Truly wonderful environmentally-friendly floss
I have a lot of dental issues. I build up tartar / plaque extremely quickly. I have tight teeth, including two spots with sharp edges that break floss even at the dentist's office. I have an implant that traps food under it. I have receding gums. I have sensitive teeth, including a front crown that's historically been painful to floss around. I've also had problems recently with stain accumulating between my teeth. So, for obvious reasons, I was hesitant to switch away from the floss I'd used for years, Glide. However, for environmental reasons, I decided to give this zero-waste, plastic-free floss a try. I'm very glad I did. This floss is better in every way. It's about the same thickness as Glide, but it's a little less waxy (though it's definitely not unwaxed). As a result, it does a great job of taking off both the tartar and the stains. It's comfortable between my tight teeth, even in the sensitive areas (much more so than Glide), and it almost never breaks or frays on the sharp edges where Glide broke literally every time. It cleans better in the looser spaces, too, such as under my implant. I usually had to floss 5-6 times in that area with Glide, and even then it sometimes missed things. With this floss, I only have to clean that area once or twice. On top of all that, it's gentler on my gums. I was skeptical of that claim when I saw it in other reviews, but it's proven to be true for me, too. As some other reviewers have mentioned, I find myself excited to floss now. I've been flossing for many years, but it was always a chore that I needed to complete, despite the mild pain and frustration it caused. Now, it's a pleasant experience that leaves my mouth feeling cleaner and healthier, and I feel good every time I look at the pretty container. On the environmental side, I love that there's no plastic anywhere in this floss. Another reviewer got me doubting that claim, so I did some reading on other sites. What I found is that some "bamboo" flosses contain polyester or nylon, but the ingredients on this one are clearly stated on the box, this page, and the Mother Earth website as being 100% biodegradable, natural, and Vegan - consisting of just bamboo charcoal fiber ("created by heating bamboo pieces at nearly 1000 degrees to extract the fiber"), Vegan candelilla wax, and peppermint essential oil. Multiple sustainability / zero waste sites back that up, and I didn't see any that said otherwise. Plus, from my own experience, the floss doesn't have a plastic feel at all, and when I deliberately fray it from a cut end, I see natural fibers. I'm not sure what motivated that other reviewer's comment, but everything I've seen indicates that this floss is completely plastic-free. I feel good about using it. Note: It's harder to say if the floss is home-compostable. The box is clearly stated as being compostable, and I read repeatedly that the floss is 100% biodegradable and breaks down within 60-90 days, but I didn't see anything about whether that's within a home compost bin, a commercial composter, buried in dirt, in a landfill, etc. Personally, it's not an issue, since we have a large outdoor compost pile that's considerably larger than the average home composting bin. So, I always toss it into our compost pile. If you have a small home bin, you could try a test piece first and check it 90 days later, or you could cut it into smaller pieces when you add it; however, judging by other reviews, you'd probably be fine just adding it to your bin without going to that extra effort. Anyway, that's a lot of information, but from my perspective, this floss is perfect, and I'm now a lifelong convert! Read more
