An Ultimate Guide to Caring for Your Bamboo Toothbrush
For many years, humanity has been using plastic toothbrushes, so deciding to use something plant-based almost seems like a step into the past.
But we have noticed an increasing demand for non-plastic toothbrushes and toothpaste, so in response, we are writing a blog post to answer potential queries you may have.
Whether you’re a newbie user or someone who has been using a bamboo toothbrush for a while and is looking for some help in disposing of it, read on to find out more in our ultimate guide.
Why are bamboo toothbrushes better than plastic toothbrushes?
As you’ll probably realise, we are writing a blog about bamboo toothbrushes and so we may be a little biased with our preferences towards using non-plastic products. But, stick with us and let us explain some of the main benefits of bamboo toothbrushes.
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Improve the plastic pollution problem: 50% of plastic is used just once and thrown away. But, with the success of recent environmental campaigns, there has been education around the problems of plastic pollution and although making drastic changes is difficult, it’s possible to make small changes, like changing from plastic to bamboo toothbrushes or toothpaste tablets rather than toothpaste in a plastic tube.
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Bamboo toothbrushes are antimicrobial: This attribute ensures that bacterial growth is limited just by the material itself. In other words, bamboo toothbrushes fight microbes while cleaning your teeth beautifully.
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Ease of use: If you are currently using an electric toothbrush, then you may find a bamboo toothbrush easier to transport for work or pleasure trips and there isn’t the need to charge or ultimately replace batteries, which has an environmental impact all of its own. We are also working to try and bring you an alternative to electric toothbrush heads too.
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They look good: Okay, so a flashy toothbrush might not be your top concern but thrown in with all the environmental benefits, you have a toothbrush which often looks classier and cleaner than the plastic alternative. Let’s face it, you didn’t spend lots of money on your designer bathroom, agonise over tile and paint choices to have a lump of plastic ruining the look.
How to care for bamboo toothbrushes
Bamboo toothbrushes require a bit more care than regular plastic toothbrushes. Here are some tips for ensuring you look after one well.
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Keep it Dry: To ensure that the bamboo stays dry throughout the day and in a better condition for longer, give the head a tap against your hand to get rid of the excess water after each use and store in a clean and dry-glass or ceramic container.
We don’t recommend using a toothbrush cover, as this is likely to keep the bristles moist and doesn’t actually help with improving decontamination.
Beware that the toothbrush may change colour slightly over time and that this is completely normal. You may want to clean your toothbrush occasionally, which you can do quite easily by following natural methods.
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Rinse: Start by rinsing your bristles with warm tap water to remove toothpaste suds or food debris. If you have a systemic illness or immune disorder, you may want to soak it in an antibacterial mouthwash.
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Store: To ensure the good care and maintenance of your toothbrush, store it upright in a cup or holder so that it's not touching any other toothbrushes
Before you get your hopes up that your toothbrush is going to completely germ-free, the truth is that it won’t be. We live in a world full of germs, which includes your toothbrush. So unless you are literally keeping your toothbrush on your toilet, there are always germs nearby.
personal experience, we found that the bottom of raw bamboo brushes would often get blackened after a couple of weeks of sitting in the toothbrush pot. To solve this we have the end painted to help reduce water absorption and therefore mould.
- Keeping mould off: Nobody wants a mouldy end! If you already own a bamboo toothbrush, then this tip will help you to prolong the life of your toothbrush
How to reuse your bamboo toothbrush
Do you feel like your bamboo toothbrush is coming to the end of its shelf life? Nothing lasts forever and although here at Non Plastic Beach we always encourage reusing, there comes a time when you do need to replace your toothbrush for hygiene reasons.Our first recommendation is to disinfect your old toothbrush by boiling it in hot water for a few minutes. Then, here are some suggestions for reusing your toothbrush.
- Dust your keyboard: Your toothbrush is a good tool to use to dust your keyboard and get rid of crumbs and other materials stuck in between keys
- Maintaining your shoes: If you do a lot of jogging then you’ll notice that your shoes can get quite muddy and there are places which are difficult to clean, like in between the laces. This is where your old bamboo toothbrush will come in handy
- Gardening tool: After the bristles have been removed, you can use the bamboo handle as a seedling marker
- Removing stains on clothes: One of the simplest and cheapest ways to remove stains is by gently scrubbing with cleansing soap
- Cleaning cooking accessories: Save destroying your cleaning sponge, spare it and use your toothbrush for your garlic crusher and cheese graters
How to dispose of a bamboo toothbrush
If you’ve had your toothbrush for around 3 months, then you may find that it needs replacing as it’s full of bacteria or is worn out. Here are some tips for dealing with the disposal of a bamboo toothbrush.
- Remove the toothbrush bristles: Find a pair of your pliers or tweezers and pull the bristles out of the head
- Recycling programme: Non Plastic Beach is launching a toothbrush recycling programme for the heads of our bamboo toothbrushes, so why not join our Facebook group or follow our Twitter & Instagram to get news on when we have it ready to go
- Reuse your toothbrush: Do you need to dispose of your toothbrush? You might not need to throw it away, so why not try some of our alternative methods above
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Dispose of the bamboo handle: If you’ve decided that you want to get rid of your toothbrush, then you have the option of disposing of it in your local commercial composter (for a fast decomposition), putting it in your home composting bin or in your garden or fireplace
Whatever method you try, you should be happy that you’re making a positive impact on the environment.
Conclusion
There you have it! We do believe bamboo toothbrushes are the future and one very small measure that you can take to reduce plastic pollution. If you are interested in buying one, then you can find more information on our very own bamboo toothbrushes in the non-plastic bathroom section of our website.
Why choose Non Plastic Beach bamboo toothbrushes?
We tested many bamboo toothbrushes before we settled on our design. We found that many brush designs had overly large heads, which made it difficult to get around your mouth and felt too different from an old-fashioned plastic brush.
The reason for our choice of different colours is because we found we couldn’t work out who had which brush when we had plain brushes, so we went for five adults and two children’s colours to make identification easier.
We use nylon bristles as there isn’t an alternative that is compostable, durable and ethical, but we will keep searching for one. Until then, we are setting up recycling, so save your toothbrush heads up (snap them off) and we will give details soon of how to get them to us.
