So you are keen to reduce plastic waste in your home and are looking for areas you can make changes. Well, your bathroom may just be the most target-rich environment. Our bathrooms are host to countless grooming and hygiene products, mostly made from plastic or coming packaged in plastic containers. If these plastic-based and plastic-packaged consumables weren’t bad enough, most are never be separated from other rubbish and fail to end up in a recycling bin. So, where to begin? Well, have you considered replacing your old mouthwash with dissolvable mouthwash tablets? This relatively new eco-friendly product is rapidly gaining in popularity as consumers quickly come to appreciate its benefits as well as ease of use.
What Are Mouthwash Tablets?
Mouthwash tablets are liquid-free oral care tablets that dissolve into water, creating an easy to use mouthwash formula. Mouthwash tablets were made, in part, to help do away with the unnecessary bulk of liquid mouthwash and its plastic containers. The resulting product is a simple to use, travel-friendly oral care product that is, generally, packaged in a plastic-free container making it a great part of the zero-waste solution for oral care. Mouthwash tablets are akin to zero-waste toothpaste tablets and follow the same trend of simplifying and reducing unnecessary weight and packaging. More brands now adopting this trend and beginning to examine the environmental impact of many of our bathroom products while further developing eco-friendly solutions.
How Are Mouthwash Tablets Made?
The process of redesigning mouthwash and transforming it from liquid to a solid tablet required rethinking the formulation. While there are several different dissolvable mouthwash tablet formulas, most have two of the same essential ingredients: bicarbonate of soda (NaHCO3, otherwise known as baking soda) and an acid. The combination of these two ingredients will cause the tablet to produce carbon dioxide (CO2) when paired with water, resulting in the fizzing effect we recognize. From here, you have the foundation of a mouthwash tablet. Other ingredients, such as food-grade essential oils like peppermint and spearmint, are often added for flavor, while sodium benzoate, a common food-grade preservative, may be added to increase shelf life.
Through reimagining, the basic chemistry, mouthwash tablets have helped reshape the oral care landscape. And, have created a product that can easily replace bulky liquid-based mouthwashes with an eco-friendly and natural product that provides excellent oral care and leaves the users mouth feeling fresh and clean.
How To Use Mouthwash Tablets
Dissolvable mouthwash tablets are specifically designed to be easy to use. While different brands have slightly different processes, the basics remain the same. All a user needs to do is expose the mouthwash tablet to water, and the resulting liquid will become the mouthwash that is used. Some brands recommend that the tablet is first dissolved into a particular volume of water and then used, while others suggest that the tablet is first placed in one’s mouth and water consumed to activate. Both processes produce the same result - a simple to use mouthwash.
How Do Mouthwash Tablets Perform
While mouthwash tablets may be quickly gaining in popularity, a common question is, “how do they perform versus conventional mouthwash?” The answer to this question ultimately depends upon the user and their goals. Using mouthwash of any kind is a great step forward with your oral care routine. Key considerations may be:
- What are the ingredients?
- Are the ingredients all-natural?
- How is the product packaged?
- Is it important that the product is alcohol-free?
- Is the product convenient to use, or do I need to travel with this product?
Thinking through these questions is important and can certainly impact one’s experience with different types of mouthwash. An important feature of mouthwash tablets is their reduced impact on the environment both from packaging and transportation.
Environmental Impact Of Using Mouthwash Tablets
One of the fantastic benefits of using mouthwash tablets is that they can help dramatically reduce the environmental impact of one’s hygiene & grooming routine. Conventional mouthwashes come in large plastic containers and have significant weight to them. The containers are essentially single-use plastics, as once they are finished, they are discarded, and they tend to be recycled rarely. Furthermore, their weight dramatically increases the carbon footprint of transportation as these heavy bottles have to be transported to grocery stores and pharmacies. Through transforming from a liquid to a dissolvable tablet and packaging it into plastic-free glass containers, mouthwash tablets have quickly become an easy to use sustainable product that is zero-waste, and consumers love. Whether you are pursuing a zero-waste lifestyle, looking for a natural alternative free of toxic ingredients, or simply looking for a lightweight, travel-friendly alternative, mouthwash tablets offer a great solution.
Whether you are pursuing a zero-waste lifestyle, looking for a natural alternative free of toxic ingredients, or simply looking for a lightweight, travel-friendly alternative, mouthwash tablets offer a great solution.
Where To Buy Mouthwash Tablets
As mouthwash tablets continue to increase in popularity, so does the ease of finding them for purchase. Many zero-waste stores, including Lochtree, currently sell them. At Lochtree, we sell Georganics Mouthwash Tablets, an awesome product specifically focused on creating an easy to use, natural, and sustainable oral care product. While not universally available at your local grocery store or pharmacy, one can easily find mouthwash tablets on many eco-friendly online stores.
Parting Thoughts
Whether a part of a zero-waste lifestyle, a desire for natural products, an effort to reduce plastic waste, or out of a need for travel convenience, mouthwash tablets offer consumers a fantastic environmentally friendly alternative to conventional mouthwash. Mouthwash tablets represent a great example of the improvements and gains that can be made by simply stepping back and asking whether a product we use and probably take for granted can be improved and taken a step further. Often the answer is yes, and by critically examining everyday products, we can continue to find ways to improve and promote sustainable living.
Written by Henry Palmer
