Sustainability is an important part of consumerism because of our shared responsibility for the future of our planet. People are selecting products more carefully and considering the life cycle of the container in their purchase. Why? Because refilling and reusing packaging are both incredible and rewarding ways to reduce your carbon footprint.
As this wave of reusing containers begins, it is extremely valuable to have a conversation about sanitary practices in reusing containers.
When you buy a packaged product in the store, you are buying a guarantee the product has been manufactured in a sanitary environment and packaged in a sanitary container. When you choose to reuse/refill your products, the responsibility of sanitary packaging is placed onto you: the customer.
We offer a refillable product and we want to ensure our customers enjoy the same quality of our product as they continue to refill and adopt a more zero waste lifestyle.
Avoid Contamination
Miiko Skin Co products are purposefully designed to have a longer shelf life because we choose blue glass bottles, and pumps or spray caps to keep hands away from directly touching the products. When we refill, we expose the bottle to the indoor environment, which could increase the chance of contamination.
Here are a couple of simple tricks if you are refilling or cleaning out your bottles at home.
- Do not back pour. Pouring product back into the bottle after being in a different container or your hand could increase the risk of contamination. If you have extra product, use it to moisturize your body!
- Avoid touching the mouth of the bottle. If you make a small mess while refilling, use a paper towel or cloth to wipe off the excess product, not your hands.
- Avoid adding liquids or other ingredients to your bottle. If you add water or other ingredients to the empty container it may contaminate it.
Concerned about contamination? Keep reading to find out how to properly sanitize your bottles.
Care for your serum bottles
If you have a Miiko Skin Co bottle with oil (like one of our face serums or body oil) and you are thinking about a refill, here is what to do:
- Simply empty out the bottle to the best of your ability
- DO NOT rinse with water before refilling!
- In fact... do nothing at all.
- Directly refill the product container for the next 3 refills!
After one year, it's a good idea to take your bottle through the sanitization process, which you can find below...
Sanitize before Refilling
If your product has been contaminated, or you want to clean your face wash or toner bottle, follow these easy steps.
- Rinse your bottle with hot water
- Place it in your dishwasher.
- After the dishwashing cycle is complete, sanitize the bottle by pouring boiling water in it with vinegar.
- Rinse and repeat this step 3 times.
- Run it through dishwasher again,
- Place in oven at low temp to evaporate any leftover water residue in the bottle.
Quick sanitation tips for all of your Miiko bottles:
-
Washes + Toners: Rinse clean, add 1 tbsp white vinegar, rinse 2-3x with boiling water. Let the bottle air dry or dry in the oven. If there is water residue, we recommend turning on the oven to the lowest possible heat and placing your bottle inside until the water is fully evaporated.
- Serums + Oils: DO NOT RINSE. Empty bottle as much as possible, and let the Refillery take care of the rest.
- Jars: Wipe clean with paper towel or cloth. Add 1 tbsp white vinegar, rinse 2-3x with boiling water. Repeat if necessary. Let air dry or dry in the oven.
Refilling at home from your bulk Miiko Skin Co order?
Recently, we began offering bulk sizing for our face wash, toners, and serums to save on packaging and pass along amazing deals to you, our customers!
We've written a mini blog post about our Alchemist Refill Guide so you can get the most out of your bulk products! Check it out here.