BBC Wales News Innovation in care with Waterless
Nilaqua the pioneer of sustainable waterlelss washing, has worked so hard to develop & eradicate single use plastic with their biodegradable shampoo caps-wrap. We are so pleased our Nilaqua Swansea based brand is making waves in the healthcare industry.
The company Waterless which is run by brother and sister, Victor and Jess Efford, produces hair washing caps without water which are completely biodegradable ( the first of their kind in the world).
The company was founded by Peter Efford in 2009, but now his children are at the helm looking after the business and the factory in Swansea. Waterless creates and sells eco-friendly toiletries, and as the name suggests the products allow an individual to wash from crown to heel without using water.
But one item they produce has attracted attention all over the world especially within the health care field, which is a cap that allows someone to wash their hair without water.
Victor Efford, who is an engineer, said: “Shampoo caps are well established in the care and health field. They are used by people who struggle with mobility, bedridden and care end of life for example.
“But many of these goods contain single-use plastic and go straight to an incinerator, the rubbish tip or landfill.”
The company aims to try to reduce that. The industry standard shower caps are currently manufactured in China. According to Victor that is unsustainable especially from the point of view of shipping hundreds of thousands of them to Britain every year.
So Victor and Jess set about developing and creating their own wash cap in their small factory in Swansea and the result is the shampoo wrap.
A difficult process
The process was difficult and complicated says Victor:
“Developing the formula for the caps required a lot of back and forth between us and scientists to get the formula right.
“The shampoo wrap is one that you can heat in the microwave so it was necessary to investigate the effect that heating had on the smell, the structure of the fibers, and the anti-microbial effects of the formula.
“Naturally any liquid that comes into contact with something decomposable will develop some kind of pathogens in some way. So it was necessary to find the right blend in the formula to create a good, eco-friendly washing liquid that would not be rough on the skin. “
How does it work?
The wrap is dipped in “towel off” shampoo which is a shampoo that can be used without water to wash it out. It is wrapped around the head and the shampoo is massaged into the hair. That action creates soap foam lifting dirt and grease from the hair. This will wet the hair and make it soapy.
A cloth must then be used to absorb the soap and dirt from the hair leaving it clean.
‘A solution to a big problem’
Waterless said that the care field is looking for more ways to reduce waste and that the shampoo wrap offers a perfect solution to a major eco problem.
The response to their products has been very positive with the English Health Board already adding them to its framework to try to reach their net zero goals.
You can watch the full interview in Welsh here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/cymrufyw/erthyglau/c4n515nzyweo
