Dayton innovator’s ‘Wet Wipe Wizard’ to break into the $2.8 billion wipes markets

A potty-training fiasco with his grandchild more than a decade ago stuck with 68-year-old retired Daytonian Chris Danis. In planning for his retirement as a surgeon in 2022, Danis founded CJD Innovations to reduce waste and bring convenience to the wet wipe and disinfecting wipe markets.

"The idea was generated about 12 years ago when my oldest grandchild needed help in the bathroom with potty training," Danis said. "I could not find the wet wipes to save my life and I thought, ‘Why aren't they as accessible as dry toilet paper?’"

With prototypes recently completed and plans to demonstrate the product while pursuing partnerships, CJD Innovations LLC is approaching commercialization of their Wet Wipe Wizard, an automatic dispenser of wet wipes with the push of a button.

Although sanitation-related industries have skyrocketed in demand since the pandemic, CJD Innovations was founded prior to the pandemic in December 2019 to cater to introduce a less-wasteful, more ecofriendly product to the $1.3 billion baby wipes and $1.5 billion disinfecting wipes markets.

The Wet Wipe Wizard has three forms. The battery-powered tabletop and hanging versions are intended for basic commercial and personal uses while the mounted and hard-wired disinfecting version would be utilized in health care spaces.

Prototypes were completed in April and shown for the first time at the University of Dayton Flyer Pitch Competition. Commercialization of the commercial products is estimated for 2024 with the health care product to follow in 2025.

Upon commercialization, the Wet Wipe Wizard dispenser is estimated to cost $50 with $5 fully recyclable cartridges, holding 50 wipes, which amounts to 12 cents a sheet. Comparatively, the market currently offers wipe options between six and 18 cents a sheet.

"My father owned landfills and he hated trash," Danis said. "If he could figure out a way to reuse something he did so it was kind of instilled in us as kids."

Danis anticipates the product being used in a variety of spaces including hospitals, casinos, child care centers, schools, assisted living communities, hotels, offices and homes.

Although Danis has invested more than $200,000 into the product, he is now seeking a third-party company to acquire the license and bring the products to market.

"I retired from being a surgeon in 2022 and I really don't have any great desire to spend the next 10 years working as hard as is going to be to get this out," Danis said. "So if we could find somebody that's enthusiastic about the idea, we'd like to see it be brought to market in 2024."

CJD Innovations are already in partnership talks with two baby wipe dispenser companies and will attend the upcoming World of Wipes Conference in Atlanta, GA to demonstrate the product alongside more than 500 participants.

Wet Wipe Wizard has already secured two patents for its initial wind-up and current motorized versions with two additional patents pending. Alongside Danis’ personal investment, CJD Innovations has received additional support and funding from the Entrepreneur Center.

"Dayton is a very innovative city – always has been, probably always will be," Danis said. "it's a privilege to get a patent and put that my place of location is Dayton, Ohio."