GUPPYFRIEND Washing Bag

We developed the GUPPYFRIEND Washing Bag to help reduce the amount of microplastic fibres entering the environment. These break off, for example, when washing synthetic textiles (polyester, acrylic, nylon, etc.). It therefore makes sense to wash particularly these textiles in the bag. Fleece jackets, sportswear and outdoor clothing are often made entirely or to a large extent of synthetic fibres, but most other garments also contain a certain amount of synthetics. You can check the care label to see what your garments are made of. However, clothes made of pure cotton and wool can also be washed in the GUPPYFRIEND Washing Bag, because textiles made of natural materials also lose fibres. Washing in the GUPPYFRIEND Washing Bag significantly reduces fibre breakage and thus protects your clothes from wear and tear. You can enjoy your clothes much longer - another sustainable advantage of the Guppyfriend Washing Bag.

By the way: Unfortunately, synthetic fibres may even be present in clothes if they are not indicated on the care label. The rules for listing the components on care labels vary widely, thus a jumper labelled as 100% wool may contain up to 10% of synthetic fibres.

We do not recommend washing synthetic clothing hotter than 40° / "warm".

In general, the warmer you wash, the shorter the life of your clothes.

When washing with the GUPPYFRIEND Washing Bag an imbalance may occur during the spin cycle. When the machine detects such an imbalance in the drum, the spin cycle is often automatically stopped or the speed reduced. This can result in your laundry coming out of the washing machine wet.

To avoid this, it is important to always put additional garments without any synthetic fibers into the drum when using the GUPPYFRIEND Washing Bag. You can also add another filled Washing Bag. This prevents an imbalance and your washing machine should spin as usual.

Please dispose of the collected microfibers in the residual/household waste. We suggest keeping a closed container, e.g. an old jar by your washing machine. This way you can track your progress and once it's full, you can dispose of the collected fibers in a closed container. This reduces the chance of the small and very light synthetic fibers being blown away during waste collection or on the land fill.

Microfibers do not belong in the recycling bin and they cannot be recycled.

By the way: In Germany, residual waste is used to generate electricity and does not end up in landfills. The exhaust gases from waste incineration are filtered and 99% of them are non-toxic. If you don't live in Germany, you can check the Waste Atlas here http://www.atlas.d-waste.com to see what happens to the waste in your region.

Although the GUPPYFRIEND Washing Bag is made out of polyester, it does not lose any microplastic itself. The reason for this is the special structure of the yarn and its properties. The yarn of our filter material consists of a single strand of thread, a so-called monofilament. The yarn is therefore more like a stable stick that cannot unravel and lose microplastic fibres. In addition, the strand of yarn is round, smooth and the material is particularly resistant to alkalis. This results in a very tough and stable fabric that does not rub off and is not affected by washing detergents.

This differs from the yarns used for textiles. They usually consist of several strands of thread that are twisted together. With use and washing, the yarns unravel over time, causing them to lose tiny microplastic fibres.