The work
behind the shelf.

Plastic, primary

Every product is evaluated against one binary rule: is there plastic in any component that comes into contact with your body during normal use? This includes:

• Soap that touches your skin
• Bristles that touch your mouth
• Bottle interiors that hold water you drink
• Children's items held in hand and put in mouth
• Anywhere else a product's surface meets your body, directly or through what you ingest

This evaluation is done component by component. Where a product has multiple parts, each is examined separately. The rule is binary: any plastic in body-contact components means the product fails The Standard.

Two outcomes:

The Standard — the product meets the rule fully. Stocked under this tier.

Best Available — the product has plastic in a body-contact component, but no fully-passing alternative exists at commercial scale, or the alternative is rejected by many customers. Stocked under this tier, with the specific exception named and disclosed.

Basic safety, secondary

We are plastic-first, not chemical-first. We assume products commercially sold meet legal safety standards in their markets. We do not perform deep ingredient analysis.

That said, we maintain a small reject list of substances we will not stock regardless of plastic status:

• Parabens (methyl-, ethyl-, propyl-, butyl-, isobutyl-)
• Phthalates (DEHP, DBP, BBP, DEP)
• Formaldehyde-releasing preservatives
• Triclosan
• Sodium lauryl sulfate in oral care
• BPA, BPS, BPF in children's products
• Lead-based pigments in toys
• Substances on the EU REACH banned list
• Substances on California Prop 65 at significant exposure levels

This is a basic "do not stock if obviously concerning" filter. It is not a complete safety screen — that responsibility remains with the customer for their specific needs.

What we do not evaluate

We are honest about our scope. We do not evaluate:

• Carbon footprint or shipping emissions
• Manufacturing labor practices
• Animal testing status
• Organic certification (unless the supplier provides it)
• Country of origin preferences
• Detailed nutritional or skin-care claims beyond ingredient transparency

Customers may care about any of these. They are not part of our evaluation. We say so directly.

The rule is about plastic. Some adjacent materials raise questions because they look or behave like plastic in some ways. Here is how we handle them.

Silicone

Silicone is not plastic. Plastic is a carbon-based polymer; silicone is a silicon-oxygen polymer. They behave differently in the body and in the environment.

We accept high-quality silicone (food-grade or medical-grade) in use cases where it remains stable over the product's lifespan. Silicone stays stable when used intermittently, in mild conditions, with normal-use temperatures and minimal mechanical stress.

We do not accept silicone in use cases where conditions accelerate breakdown — continuous exposure to liquids containing surfactants or detergents, sustained high heat, prolonged chemical contact, or repeated mechanical abrasion. In these conditions, silicone releases microparticles faster.

When we stock a product containing silicone, the product page names the silicone component, identifies what grade we have verified, and discloses honestly when supplier information is incomplete. Products with silicone in accepted applications are stocked under The Standard, with the disclosure noted on the product page.

Bio-based polymers

Bio-based polymers are derived from plant sources rather than petroleum, but they are still polymers. PLA, PHA, and similar materials behave as plastics in structural applications. Bio-based does not mean plastic-free.

We distinguish by use. Bio-based polymers used as structural or packaging materials — PLA bottles, PHA films — count as plastic in contact with the body. Used as functional ingredients within formulations at less than 1% (dispersants, emulsifiers), they do not.

Stainless steel

All stainless steel grades are accepted. Stainless steel is a recognized safe alternative across all common uses and grades.

Aluminum

Aluminum is accepted in non-food applications and in food or body applications when properly coated or anodized to prevent acid leaching. Bare aluminum in cookware or in prolonged contact with acidic foods is not accepted.

Ceramic glazes

Ceramic glazes in food-contact items must be lead-free. We require supplier confirmation or, when available, ASTM C927 certification. Ceramics where lead-free status cannot be verified are not stocked in food-contact categories.

Bamboo and wood

We accept bamboo and wood that have not been treated with plastic-based coatings or finishes. This includes raw wood, beeswax finishes, food-grade mineral oils, and natural plant-based oils. We do not accept synthetic lacquers, plastic coatings, or melamine-bonded bamboo composites.

For bamboo and wood used as lids, gaskets, handles, or for cold and dry food contact at room temperature, we accept products based on supplier-provided information. For bamboo and wood in higher-risk uses — direct contact with hot foods, cooking surfaces, oily or acidic conditions — we require explicit supplier disclosure.

Natural rubber and latex

Natural rubber and latex are plant-derived polymers and are biodegradable. They are not plastic. We accept them in body-contact applications.

When a product contains natural rubber or latex, the product page includes a latex disclosure, because latex is a real allergen for some customers.

Metal coatings

We accept metal coatings that are not plastic-based. Powder coatings, PVD coatings, or lacquers that contain plastic polymers are rejected when in food or body contact. Minor protective coatings on non-contact areas (such as a thin protective film on the outside of a stainless container) are evaluated as plastic-free for consumer-facing purposes.

Adhesives and inks

Adhesives are nearly universal in product manufacturing. We do not reject products solely because of small adhesive use in labels, seams, or assembled parts. We do reject products where adhesive is the primary material in body or food contact, or where significant adhesive content is present in body-contact components.

For paper and cardboard packaging inserts, we accept standard print inks. Our commitment is to non-plastic packaging materials, not to specific ink certifications.

Care labels on textiles

Textile products carry a sewn-in care and content label. US law requires this label to be permanently attached and durable for the life of the product. Standard care labels are polyester, because cotton and plant-fiber labels do not reliably survive repeated washing — and the law requires durability.

We are honest about the tension here. A polyester label is, strictly, a small plastic component attached to the product. We accept it for three reasons: it is legally required, it is not the primary body-contact surface, and durable non-plastic alternatives are not always reliably available at scale.

Unlike plastic packaging, which we remove before shipping, we do not remove care labels — the law requires them to stay attached through the product's life. You are free to remove the label yourself once the product is yours.

Where suppliers offer durable cotton, hemp, or Tencel labels at comparable quality, we prefer those.

For materials where we cannot verify supplier claims through direct testing, we rely on supplier disclosure and good-faith review. We are transparent about what we can and cannot verify.

Our practice:

• We request material specifications from suppliers
• We document what is provided
• We apply our policies to what we know
• When information is incomplete, we say so on the product page
• We do not claim certifications we do not have

This is honest about the limits of our evaluation. We are a retailer, not a laboratory. The brand's commitment is to bring rigor and transparency to product selection, not to perform third-party testing.

Beyond the product itself, we evaluate packaging. Many products in our category arrive at our warehouse in protective plastic. Soap bars sometimes arrive in plastic film. Glass bottles sometimes arrive with shrink wrap.

When a product arrives in plastic packaging, we remove the plastic before customer fulfillment and repackage in kraft paper. This is operationally simple and worth naming, because it is also where most plastic-free retailers stop being honest.

Two arrival statuses, marked on every product:

Arrives Plastic-Free — the product reaches our warehouse in plastic-free packaging.

Plastic Removed at Warehouse — the product arrives with plastic packaging that we remove and replace with kraft paper before shipping to you.

This is our evaluation process. The published standard tells you what we evaluate against. This page tells you how we actually do the work.

The standard is the rule. The exceptions are the work. The transparency is the commitment.