Step 1 – Use the brush until it's done
Start by only replacing the brush when it is really time, that is, when the bristles start to splay. The longer each brush is used (within healthy limits), the fewer resources are used overall.
Step 2 – With natural bristles you can compost the whole brush
This is where BambooBrush differs from most. Our bristles are natural bristle (boar bristle made of keratin) – the same protein found in hair and nails – and they biodegrade, a little more slowly than the bamboo, but they do break down. So you don't need to separate the bristles from the handle unless you want to: put the whole brush in the compost.
The only thing that doesn't compost is the small copper staple that holds the bristles in place. If you want to be thorough, pick it out and recycle it as metal – but you can just as well leave it and fish it out of the soil later.
Do you have a brush with nylon bristles (many other brands)? Then the bristles have to be pulled out with pliers and thrown away as general waste – nylon is plastic and doesn't belong in the compost. In that case only the handle can be composted.
Tip: a bamboo handle also makes a perfect little plant label in a raised bed or pot before it finally breaks down.
Step 3 – Compost it
Put the brush (or the clean handle, if you have pulled out nylon bristles) in your compost or garden waste. How long it takes depends on the compost: an active, warm compost is fastest, and the natural bristles take a little longer than the bamboo. In a cold compost or buried in the soil everything goes more slowly. That is completely normal, and still a world away from plastic, which never breaks down but turns into microplastics.
No compost of your own? No problem
- Put the handle in your council's food waste or garden waste collection if your area accepts it (check the local rules).
- If you only have general waste, the bamboo handle is still a better choice than plastic, because it is a renewable material without microplastics.
Why it matters
A plastic toothbrush never breaks down, it turns into microplastics. A bamboo handle goes back to the soil. With one small, everyday swap you remove a long-lived plastic product from your home – several times a year.
Curious about the whole product? Read why we chose bamboo and natural bristles.