an hour and was looking forward to turning around. I only had one CO2 cartridge too. My wife came to the rescue....

Don't shake my hand.

I carry an old washcloth wrapped tire kit in the saddle bag. Come to think of it the only time I need to use that is when a back tire goes. Front fixes are clean.

For commuters, it's a real issue. If you work in an office, you can't show up at work with filthy hands.

Auto parts stores usually stock several brands of waterless hand cleaners, and they're a lot stronger than baby wipes or Purell. I have a small container of Castrol hand cleaner in my under-seat bag. It works fine. It will clean up the nastiest grease and grime. It's a bit abrasive, if that's a concern, but there are probably other brands that are non-abrasive.

I carry one of those little bottles of that Purell hand sanitizer stuff (the kind that kills 99.999999999999% of germs on contact or something) and it's pretty good at breaking up grime.

First thing: try to keep your chain clean. It may be greasy, but it should not have excessive dirt on them and the chain should not be black with road grime. It might mean that you wipe down the chain the night before every other ride, but its worth it. I use a dry lubricant, oil based to wipe down the chain the night before the ride.

Any auto parts store like Kragen will sell a box of disposable gloves. In the summer, your hands get sweaty and its nearly impossible to get the gloves on if you're in a hurry to change a flat and get back on the bike. So the next thing you need is a dry cloth which you can get at Kragens as well. I wipe my hands dry before using the gloves. The cloth I tuck half in the bike shorts and half sticking out. They're the cheap red one's I think from India or Pakistan.

When I don't use the disposable gloves, I use that red cloth to handle the chain.

I love the Harbor Freight Nitrile/Latex gloves. I generally steer clear of Harbor Freight, but these things are a winner. The Pure Nitrile gloves tear easily, but the nitrile/latex ones are cheaper, a tiny bit thicker, and are tough as nails. I used them to drop my transmission, replace the clutch and put a turbo on my Miata. I keep a pair of them in my seat bag at all times. As a nice bonus, you can put rattly items inside them and they become whisper quiet.

Sheldon

I haven't tried the Purell after fixing the roadside flat yet (I'm hoping I won't for a while either), but I've used it after other rare roadside repairs and using the port a johns in the forest preserve.