Are you wondering how good Bumboo toilet paper is? Is this bamboo toilet roll worth trying out?
My family and I have been using Bumboo’s toilet paper over the past few weeks and we’ve been impressed. We’ve even been asking guests for their feedback!
But how does it all stack up from a quality, price and sustainability perspective?
This Bumboo toilet paper review will help you decide if you should give it a go.
If you’re looking for the super quick answer then yes, Bumboo’s bamboo-based toilet paper is an excellent quality, eco friendly toilet paper.
Review: Bumboo Toilet Roll
Bumboo Discount Code
If you’d like to give Bumboo a try, you can use the discount code TINYECO10 at checkout on the Bumboo website to get 10% off your first order.
What is the Bumboo toilet roll like?
You’re here to read about Bumboo toilet roll, so let’s get straight into it.
My family and I recently received a pack of bamboo toilet paper to try out. Bumboo produce a couple of bamboo toilet roll variations, but I received the 24 box of ‘luxury bamboo toilet tissue’. These were the whitened, individually wrapped toilet rolls.
For me, the toilet roll has been great.
The FSC certified bamboo is very soft and the 3 ply sheets give the toilet roll a nice, velvety thickness.
Here’s a snapshot of what you can expect from a box of Bumboo toilet paper.
- 48 or 24 toilet rolls per box
- Made with 100% FSC bamboo
- Toilet roll made in China
- 300 sheets per roll, 3 ply thickness
- Packaged in individual paper wrappers or wrapper-free
- Toilet paper comes whitened (bleached) or natural (unbleached)
Is Bumboo toilet paper any good?
So, Bumboo produces eco friendly toilet paper, but is it any good?
Based on my experience, the toilet paper produced by Bumboo is excellent. Let’s dig into a little more of the details.
Materials
All variations of the Bumboo toilet paper are made from 100% FSC certified bamboo. You can read what exactly FSC means here.
Unlike paper, bamboo is a type of fast-growing grass. This is why it’s often used as a sustainable alternative. The only downside with this is that most of the world’s bamboo is grown in China. More on this later.
All of Bumboo’s products are plastic-free, which is great.
Colour
The Bumboo toilet rolls come in two main colours:
- White (bleached)
- Natural brown (unbleached)
Each of their 24 or 48 toilet roll boxes have the option of selecting ‘luxury’, which is the bleached version, or 100% natural, which is the unbleached version. From a sustainability point of view, I bet you can guess which one is better for the environment.
To whiten the toilet roll, Bumboo use a combination of oxygen and hydrogen peroxide. This is chlorine free and maybe not the harsh chemical bleach found under the sink, but it’s still using chemical compounds.
Texture
With a 3 ply thickness, the Bumboo toilet roll has a great, soft texture. It’s very much comparable to any other good quality toilet paper you’ll buy made from trees.
This bamboo toilet paper is naturally soft. Bumboo state they don’t use chemical additives, such as softening enhancers.
Packaging
Although producing tree-free toilet paper, Bumboo does use paper in its production.
The boxes with individually wrapped toilet paper come wrapped in a thin sheet of paper. The core of the toilet roll is made from recyclable cardboard and they also use cardboard boxes to ship out their products. I very much like the simple, minimalistic cardboard box to send the products out in.
The good news is that all these materials are recyclable. The thin individual paper wrappers are even compostable thanks to the use of vegetable inks.
Bumboo reviews from other customers
At the time of writing this Bumboo review, they have an impressive rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars from 3,000 reviews on Feefo.
After having a quick read, it’s clear that most customers have first had a great customer experience and quick delivery. Customers on the subscribe and save option (which sends out toilet roll at regular intervals) have praised the service.
In terms of the bamboo toilet roll product itself, excellent quality, good for the environment and last us a long time have been some of the feedback.
Of the not-as-complementary reviews, the thickness of the toilet paper crops up a couple of times. I honestly don’t think this is an issue. Price is an issue for some, as is the fact they’re not made in the UK.
Are Bumboo products sustainable?
When it comes to sustainability, Bumboo have a number of positives going for their operations.
Here’s a quick list:
- Uses 100% FSC certified bamboo – no trees cut down
- FSC certified paper for the wrappers
- Packaging printed with soy-based inks
- Plastic free – no plastic wrappers or plastic tape
- Comes in a recyclable cardboard box
- Offers unwrapped toilet paper option
- Offers unbleached toilet paper option
- Vegan friendly
- 1 tree planted per order
Importantly, no harsh chemicals or plastics go into their toilet paper products. So that’s no bleach, no BPA, no de-inking agents, formaldehyde, filler, artificial scents or dyes. A good eco start.
Bumboo use 100% virgin bamboo for their toilet rolls. There are pros and cons to using bamboo, which you can read about here in my post on is bamboo really sustainable?
In short, bamboo requires no pesticides or fertilisers to grow. It also grows rapidly and can be reharvested once it’s grown back again (during which it’s absorbing carbon dioxide from the environment).
The negatives are that we’re not sure about labour conditions, how factories operate and if deforestation is happening to plant bamboo plantations.
For every toilet roll bought, Bumboo plant a tree.
At the time of writing, Bumboo have funded the planting of 150,000 trees. They aim to plant 500,000 by the end of 2023.
Bumboo plant their trees in partnership with Eden Reforestation Projects, a charity that employs local villagers to help restore forests whilst supporting the local community. You can read more about Eden Reforestation Projects in this blog post.
The environmental negatives
Bumboo are aiming to get B Corp certified in the future, which would be a good move. From what I can see, there’s no environmental report published. This is in contrast to another bamboo toilet roll producer, Naked Sprout.
On what I’d describe as a negative for sustainability, Bumboo does tend to offer an alternative.
For example, whitening the toilet roll is unnecessary for me, but Bumboo does offer 100% naturally coloured rolls. Bumboo inform us that they don’t use any unnecessary chemicals. They do use a mix of oxygen and hydrogen peroxide to bleach their whitened rolls, but this is a totally chlorine-free (TCF) process.
I think individually wrapping the toilet roll is unnecessary too. Wrapping vs unwrapped toilet roll doesn’t affect the quality at all when in the cardboard box (as Bumboo admits), so the wrapped rolls are for marketing purposes.
That said, I do understand why Bumboo does this. On the flip side, Bumboo also offer unwrapped box versions.
How and where are Bumboo products made?
The Bumboo toilet paper is made in China, near to the FSC certified bamboo source.
I can’t really find any more information on the factories used, labour conditions, renewable energy initiatives and the like.
Once the toilet paper has been manufactured it’s shipped by sea freight to the UK. Sea freight is recognised as one of the most carbon-efficient methods of transportation available.
That being true, it is a long way from China to the UK to ship lots and lots of toilet paper. This is the downside of bamboo products in general.
How much does Bumboo toilet roll cost?
So, how much does it cost to buy a pack of Bumboo toilet paper?
Bumboo offer boxes of 24 or 48 toilet rolls. Nice and simple.
The toilet paper in both box sizes are classed as ‘extra long’. All have 300 sheets per roll and are triple ply thickness. This is very good.
There are three varieties of each box size:
| Size | Bleached | Individually Wrapped | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24 box | Whitened | Yes | £44 |
| 24 box | Whitened | No | £42 |
| 24 box | Unbleached | No | £42 |
| 48 box | Whitened | Yes | £24 |
| 48 box | Whitened | No | £23 |
| 48 box | Unbleached | No | £23 |
You can save 5% on each order if you subscribe to regular deliveries. With this option, you can choose to receive a 24 or 48 box on a frequency that suits you – from every month to every 6 months.
To work out the cost per 100 sheets, there’s a simple formula: (Total price / total number of rolls / number of sheets) x 100.
Using this, we can see that Bumboo toilet paper gets priced up between 29p and 33p.
This is slightly higher than the 24p-30p cost per 100 sheets of Naked Sprout. However, the Bumboo toilet roll is triple ply compared to Naked Sprout’s double ply. The extra thickness does feel more luxurious.
However, the best bamboo toilet paper for price is Bazoo. Bazoo’s 3 ply, FSC certified bamboo toilet paper comes in at between 20-26p per 100 sheets. Read my Bazoo review here.
How does this compare to your supermarket brands?
A 24 pack of Andrex Gentle Clean is £10.95. With 170 sheets per roll this equates to 27p per 100 sheets. Very similar to our eco friendly varieties.
A 4 pack of Asda Shades double roll is £3.45. This works out at 27p per 100 sheets.
Buying in bulk always helps. For example, a 4 pack of Cushelle quilted toilet roll at £3.55 works out at 56p per 100 sheets!
As you can see, it’s not actually that more expensive to buy from an environmentally friendly brand. I’d definitely encourage buying from eco brands where you can.
The Verdict: Bumboo Toilet Paper Review
The toilet roll is soft, strong and lasts a long time. I also like buying everyday items in bulk so that you don’t have to think about it for a while. Plus it’s cheaper. The subscribe and save option is good for this.
In terms of sustainability credentials, Bumboo’s are very good.
In an ideal world, I’d say no to individual wrappers and use only naturally coloured products, but I understand the brand concept behind them.
I hope that people can become more and more accustomed to unwhitened toilet paper over time. This will support the phasing out of unnecessary bleaching just for aesthetics. I like how Bumboo do offer full eco friendly versions for each of their boxes.
If you’re on a mission to make your household habits more sustainable, I’d say give Bumboo toilet paper a go and see what you think.
Bumboo Discount Code
If you’d like to give Bumboo a try, you can use the discount code TINYECO10 at checkout on the Bumboo website to get 10% off your first time order.
Bumboo vs Naked Sprout vs Who Gives A Crap
Bumboo or Who Gives A Crap? Naked Sprout or Bumboo? All these brands produce bamboo toilet roll but which one is the best?
Let’s take a look at each of the main areas identified above. If you want a closer look, I’ve published both a Who Gives A Crap review and Naked Sprout review.
Materials
The bamboo used for all three toilet rolls comes from China. So is there actually any difference in the materials used?
Yes, there’s a difference in the ethics behind the bamboo.
Both Bumboo and Naked Sprout use FSC certified bamboo forests in the Sichuan province of China. Who Gives A Crap use small family farms which aren’t all FSC certified.
Winner: Bumboo & Naked Sprout
Quality, colour & texture
I think the texture and quality of all these bamboo toilet rolls is very good. The triple ply of Who Gives A Crap and Bumboo does give it an extra comfort factor.
Colour is the big difference, so this may be a personal preference. This is where the three differ.
WGAC offer white (bleached) only toilet paper. Naked Sprout offer natural (non-bleached) only. Bumboo offer both options.
White is the traditional choice, but I’m growing to love the more natural colour. Just as I have with my brown compostable coffee filters.
Winner: Bumboo
Manufacturing
Both Bumboo and Who Gives A Crap use manufacturing facilities in China close to where the material is sourced. This helps reduce transportation needs and therefore carbon emissions.
Both companies then ship their toilet roll to where it needs to go. In Bumboo’s case this is the UK. As Who Gives A Crap are much larger, they then ship to ports across Australia, the USA, Netherlands for the EU and England for the UK.
Naked Sprout operate differently and send their bamboo via sea freight to a certified carbon neutral factory in Europe. It’s here where their toilet paper is made and distributed.
Winner: Naked Sprout
Packaging
Bumboo and Who Gives A Crap both wrap their individual toilet rolls in attractive wrappers.
No doubt these look great stacked up next to the toilet. WGAC’s are more playful, whereas Bumboo’s are more stylish.
It goes without saying though that all this extra packaging requires more resources to manufacture. Bumboo state that it is lighter to send out 4 individually wrapped toilet rolls compared to 4 rolls in one paper bag (13g vs 17g). When scaled up, this will save a significant amount of carbon emissions during transportation.
The other benefit is that the individual wrappers are recyclable and they don’t use toxic inks. That said, in my view I prefer non-wrapped toilet roll, although I can understand why people prefer wrapped.
In good news, Bumboo also offer wrapper free boxes for those who won’t to minimise their environmental impact even further. This is a great move.
Naked Sprout don’t individually wrap their toilet paper. These are stacked instead directly in the cardboard box.
All of the companies use a recyclable cardboard box as their main vessel of packaging. Bumboo use kraft paper to seal their boxes instead of packaging tape, so they can maintain their plastic free reputation.
Draw: Bumboo & Naked Sprout
Environment
Both Naked Sprout and Who Gives A Crap are certified B Corporations.
Naked Sprout have also published an environmental report, which is great. I can’t see the equivalent for WGAC or Bumboo.
Bumboo and Naked Sprout have a good number of eco initiatives. They are plastic free and don’t use packaging tape. Although Bumboo do offer non-whitened toilet roll alongside whitened, Naked Sprout only offer an unbleached version, which is undoubtedly better for the environment.
Who Gives A Crap still use plastic tape and whiten their bamboo toilet paper using Chlorine Dioxide and Hydrogen Peroxide.
Winner: Naked Sprout
Cost
On like for like toilet roll numbers, Naked Sprout comes in the cheapest of the three eco brands.
For a box of 48 bamboo toilet rolls, you’ll pay £48 with WGAC, £44/£42 with Bumboo and £39.99 with Naked Sprout.
For a box of 24 rolls, it’s £30 (WGAC) vs £24/£23 (Bumboo) vs £23.50 (Naked Sprout).
However, there’s a little more to the picture when you consider the ‘ply’ of the toilet roll. This is the number of thin layers per sheet. 3 ply sheets, for example, will feel more luxurious than 2 ply.
With Who Gives A Crap you get 370 x 3 ply sheets. With Naked Sprout it’s 320 x 2 ply sheets and with Bumboo it’s 300 x 3 ply sheets.
For the 48 toilet roll box here are the equivalent costs:
- Bumboo cost per 100 sheets = 29p (£42 box)
- Who Gives A Crap cost per 100 sheets = 27p
- Naked Sprout cost per 100 sheets = 26p
Winner: Naked Sprout & Who Gives A Crap (given the extra ply)
Overall Winner of the best bamboo toilet roll
- Naked Sprout
- Bumboo
- Who Gives A Crap
FAQs on Bumboo Toilet Paper
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