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Hey there.

We are two friends living on opposite coasts (Brooklyn, New York and Santa Monica, California) that share a passion for living a minimal, zero waste lifestyle and on a mission to help others do the same.

Harper. Lives in Brooklyn with a +1. Sassy pup. Matcha. Wine. Whiskey. Cheese. Proscuitto.

Charley. Lives in Los Angeles with a +1. Doofy pup. Coffee. Wine. Whiskey. Cheese. Pasta.

Forgo Wood Scent Hand Soap Review |  Zero Waste, Refillable Foaming Hand Soap

Forgo Wood Scent Hand Soap Review | Zero Waste, Refillable Foaming Hand Soap

The Top Line: Sadly, NOT a buy, only based on price. The ingredients are good and ease of using Forgo is fabulous. The scent is light, which we would have appreciated a little bit more of. We love the glass bottle and we are glad we bought it — we just know it was a bit of a splurge.


The Breakdown:

  • Cost & Products: $56 for the start kit, which includes 1 pump and 3 sachets of Hand Wash Refill powder to make 1 bottle each of the soap. Refills come in packs of 3, 6, and 12, which saves up to 15% per sachet.

  • How ‘Clean’ Is This? No Sulfate, naturally derived ingredients, no chemical fragrance, and generally safe ingredients.

  • Packaging: Paper and Cardboard

  • Purchasing & Shipping: Straightforward ordering on website - there are no shipping costs for purchases over $35.

  • What’s Your Impact? By using Forgo Hand Soap, you cut down on plastic bottles that you recycle (throw out) and you reduce emissions since the sachets weigh next to nothing.


The Good:

Glass bottle is really well made, looks great on countertops

Soap scent is nice (but very faint)

Ingredients are limited

Hands are not dry after use

Easy to mix, dissolves nicely

The Bad:

Super expensive

We need to check on this — but it may ship from Sweden


The Experience

What we typically use: We have been refilling our glass soap pump with brands like Method, Mrs. Meyers, and any other drugstore brand that touts green ingredients in a refillable format. We typically stick to gel-like soaps, but we’ve moved in on foam with the likes of Petal and such.

  • Powder is easy to pour into the wide mouth jar - there is only a little bit

  • Add warm water to the three dots and shake

  • That’s it - we took a picture before it fully settled so the remnants/foam is at the top

  • Cleans hands well

  • Doesn’t really dry them out

  • Scent (wood) is very nice but super faint - can’t even smell it after hands are dry

  • The glass jar is super heavy and really well made - looks great on our bathroom counter


The Cost

We checked out typical grocery store brands and other limited ingredient hand soaps, like Seventh Generation, Cleancult, Grove Collaborative, Mrs. Meyer’s, Dawn, and Soft Soap. We assumed that you would go through 160oz of soap per year.

Forgo Wood Hand Soap Cost2.jpg

Money Report: Holy smokes. Forgo is SO expensive!


Our Recommendation: Sadly, NOT a buy, only based on price. The ingredients are good and ease of using Forgo is fabulous. The scent is light, which we would have appreciated a little bit more of. We love the glass bottle and we are glad we bought it — we just know it was a bit of a splurge.

We're on a mission to reduce our personal carbon footprint with small, hopefully easy, changes in our home to fight against climate change. This means we're looking for products that may be all natural, ideally zero waste, reusable or compostable -- while still being affordable!

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