Affordable Refillable Hand Wash Brands You Need to Know

Looking to reduce your plastic in the bathroom or kitchen? Here are my top recommendations – with companies using liquid refills and dissolvable tablets.

I am always looking for ways to reduce how much plastic enters our home to cut down on waste. While many forms of plastic can be recycled, it is estimated only 9% has ever been recycled. One area that I was keen to change was our bathroom. We all wash our hands, and I hope you do, so swapping to a refillable soap is an easy step.

Sometimes it can be hard knowing what brands are out there or how much they cost. This is why I have complied a range of brands available in the UK that create liquid hand soaps, though a few companies might be available in other countries. The list features dissolvable tablets, concentrated liquids and refillable containers of which some brands have return schemes.

Raindrop

Vegan | ✓
Organic | ✘
Cruelty-free | ✓
Other Certifications |
Other Information | Plastic free refills
Price | £3.50 for 4 refills.
Price per 100 ml | £0.29
Size(s) | 300ml

Raindrop produce a selection of liquid hand soaps which are vegan and cruelty free. They offer six wonderful scents so you can find your perfect match or mix it up throughout the house. Their refills are all plastic free and compact in size, perfect for storing under your sink. The bottles are made from toughened, smoked glass and feature a non-slip base. Raindrop allows you to choose which silicone base you want to reflex your rooms colour scheme or personal flair. The silicone bases have recently been made available to buy on their own where it states they are made from recycled silicone.

Their amber coloured container holds 300ml of liquid hand soap which foams when the pump is pushed. This produces a light aerated experience when washing your hands. Raindrop is the company we use in our household and we have no complaints.

Raindrop has teamed up with CleanHub to remove the equivalent of 5 plastic bottles from the ocean for starter pack ordered. Their progress is shown here.

BioD

Vegan | ✓
Organic | ✘
Cruelty-free | ✓
Other Certifications | B Corporation & Made in the UK
Other Information | Ethical Consumer Best Buy
Price | £23.00 (5 litres) or £73.16 (20 litres)
Price per 100 ml | £0.46 (5 litres) or £0.36 (20 litres)
Size(s) | 500ml

BioD are also an Ethical Consumer Best Buy producing a selection of home cleaning products. Their liquid hand wash comes in 4 different scents and a fragrance free. All of their liquid soaps are available in a 5 litre plastic tub with one scent and their fragrance free available in a larger 20l tub.

BioD have a closed loop return system on their refills however they require two 20l bottles to be sent back. They have said that this is to help keep the return system free. On their website they state that they have taken back 5326 20l containers since May 2021.

Blueland

Vegan | ✓
Organic | ✘
Cruelty-free | ✓
Other Certifications | B Corporation
Other Information | Plastic free refills
Price | £12 for 5 refills, £24 for 10 refills & £65 for 30 refills
Price per 100 ml | £0.94 (5 and 10 refills) or £0.84 (30 refills)
Size(s) | 9 OZ (255ml)

Blueland produce a range of household products to several countries around the world. Their liquid hand soap comes in five different scents and fragrance free. Their refills are all plastic free and compact in size, perfect for storing under your sink. The bottles are made from glass and comes in three different styles.

Faith in Nature

Vegan | ✓
Organic | ✘
Cruelty-free | ✓
Other Certifications | B Corporation & Made in the UK
Other Information |
Price | £50 (5 litres) or £185 (20 litres)
Price per 100 ml | £1 (5 litres) or £0.92 (20 litres)
Size(s) | 400ml

Faith in Nature produce a wide range of body care products such as shampoo, conditioners and soap bars. Alongside this they produce a selection of seven different liquid soaps. Their soaps are made with 100% natural origin aroma & essential oils.

Their selection can be refilled at home with 5 litre refills for all their hand soaps and a 20 litre available for one scent. If store is precious in your home Faith in Nature support refill schemes which can be found here. Faith in Nature produce aluminium refill bottles (450ml) which can be used at the selected stores.

Miniml

Vegan | ✓
Organic | ✘
Cruelty-free | ✓
Other Certifications | Made in the UK
Other Information | Refill return scheme
Price | £7.75 (1 litre) or £26.95 (5 litres)
Price per 100 ml | £0.77 (1 litre) or £0.53 (5 litres)
Size(s) | 500ml

Miniml offer a wide selection of cleaning products for your body, house and dog. Miniml offers their liquid hand wash in three different scents allowing you to choose the perfect match. Miniml is a recommended best buy from The Ethical Consumer giving you quality assurance.

Miniml offers their reusable 500ml container in glass or plastic. While glass is more recyclable, plastic might be better in the bathroom around children. Once you have finished their 500ml bottle refills can be bought in 1 litre pouches or 5 litre dispensers. The pouches and dispenser offer flexibility depending on your storage situation. Alternatively Miniml is stocked in hundreds of zero waste shops allowing you to take your container and not have to worry about storage. Finding your locker supplier has never been easier with their store locator tool.

When it comes to returning a refill the company states that you can return either 4 x 5 litre refill containers or 4 x 1 litre refill containers. Miniml offer more information here.

Neat

Vegan | ✓
Organic | ✘
Cruelty-free | ✓
Other Certifications | B Corporation
Other Information | Plastic free refills
Price | £36.00 for 12 refills.
Price per 100 ml | £1
Size(s) | 300ml

Neat clean produce a selection of cleaning and hand soaps. Their soap comes in three scents sweet rose water, mango and fig and green tea & bergamot. Neat dispensers are made from 100% recycled aluminium giving you assurance of quality. Their dispensers are colour matched with their refills, allowing you to easily tell which refill scent is where. Each pump features a silicone base to prevent any scratches to your work surface or bathroom.

Neat have taken the concept of highly concentrated solutions and used it in their product range. Their refills are packaged in 30ml glass bottles and produce 300ml of hand soap when mixed with 270ml of water. Neat explains with a series of images how to refill their products here.

Splosh

Vegan | ✓
Organic | ✘
Cruelty-free | ✓
Other Certifications |
Other Information | Refill recycle scheme
Price | £7.95 for 6 refills.
Price per 100 ml | £0.64
Size(s) | 250ml

Splosh have three scents, blackberry, mint and green tea as well as rose & lotus blossom. Splosh say that the naturally derived gel is thick, foamy and wonderfully moisturising.

Each refill box contains a single pouch - enough to refill your 250ml bottle six times. Splosh have made it convenient to refill your bottle with a visible strip to show you the fill level. Splosh have a return scheme for used pouches though they only accept 20 at a time meaning you will need to keep hold of them. Though they say that 8 pouches can fit in their refill box, but the sender has to cover the postage. If you want to find out more about how the scheme works and what Splosh do with your returned packaging they have more information here.

Final Words

Hopefully this blog has helped you establish new brands to consider when looking to reduce the plastic in your bathroom. If you have a brand you have found to meet good ethics and sustainability let us known by leaving a comment below.