Baby Wipes Part #6 - Other Leniencies

The Heterim:

We have accepted that there is no problem of Libun with wipes [see part #4], so from here let us just deal with Mifarek.

Looking through the list above, we find that there are a number of Heterim that can possibly be put together to (at least) make the prohibition Rabbinic.

First a few that have no standing:
Rashi (in ?) states that something is only a psik reshei if it is must happen in all circumstances. Since it might theoretically be possible to wipe a baby without extracting water (unlikely), it would not be considered a psik reshei. If the person was trying not to squeeze out the water (unlikely) it would be therefore be permitted.
Aside from the practical issue (that one wants the water, and that it will definitely squeeze out in all cases where it cleans), this Rashi is entirely not accepted l'halacho.
Especially as the Baal Hamaor proves from the case of cleaning your shoe that there would at least be a d'rabonon in such a case. Where a person would gain a benefit from doing an action b'isur [filling in holes] chaza"l don't allow you to say you don't want to do it that way.
R' Vozner also discusses this Rashi proving for other reasons that it cannot be relied upon.

Next, another Rashi that says that there is only Dush while something is attached to the ground. I do not know how this works with the Gemara or other Rashis quoted, but either way it is not quopted l'halacha at all.

Next, there is an opinion in the Rishonim that squeezing has a heter of "miyad" - right away. This is actually quoted in the Darkei Moshe (611, note 2) and quoted by the Eglei Tal in note 50. However this opinion is roundly rejected by the Pri Megadim and others, and is not even quoted by any of the classical halachic texts. It, too, is completely not l'halacha.

The first is Rashi's view which was mentioned l'chumrah by R' Frank - that mifarek, where the liquid is not a natural part of the garment, is rabbinicaly forbidden [even if it is something which is normally squeezed]. This is accepted as halachah by the Magen Avrohom and the Pri Megadim. However, most other glosses accept Tosfos as the rule, and both R' Moshe or R' Frank clearly felt that one cannot rely on Rashi for this matter.

Lastly, we may be dealing with less than the amount of Mifarek which the Torah prohibits.
If so, it may still be prohibited min haTorah since "Chatzi Shiur Asur Min Hatorah" ().
However, there is a Pri Megadim and others that say that chatzi shiur is only by non-kosher foods, and that in other cases it might be a drabanon or even mutar.

• The Rambam and Raavaad argue whether the shiur for milking a cow is a "grogeres" (Rambam - like other foods) or a "gmiya" (the amount one can swallow at once - like other liquids).
  It is possible that a wipe releases less than either of those shiurim. I have not found anyone who deals with this point, but many, including the Mishna Brurah, quite clearly indicate that this shiur would not apply to mifarek of a cloth.
• There is a different shiur which is quoted by the Mishna Brurah: tofeach al m'nas l'hatfiach. If it is not wet enough to make something else which touches it wet, it is less than the shiur, and not forbidden Biblically.
  R' Aurbach once said that since it dries instantly, it is considered to not be "al mnas lhatfiach", and would therefore not have the shiur to be forbidden.
  Many, many poskim disagree with this assumption, and it is said that R' Aurbach himself changed his mind later. (In Shmiras Shabbos Khilchosa he forbids wiping with cotton balls dipped in liquid, which is the exact same thing.)

Even if correct, we would have a sefek d'Orayso if it is forbidden.

For wipes that have a non-water based soap, there is also the logic:
1) According to the Ran, only the 7 "important" liquids are min hatorah.
2) The Eglei Tal quotes an opinion that aside from water, only liquids that are "gidulei karkah"are forbidden to be squeezed out min hatorah. [This may not help if the soap is corn-oil based or similar, since the Eglei Tal also says that mushrooms are considered from the ground, and the Pri Megadim was unsure about silk.]
However, aside from the improbability of finding such a wipe, these are also only independent opinions. And would only make the issur Drabonan, it would not make it mutar.

Also the practical question of how wet the wipe is
The raavad - tzluchis mulei mayim
The question of ibud, and the machlokes rishonim by sponge, by barza, and by yom kippur