The Best Eco-Friendly Mouthwash In The UK

Looking for the best eco-friendly mouthwash? From mouthwash tablets to plastic-free mouthwash in glass bottles, here are our favourites.

You’ve flossed your teeth with sustainable dental floss. And you’ve brushed your teeth using eco-friendly toothpaste. You might think that your dental routine couldn’t get any greener. However, you can push plastic bottles of mouthwash to the side. Yes, the mouthwash market has had an eco-friendly makeover.

From zero-waste toothpaste tablets in glass jars to plastic-free bottles of eco-friendly mouthwash – there’s a sustainable solution for almost every taste. And you don’t have to compromise on performance. Unlike natural mouthwash of old, you can buy eco-friendly mouthwash brands that contain fluoride.

The Best Eco-Friendly Mouthwash

Here are our favourite sustainable mouthwash brands, that as well as offering plastic-free or zero-waste packaging, will gently look after your smile and the planet:

Aesop Plastic-Free Mouthwash

If you are specifically after a plastic-free mouthwash that looks beautiful on your bathroom shelf, then look no further than Aesop.

This vegan-friendly, cruelty-free and gentle alcohol-free eco-friendly mouthwash is a great choice for sensitive mouths. It’s flavoured with clove, anise, and spearmint leaf for a fresh and natural taste that freshens your breath naturally, whilst maintaining your mouth’s natural pH balance.

What’s also to love is that the mouthwash is packaged in glass, so can be easily recycled. However, the bottle is so pretty, that you’ll probably want to refill it again and again.

Find Aesop mouthwash for £17 for 500 ml at various retailers. This includes Beauty Bay, Look Fantastic, or Cult Beauty.

Ben & Anna Eco-Friendly Mouthwash

If you are looking for an eco-friendly mouthwash that comes in liquid form then try Ben & Anna. Its mouthwash comes in a fully plastic-free glass bottle with a metal lid. No sneaky plastic here!

Some plastic-free swaps can be tricky to adapt to, as they come with a learning curve of trying something new. This mouthwash is the same as conventional mouthwash. This means it makes for an easy plastic-free swap to make, without having to do anything differently.

Ben & Anna’s fluoride-free mouthwash is both vegan and cruelty-free. Containing nourishing aloe vera, disinfecting sage, and sea buckthorn, a powerful anti-oxidant, it cleans those hard-to-reach places whilst naturally fighting gum irritation and inflammation.

What’s more, it’s free from many controversial ingredients. This includes phthalates, parabens, microplastics, sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), and formaldehyde. This allows you to swish your mouthwash with confidence that there are no hidden nasties.

Find Ben & Anna eco-friendly mouthwash at Ethical Superstore or Big Green Smile for £10.95 for 500 ml.

Brushd Mouthwash Tablets

If mouthwash tablets sound like more your thing, then Brushd Mouthwash Tablets is one to try. Available in peppermint, lemon, or orange flavour, these fluoride-free tablets help to naturally freshen your mouth. Simply place one tablet in a glass with around 20ml of water, allowing it to dissolve completely. Then gargle for 20 seconds, before spitting out the solution. 

It does take a few minutes for the tablet to fully dissolve, so place your tablet in the water a few minutes before you plan to use mouthwash.

A small eco-friendly jar of 120 tablets provides months’ worth of mouthwash when used once a day. The good news is that you don’t have to keep buying a new jar, which can be carbon-intensive. Instead, you can refill your jar, by buying Brushd refill packs. These come in fully recyclable cardboard boxes.

These mouthwash tablets do taste a little salty for my taste buds, and they do stain your tongue. I’d love to see the natural colouring toned done quite a lot. However, they are great for travelling as there is no risk of spillage.

Buy Brushd Mouthwash Tablets from Boots or Friendly Turtle for £5.49. Find refill tablets at Friendly Turtle for £4.49.

ecoLiving Mouthwash Tablets

Whilst all the eco-friendly mouthwash options have so far been fluoride-free, you might think that you can’t get a plastic-free fluoride mouthwash. Well, step forward ecoLiving. They are the only sustainable mouthwash option that I’ve found that contains fluoride. And they don’t contain dye, so won’t dye your tongue!

These mouthwash tablets make for a great zero-waste alternative. Simply take one peppermint-flavoured tablet, and dissolve it in 20 to 30 ml of water, before swilling it and then spitting it out.

Whilst they do contain fluoride, you don’t have to make any compromises on eco ethics. The tablets are vegan-friendly and cruelty-free.

ecoLiving also says that their eco-friendly mouthwash tablets are free from preservatives, binders, parabens, SLS, SLES, phthalates, triclosan, genetically modified ingredients, and palm oil. And they don’t contain aluminium or nanoparticles, which is good news if you are looking to avoid those particular ingredients.

Made in the UK, these tablets are packaged in a resealable home compostable pouch. This contains 125 tablets – around a 2-month supply for 1 person. Personally, I would decant these tablets in a glass jar to help protect them from moisture.

These eco-friendly mouthwash tablets also give back. ecoLiving is a member of the 1% For the Planet and donates a portion of its profits to projects that protect our oceans against plastic pollution. They also donate to the Eden Reforestation Project.

Buy ecoLiving mouthwash tablets with fluoride from Ethical Superstore for £5.85. A fluoride-free version is also available.

Georganics Oil Pulling Mouthwash

Georganics oil-pulling mouthwash is, shall we say, a little less conventional than the other eco mouthwash options. In fact, I would say that it is not really a mouthwash in the strictest sense.

Made from coconut oil and peppermint essential oils, Georganics say to take 1 to 2 tablespoons of oil and swish it around your mouth for 5 up to 20 minutes before spitting it out. I know many people who use this use it whilst in the shower or doing other activities. That being said, it does take a lot of concentration to swill the oil around your mouth for that period of time without swallowing it or spitting it out.

Apparently, it’s this action of pushing and pulling oil around the mouth that allows the oil to collect and trap bacteria hiding under crevices in the gums, pores, and tubules within the teeth. Georganics says it’s based on an ancient Ayurvedic practice used to draw toxins from the body and reduce harmful bacteria in the mouth.

The oil starts to feel watery when it’s time to spit it out. It might turn a milky white colour too. However, personally, I would not spit oil down your sink. Spit it down the toilet instead to avoid potentially blocking your sink.

The fluoride-free oil is vegan-friendly and comes 100% plastic-free. It’s packaged in a recyclable aluminium bottle and comes in a compostable box. What’s more, it’s free from parabens, SLS, SLES, mineral oil, microbeads, phthalates, triclosan palm oil, and synthetic fragrances

Buy Georganics Oil Pulling Mouthwash from Friendly Turtle, Cult Beauty, or Ethical Superstore for around £6.90 for 100ml.

Georganics Mouthwash Tablets

If oil pulling isn’t for you, then Georganics also make eco-friendly mouthwash tablets, that are much more like conventional mouthwash.

Like the other tablets, simply dissolve one vegan-friendly minty tablet in a little water, before swilling it around your mouth and spitting.

As well as coming in plastic-free packaging, these tablets are free from parabens, SLS, SLES, mineral oil, microbeads, phthalates, triclosan palm oil, and synthetic fragrances. And for bonus eco points, they are made in the UK for a lower carbon footprint.

Buy Georganics mouthwash tablets from Bower Collective or Ethical Superstore for around £8.90.

Use the exclusive discount code MF20 to take 20% off full-priced products at Bower Collective.

Waken Eco-Friendly Mouthwash

Finally Waken mouthwash is worth a mention because I’ve seen this brand in supermarkets, making it a more accessible eco-friendly alternative.

Because of the metal cap, at first glance, I had assumed the whole bottle was plastic-free. It’s not. Instead, it’s made with a blend of sugarcane and post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic, which is fully recyclable.

What’s to love is that this fluoride-free mouthwash is alcohol-free, making it gentle on your mouth. It’s also vegan-friendly and made in the UK.

Find Waken mouthwash at Boots, where you can also buy the handy metal dispensing cup.

Should You Use Mouthwash Straight After Brushing?

Whilst it has been ingrained in us that we should use mouthwash straight after brushing our teeth, dental experts have begun to advise us differently.

The NHS, for example, advises not to use mouthwash (even a fluoride one) straight after brushing your teeth. This is because they say that using mouthwash immediately after brushing your teeth washes away the concentrated fluoride in the toothpaste left on your teeth. 

Instead, they advise choosing a different time of day to use mouthwash, such as after lunch. The NHS also advises not to eat or drink for 30 minutes after using a fluoride mouthwash. With this in mind, this makes toothpaste tablets a great portable option for when you are out and about.