Best Eco-Friendly Dental Floss
Top Eco-Friendly Dental Floss Options
Flossing is an important part of every dental care routine, but traditional dental floss has numerous environmental and health concerns. Fortunately, you’ll find several eco-friendly dental floss options that will make taking care of your teeth more sustainable.
Interested in the convenience of on-the-go teeth cleaning without all the plastic waste? Be sure to check out our post on the best biodegradable dental floss picks.
Also, if you’re trying to make your dental care routine more eco-friendly, learn more about the benefits of a bamboo toothbrush and find out which one will perfectly suit your needs, or pick up one of these best eco-friendly electric toothbrushes. You can then find the best zero waste toothpaste options for everyone in the family.
These eco-friendly dental floss options, bamboo toothbrushes, and zero waste toothpastes are all important ways to help you create a zero waste bathroom.
What’s Wrong With Traditional Floss?
Traditional dental floss is typically made with nylon, which is a type of plastic. Not only can’t you recycle nylon, but it also takes hundreds of years to biodegrade.
However, being made with plastic isn’t the only problem with traditional dental floss.
Traditional dental floss is also coated in chemicals to make it easier to slide between teeth. Unfortunately, studies have found that some brands of dental floss have high levels of a chemical called perfuoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS.
PFAS has been linked to serious health issues that include certain types of cancers, fertility issues, high cholesterol, ulcerative colitis, and weight gain.
The Best Eco-Friendly Dental Floss
So now you know that traditional dental floss might actually be doing more harm than good. Does that mean you should just stop flossing altogether?
Of course not! Flossing is still an important part of a good oral care routine. And I don’t want your dentist tracking me down and throwing toothbrushes at me because you told them I said stop flossing.
Instead, you just need to make the switch to one of these best eco-friendly dental floss options.
1. ZWS Essentials
Zero Waste Store is on a mission to help you reduce your plastic use in every area of your life while also saving you money at the same time. One simple way you can do this is by making the switch to their ZWS Essentials silk floss.
I’ve used this eco-friendly floss in my bathroom, and I love the strength, thickness, and texture it has. Each spool is made with sustainable silk. The silk is only taken once the cocoon is emptied, making it 100% cruelty-free.
It’s then coated with candelilla wax for a gentle glide and natural peppermint oil for a fresh feeling.
The biodegradable floss comes with a glass container that has a stainless steel lid with a floss cutter. When you run out, you can get refills that come in a compostable cardboard box.
Plus, if you’re vegan or don’t want to use silk, that’s no problem. They also have this bamboo charcoal floss that’s made form soft bamboo fibers.
The best part is that Zero Waste Store itself is one of the best online eco-friendly stores and committed to saying goodbye to plastic. That means they ship everything using plastic-free and biodegradable packaging!
Related: The Best Zero Waste Makeup Brands
2. Lucky Teeth
Another great vegan dental floss option is this bamboo fiber floss from Lucky Teeth. In addition to being vegan, this eco-friendly floss is also biodegradable.
Related: The Best Natural Mouthwash
The company says this plastic-free floss breaks down in around 60 to 90 days. It has activated charcoal for extra cleaning and whitening. It also contains organic tea tree oil and organic peppermint essential oil to help kill bacteria.
To help cut down on waste, the eco-friendly dental floss comes in a glass jar and recyclable paper box. When you finish a roll, the two-pack refill comes in a recyclable paper box and fits in the glass jar.
3. EcoRoots Vegan Floss
This vegan floss from EcoRoots makes it easy to get clean and health teeth without any waste. It’s made with activated charcoal, bamboo fiber, and essential oils.
The biodegradable floss is coated with plant-based candelilla wax to help it smoothly glide between your teeth. It also includes a hint of organic tea tree and mint essential oils to soothe your gums and freshen your breath.
Related: 50+ Genius Alternatives to Plastic
Since the cruelty-free floss comes in a lovely, refillable glass bottle with a recyclable metal lid, you can simply get the eco-friendly floss refill pack and keep reusing the dispenser. No fuss, no waste!
4. Georganics
Georganics makes it easy to switch to sustainable dental floss. The eco-friendly floss is made using compostable corn-base PLA, which is approved by Vegan & Cruelty-free International.
It’s also coated with vegetable wax and organic spearmint oil. Spearmint oil is a strong, natural antiseptic that can help eliminate germs and promote healing in your gums.
Related: Best Bamboo Electric Toothbrush Replacement Head
The floss comes in a reusable glass dispenser, which means all you have to do is purchase the set of two refill for a zero waste oral care routine.
5. TreeBird
TreeBird is another company that shows how easy it is to reduce waste when you’re flossing. With TreeBird, you get one glass bottle floss holder and one spool of 100% silk floss that’s coated in candelilla wax and has a fresh mint flavor.
When you’re done with that floss, you can purchase one of the TreeBird dental floss refills and simply reuse the container.
Plus, to help reduce waste, the company’s packaging consists of kraft paper and compostable stickers printed with soybean ink that can go straight into your compost pile.
6. Plastic-Free Dental Floss
This plastic-free dental floss is a zero waste floss that’s made using 100% natural mulberry silk and candelilla wax, so you can compost it when you’ve finished using it. It also comes with a pleasant mint flavor for a fresher clean feeling.
In addition to being compostable, this dental floss is also BPA-free, phthalate-free, PVC-free, and lead-free.
The eco-friendly dental floss comes in a glass container with a metal lid that you can recycle. However, you can also save the jar and simply get the refills to help cut down on waste even more.
7. Cocofloss
Cocofloss from Cocolab has become one of the most popular choices for people looking to switch to an eco-friendly floss without sacrificing effectiveness. This floss is a strong, durable polyester filament that’s made from 85% recycled polyester from plastic water bottles.
Since it’s made from recycled materials, it takes 64% less energy to produce when compared with non-recycled threads. It also releases 32% less CO2 emissions and requires 94% less water consumption.
This is a non-PTFE-based dental floss with no added PFAS that’s BPA-free, vegan, and Leaping Bunny–certified cruelty-free.
However, what really sets Cocofloss apart is its unique, slightly textured design that grips plaque more effectively than smooth nylon floss. This means you get a deeper clean with less effort.
Cocofloss comes in a refillable dispenser and offers replacement spools that are easy to pop in and out, drastically cutting down on single-use plastic waste. Instead of buying a brand-new plastic container every time you run out, you can simply pop in a refill.
It’s also available in fun, natural flavors like coconut, strawberry, and mint, making flossing feel more like a treat than a chore.
8. Me Mother Earth
Me Mother Earth’s Vegan Biodegradable Bamboo Charcoal Dental Floss is a great eco-friendly dental floss. It also contains vegan candelilla wax to make it easier for the floss to slide between your teeth, activated charcoal that can help whiten your teeth, and peppermint essential oil to give it a great taste.
Since the floss is 100% biodegradable, it decomposes naturally in around 60-90 days, which dramatically reduces environmental impact compared to conventional nylon floss.
It comes in a refillable container that can be reused indefinitely, eliminating single-use plastic waste. Additionally, your footprint is minimized even further thanks to the plastic-free, recyclable kraft paper packaging.
Beyond the sustainable floss, Me Mother Earth operates as a small, family-run business committed to environmental stewardship. They donate 10% of their profits to ocean and environmental conservation causes, helping you contribute to positive change simply by flossing.
Bonus Option
While I know this next option isn’t dental floss, I still wanted to mention it because it’s an excellent choice if you’re looking to go as zero waste as possible during your oral care routine.
While the above eco-friendly dental floss options try to eliminate excess plastic and waste as much as possible, they do still have trace amounts. However, if you really want to go zero waste, consider an oral irrigator, sometimes also called a dental water jet or Waterpik.
Waterpik Water Flosser
A Waterpik uses a stream of pulsating water to remove food debris and plaque from between the teeth and below the gum line just like floss.
This Waterpik Water Flosser is a great option for a zero waste oral care routine because you don’t have to buy refills like you do with dental floss. Instead, when the reservoir is empty, you simply fill it back up with water.
I added the Waterpik Water Flosser to my oral care routine upon the recommendation of my dentist. I like it because it comes with 7 flossing tips, 10 pressure settings, and I only need to use it for one minute every day to get my teeth clean.
Best Eco-Friendly Dental Floss
Traditional dental floss adds unnecessary waste to the environment and has the potential to introduce dangerous chemicals to your body. However, with these eco-friendly dental floss options, you can enjoy a zero waste dental care routine that’s better for the environment and your health.
More Eco-Friendly Tips
Now that you see how easy it is to switch to an eco-friendly dental floss, are you ready to make even more easy swaps to live a more eco-friendly life? Then be sure to check out some of our other popular posts!
- The Best Natural Deodorant
- How to Have an Eco-Friendly Cleaning Routine
- Best Zero Waste Products for Beginners
- Natural Cold Remedies That Actually Work
- What Is Reusable Beeswax Food Wrap?
I just received “eco-friendly” happy teeth floss in an eco-trashing combo envelope of plastic stuck to paper. Brilliant.
I understand. I wish companies would realize that even though they might be making an eco-friendly product, they also need to focus on the packaging they use to send those products.
Hey this is an awesome post. Thank you for writing this. It’s encourgaing to see companies move in this ethical and considerate direction. Dental Lace makes an especially considered product and it was particularly awesome for them to swap out for compostible bags and to a vegan wax after customer feedback. Zero-waste also is a nice concept and also an unregulated term. What’s the criteria for when something is considered zero-waste or not? The product itself, or with the packaging? Is it waste if it’s something you would keep for awhile and use and is still contains elements that are toxic to our environment and non-biodegradable long term? It’s a bummer that the Dental Lace label is a plastic sticker. It would be totally cool to see an inventive solution to make it authentically zero-waste like a bamboo container or printing on the glass, or some kind of paper label with non-toxic glue. Cheers to companies who are making the effort to be considerate too of these smallest details.
It is encouraging to see more companies start to focus on sustainable options. I also agree that zero-waste is a difficult term since it’s unregulated. I know some companies are trying to ship their dental floss refills with as little plastic as possible, which is a step in the right direction. I’d like to think if we keep pushing these companies to make more sustainable choices, they’ll continue to come up with better solutions.
dental lace is not great it breaks very easily when flossing which option is both sustainable and strong so that it won’t break?
I’ve had a lot of success using the Etee floss. It doesn’t seem to break very easily.
Very Helpful and Informative post.