How to Protect Your Refill Shop Customers and The Industry from Contamination

How to Protect Your Refill Shop Customers and The Industry from Contamination

The Refill process presents multiple opportunities for contamination. Contamination can result in a product losing effectiveness and/ or building up dangerous bacteria. For the refill movement to become and stay mainstream, there needs to be a standard in product safety and sanitation. I'll show you how to create an effective sanitation schedule for your bulk containers, communicate sell-by / use-by dates, and build a system that ensures you are never left with expired products. 

Preventing Contamination

Products containing water and the importance of preservatives:

Guardians of Shelf Life and Contamination Occurrence

  • Extend product shelf life by inhibiting the growth of BACTERIA, MOLD, AND FUNGI.
  • Effectiveness depends on various factors: PH, WATER CONTENT, AIR EXPOSURE, AND PACKAGING.
  • Customer interaction: Dirty or wet hands touching open products will increase risk.

Not One-Size-Fits-All

  • Based on the product composition, certain preservatives will not be effective in certain formulas.
  • Choosing the right preservative is crucial for optimal product stability.
  • It is important to stock professionally developed products that are properly preserved (insurance required).

Preservative Spectrum

  • Well-Preserved: Adequate preservative levels ensure product stability and safety.
  • Barely There: Insufficient preservatives might allow spoilage, compromising product quality and safety.
  • Preservative-Free: This is not a viable option for maintaining product integrity and preventing microbial growth. It is also a huge insurance liability, there are known cases of unpreserved products causing illness and deaths.

Well Preserved Products will have:

  • Shelf stability in original packaging
  • Shelf stability when transferred to a dispenser
  • Resistance to poor sanitization practices and humans

Preservatives play a vital role in ensuring the safety and efficacy of everyday products throughout their shelf-life. Choosing the right type and amount of preservative is essential for both product performance and consumer well-being.

Packaging

How to safeguard products from shelf to home

  • Packaging acts as a barrier, protecting products from contamination by dust, dirt, and microorganisms during storage and transportation.
  • Proper seals prevent leaks, spills, and tampering, safeguarding the product's integrity and preventing contamination.
  • Sturdy packaging shields products from bumps, shocks, hammer effects, and vibrations that can occur during shipping and handling.
  • Packaging materials can help control factors like light, moisture, and oxygen exposure. This helps preserve the quality and effectiveness of the product, extending its shelf life.
  • Packaging serves as a platform for crucial information, including ingredients, usage instructions, and expiry dates. This empowers consumers to make informed choices and use the product safely.

Storage

Storing products in proper conditions is crucial to prevent contamination by harmful BACTERIA, MOLD, AND FUNGI.

  • Leaving products uncapped or uncovered creates an open invitation for airborne contaminants like dust and microorganisms to settle onto the product.
  • Removing products from their original containers exposes them to a wider range of environmental factors and increases the risk of contamination.
  • Following recommended storage conditions (temperature, humidity, light exposure) helps maintain product integrity and minimize the growth of harmful microbes.
    • Temperature - 50° to 70°
    • Sunlight - Indirect is better than direct
    • Humidity - Old buildings = increased humidity = increase mold

By storing products properly, you can extend their shelf life, ensure their effectiveness, and safeguard yourself from potential contamination and liability.

Distribution

Contamination Concerns During Transit

  • Delivery Trucks can stir up dust, dirt, and debris on the road, potentially infiltrating sealed packages and settling on the outside of the product container.
  • Pallet wrapping on freight deliveries helps create a barrier, minimizing dust and debris ingress during transportation and protecting products from external contaminants.
  • fluctuations in temperature during shipping can create condensation on products or within packaging. This moisture can promote microbial growth, especially for products susceptible to spoilage.

Careful packaging, proper preservatives, and cleaning packages after arrival are crucial to minimize contamination risks and ensure product safety before being presented to the end user.

Standard in Safety and Sanitation

Creating an effective Safety and Sanitization Schedule

By setting sanitization standards, you will ensure that cleaning and disinfection processes effectively eliminate harmful bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. Establishing clear guidelines involves determining the appropriate cleaning agents and equipment to use, the frequency of cleaning activities, and specific protocols for fostering a culture of hygiene and cleanliness.

Your insurance company will want preserved products.
Unpreserved = Risk

Record keeping of the shop sanitation processes and a schedule of cleaning practices will be critical in the event of litigation.

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Don't have a cleaning schedule for your store? Download our example one here:  Sanitization Schedule Template 

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Creating an Effective Sanitization & Safety Schedule

In - House

Reusing a Container

Every time you empty the contents of a package that container needs to be cleaned and sanitized before a new product from another batch can be added to it.

Why do this?

Accidental contamination can occur any time the dispenser and products are handled.

Wash the containers/ nozzles/ pumps with hot water or utilize a steam cleaning machine, and spray with 99% isopropyl alcohol (IPA).

Customer Refills

Refill bottles brought in by customers have to be cleaned and sanitized by the shop. Or at minimum have the customer sign a disclaimer form stating they sanitized the bottle prior to refilling.

It is also a good idea to keep a record of what type of bottle the customer is using:

  • Refill container brought in by customer
  • A new bottle was purchased from the shop
  • Refiller borrowed from the shop library

This way if contamination occurs the shop can easily track where the issue is and fix it.

Community Returns 

Library of bottles left for customers, by customers

It is the shop's responsibility to verify and ensure that the bottles are clean and sterilized before allowing use.

Use - By Dates

Communicate Sell-by / Use-by Dates

Most household goods have a 1 year after opening expiration date. Most lotions, creams and personal care-type items will differ depending on the manufacturer and preservative used. Check with them.

Best Practice:

Mark each bulk container with the Open Date

Give customers a sticker or other indicator of that date when they refill from your container.

Expirations

No Expired Products

If the shop is busy enough this really shouldn't be a problem. However, we know that you may buy a scent that may not have moved as quickly as you thought.

Here are some ideas to help you move product before it expires:

  • Have a sale on that product.
  • Pair expiring product with a Best Seller
  • Promote & grow interest in your overlooked stock

If you end up with an expired product it is better to donate the items versus selling them.

Protecting Refill

Without safe practices that include proper preservatives, packaging, storage, and distribution of products, the Refill Industry will be at risk.
If issues are present, the trust of the community can be lost, leading to mandatory safety inspections as well as other restrictions.

Protect your business, your customers and the Refill Industry

 

About us

Meet the Adamson Family

  • A Mother's Mission:
    • Our journey began when my 18-month-old son experienced severe allergic reactions to common cleaning products.
    • Switching to hypoallergenic options still triggered these reactions.
    • This ignited a passion to find a safer solution for our family.
  • Unveiling the Bigger Picture:
    • As I faced endocrine issues later in life, the connection between everyday products and health became undeniable.
    • We delved into researching ingredients and their impact.
  • From Personal Need to Purpose:
    • Years of research, experimentation, and testing followed.
    • Our initial goal, to protect our son, evolved into a mission to empower families.
  • Rustic Strength Today:
    • We manufacture high-purity, toxin-free cleaning & wellness products.
    • Made with plant-based ingredients, prioritizing both family and environmental well-being.
    • Our refillable products minimize waste with hundreds of refill locations nationwide.

 

Rustic Strength offers a solution born from a family's need but driven by a desire to create a healthier future for all families and the planet.

Rustic Strength

We believe powerful cleaning shouldn't come at the expense of your health or the environment. That's why we use highly concentrated, pure active ingredients. We meticulously source these ingredients to ensure they're free of impurities, keeping harsh chemicals out of your home. Our commitment goes beyond avoiding harmful ingredients. We proudly formulate our products to be 

FREE of Phthalates • Parabens • Ethoxylated Alcohol • SLS (Sodium Lauryl Sulfate) • SLES (Sodium Laureth Sulfate)

We call it the "Simply Worry-Free" approach to cleaning.

 

We are proud to be a leader in sustainable cleaning practices. We were the first in our industry to establish a "Close the Loop Program" for our containers.

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