Eco-Friendly Cleaning With The Skoy Scrub Pad? – An Honest Review

Overall Rating:

4.76/5

Performance = 4.5

Value For Money = 4.9

Longevity = 4.9

Ever since I have decided to live a more sustainable life, I’m looking for eco-friendly products I can switch to. And my plastic cleaning sponges definitely needed to go.

I wanted to replace them with cleaning sponges or clothes that are plastic-free and reusable. I found the Skoy Scrub on one of my favourite sustainable online shops: &keep.

A cleaning cloth made from cotton and brushed with a food-grade, non-toxic hardener.

The concept intrigued me, so I decide to try it. In my Skoy Scrub review I will give you my honest opinion of this sustainable alternative.

Who Are Skoy?

I have to admit that I was quite surprised when I found out that Skoy is a US company, as I read that their scrub is made in Poland.

The founders, Michelle and Karen, came up with the idea of their Skoy Cloth while living in Europe. They wanted to create eco-friendly and effective replacements for current cleaning sponges and paper towels. After coming back to the US, they developed their idea further and Skoy was launched in 2007 with the introduction of the Skoy Cloth.

This plastic-free cleaning cloth is made of cellulose and cotton, making it absorbent, washable and an ideal alternative to paper towels.

Sustainable Materials And Fabrics

Any new product they have designed is made from sustainable, biodegradable and/or recycled materials.

The Skoy Scrub is made from remnants from the towel industry, which are 100% cotton. So it’s the pieces that would have gotten thrown away and are instead used to make something else. That’s great.

The towel pieces are than hardened with a food-grade, non-toxic hardener to make them ideal for scrubbing sinks, pots, surfaces, and much more. Even non-stick pans can be cleaned with them.

You can wash the scrub again and again and reuse it for months. It’s just a shame that it can’t be composted and has to be disposed of in the general waste bin. At least it won’t leak any toxic chemicals or microplastics as it breaks down.

Skoy Towel Made From Polyester

One thing I was disappointed to see was that the Skoy towel is made from polyester. True, it’s made from 100% recycled polyester, but it’s still made of plastic.

The issue is that as it’s used and washed it will release tiny synthetic fibres, which cause the same harm as microplastics.

Also, once it has been binned, it will take a very long time to break down, release more microfibres as well as toxic chemicals. I would like to see Skoy using a plastic-free material, potentially offcuts from the towel industry.

Made In Europe – Shipped From US

Another fact I wasn’t happy to see was that while the Skoy Scrub is made In Poland and the Skoy Cloth in Germany, they are then sent to the US to be packaged and then sent out to wholesale customers all over the world.

So the Skoy Scrub I tried has been made in Europe, shipped to the US to be packaged and then sent back to the UK to be sold. That isn’t the most sustainable, as it involves a lot of transport which is responsible for carbon emissions, which drives climate change.

Their other products are made in China and are also shipped to the US for packaging to be shipped back out into the world.

It would be better for the environment if the products were packaged where they are made and then sent to where they are sold. As it is, the current system makes the Skoy products less eco-friendly that they could be.

What About Sustainable Packaging?

According to their website, they only use recycled cardboard to package their products. But when my Skoy Scrub came, it had a little label that was attached with a plastic thingy.

That was very disappointing and not what I would have expected from a company that claims to have the environment at their heart.

So while Skoy are doing a lot of things right, there are also things they get wrong. I’d love to see them address these.

Lack Of Absorption But Good At Scrubbing

When the Skoy Scrubs arrived – I bought two – I was surprised how thin they were. I think I expected them to be more than one layer of towel. The hardener gives the pad structure while keeping it flexible and it’s easy to see that it will scrub away dirt well.

I used one of the scrubs to wash my pots, as I thought it would make scrubbing dirty pans easy work. And I have to say that it did.

However, the pad didn’t absorb water or washing-up liquid very well. This led me to having to use much more washing-up liquid than I normally would. After a while the Skoy Scrub would become foamy, but by then I had used a lot of washing-up liquid, which isn’t ideal.

Easy To Get Into Glasses & Mugs

What the scrubbing pad was really good at though was getting into mugs and glasses. Being so thin and flexible, it’s easy to get every tea stain off the inside of a tea cup.

And the roughness the hardener gives the pad is great when you need to clean burnt-on food from a roasting tin or frying pan.

But after using it a few times to wash my dishes, I decided that I just used too much washing-up liquid. So I moved it to kitchen sink cleaning duty.

Dirty Sink – No Problem

We have a white ceramic kitchen sink, that quickly looks dirty. With food stains and splashes from tea and coffee over some days, it soon needs scrubbing.

Some compostable cleaning sponges we have tried, weren’t up to the job. It just needed too much elbow grease to get the sink sparkling, even with my husbands favourite cream cleaner.

But the Skoy Scrub made easy work of getting the sink clean, to my husband’s delight. Crucially, the scrubbing pad doesn’t leave any marks, so is save to be used on our ceramic sink.

So the verdict for my Skoy Scrub review in terms of performance is that it works great for cleaning sinks, bathroom tiles, showers, baths, oven, and worktops. But as washing-up pad it’s not ideal, an absorbent compostable sponge works better for this job.

Clean, Wash, Reuse…

What is really great about the Skoy Scrub is that you can wash it in the washing machine to refresh it and then reuse it. When a plastic sponge or cleaning cloth get’s dirty or grimy, you throw it away.

This scrubbing pad is reusable, which means there is less waste, which is just what I’m looking for in a sustainable alternative.

And you can wash it again and again, for months according to some people who are using it. We have only had ours for two months, but they’re still in tiptop condition, despite them having been washed several times.

A Cleaning Pad That’s Made To Last

One thing that did strike me about the Scrubs is that they’re made with care and are therefore good quality. Even though we have washed them several times now, the stitching is still in excellent condition.

The hardening substance hasn’t been washed off, so that the pads are still great at scrubbing sinks, tiles and kitchen worktops. While I can’t say how long they will last, it does look like it will be several months, which is great.

I read in one review that the Skoy Scrub lasted a year and was still going, which is not bad at all. I’m looking forward to find out how long mine will last.

Disposal

One thing I’m not looking forward to though is having to throw them in the bin. This is probably the thing I’m most disappointed about. I assumed the Skoy Scrub could be composted, as it’s made of cotton.

But according to the instructions on the Skoy website, it needs to be disposed of in the general waste bin. I assume that’s because of the hardener they use. While it’s food-grade and non-toxic, it might stop the pad from composting.

Seen that I’m trying to reduce the waste we produce in our household, this isn’t ideal. However, because it lasts so much longer than a plastic sponge, using it will still reduce waste.

And because it’s plastic-free, it won’t cause any harm if it ends up in landfill at the end of its life.

Great Value For Money

The next thing I want to talk about in my Skoy Scrub review is value for money. Is it worth your money buying this eco-friendly alternative?

The answer is yes. While they might look expensive at first glance, you have to keep in mind that one pad should last you for months.

So to compare the price of the Skoy Scrub with the current cleaning sponge you use, you have to calculate how many sponges you have to buy in the time you use one pad.

For me, this means that as long as subbing pad lasts at least 3 months, I’m saving money. And it looks very likely that it will. On top of this, you also get a plastic-free cleaning pad that is versatile and can be reused. That’s value for money.

Conclusion

So would I recommend the Skoy Scrub? Yes, but with a caveat. Because this product is made in Europe, but packaged in the US, the carbon footprint is higher than for a product made and shipped from Europe/the UK.

So a similar product made and processed in the UK would be preferable. It’s also worth keeping in mind that you have to dispose of the cleaning pad by throwing it in the general waste bin, so it will end up in landfill eventually.

If you’re happy to accept both of these drawbacks, then this could be a great choice for you. Otherwise, you might want to check the other sustainable alternatives to cleaning sponges on our website.