The problem with body wash is that there’s just not enough soap inside that bottle.
That’s because up to 90% of what you’ll find in your typical body wash is water, and really, all you need is the sudsy part. Plus, these products primarily come packaged in single-use plastic, and every year in the US alone, 42.1 billion bottles ship out all over the country. Get rid of the plastic and the water, and you’d be doing the planet a pretty big favor.
Well, that’s just what zero waste brand Plus intends to do. From the same folks that brought you Starface—Julie Schott and Brian Bordainick—and co-founder and CEO Cathryn Woodruff, Plus wants to be your plastic-free personal care brand that gives you a “more meaningful shower” and “a happier planet.” Essentially the brand cuts out all of the water from their body wash and wraps it all up inside fully dissolvable packaging.
“Plus was born from one fact that carries a lot of weight—body wash is mostly water,” said the brand in a press release. “We couldn’t help but wonder, why ship a natural resource around the world in single-use plastic? Plus set out to reinvent traditional personal care products—without water—so you can add it yourself, for less weight, less waste, and more fun.”
The foaming dehydrated sheet starts to dissolve once you apply water instantly (and it’s also why you might want to open it away from the showerhead). Just lather with your hands to fully dissolve the sheet, continuing to add a little more water as you go along so you can gin up your preferred amount of bubbles and texture. Once you finish up, drop the sheet onto the drain, and it will disintegrate completely.
Oh, and the packaging that the dehydrated sheet comes inside? You can leave that down there, too, as it’s compostable and made from FSC-certified wood pulp.
However, this isn’t the plastic-free-crunchy-granola packaging one might expect from such a green product. Based on the surplus of Nirvana-styled fonts, you could even call the aesthetic smells like clean spirit. Branding and visual identity come courtesy of Los Angeles-based Someone & Others, and the pouches feature minimal text printed with water-based and FDA-approved dissolvable inks. Three different offerings come in distinctive colorways that take cues from the feeling they evoke—cloud, summer, and waves—a vivid mishmash of yellows, oranges, and purples that has a youthful vibrancy that echoes across all of their assets. Additionally, the products come in a clear, branded, and zippered pouch, which you can compost in the backyard along with the mailer.
Plus is available to order online now; you can get 16 washes for $16.50 or opt for a subscription plan that will save you an additional 10%. And, sure, that does seem like a lot of cash for half a month’s worth of soap, but the brand insists that the price will come down as more folks opt for their plastic-free bubbles.
Anyway, who knew all you needed to do was take water and plastic out of the equation?
