Condo Blues: One Small Green Change: Use SLS Free Toothpaste

Friday, April 29, 2011

One Small Green Change: Use SLS Free Toothpaste

A Chinese friend mentioned that they have toothpaste back home that prevents you from getting canker sores. Soon after I had that conversation, Rembrandt introduced their canker sore preventing toothpaste and gave out coupons so often it was like feeding stray cats. We tried Rembrandt and it reduced Huband’s canker sore outbreaks.YAY!

Of course you know what happened next. We were hooked on the toothpaste and Rembrandt stopping issuing coupons and the price went up. It’s now $7.00 a tube at CVS. Rembrandt is smaller than a conventional (and cheaper) tube of toothpaste. Yikes!

Since I don’t get canker sores from toothpaste like Husband,  he used the spendy toothpaste. I switched to Colgate. It’s cheaper and rates a 3 on Environmental Working Group Skin Deep database. A three - Moderate Hazard rating and below is my guideline when using Skin Deep as my shopping guide.(Your mileage may vary.)

We’ve been going merrily along with the his and hers toothpaste for quite awhile. It sure would be nice to have a cheaper option or at least some coupons for the stuff Husband uses.

Tom's of Maine Simply White Toothpaste, Clean Mint , 4.7 Ounce(Pack of 6)I researched. I found that the Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS) in our conventional toothpaste may be causing Husband’s canker sores, not the fluoride. As an experiment, Husband switched to Tom’s of Maine, a less expensive brand of SLS free toothpaste. He didn’t have an outbreak.


May’s One Small Green Change is for the entire family to use the same SLS free toothpaste. So far we tried and liked Tom’s of Maine, and Trader’s Joes. We also tried Burt’s Bees  toothpaste but didn’t like it because we think it has the taste and consistency of caulk. Bleach!

The nice thing about Tom's toothpaste is that the tubes are metal. Once you cut the plastic threads off the top, you can put the metal tube in with our household recycling. If we go with a brand in a plastic tube, like Trader Joe's or Burt's Bees I take the empty plastic tubes to Orgins for recycling (and get free samples!) I take the hard plastic toothpaste caps to Aveda for recycling.

Have you tried SLS free toothpaste? I’m looking for more options so we don’t get into a high priced toothpaste situation again. What brand of SLS free toothpaste do you like?


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4 comments :

Robj98168 said...

I didn't know i was using a SLS free toothpaste... BUt use Tom's and occasionally TJ's myself. Didn't know about the tom's tubes being metal- Thanks!

Melissa said...

We use SLS and Fluoride free toothpaste, and I buy it, along with SLS free shampoo from vitacost . com. MUCH cheaper. They carry lots of stuff there, so it is easy to get to the free shipping level and stock my cabinet with stuff I use regularly, anyhow.

Anonymous said...

I found this post doing a Google search for SLS free toothpaste. I was shopping for Tom's of Maine toothpaste the other day and I saw that it had SLS in it. Perhaps they've changed their formula?

Lisa Nelsen-Woods said...

Sugaredbeauty - I think it depends upon the flavor. just like Floride. Some of Tom's flavors have it, some don't.

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