Microplastics are everywhere. Home textiles such as upholstered furniture, curtains, and carpets, as well as surface coatings, clothing, and shoe soles, are sources of microplastics.

These fiber and particle emissions, which are primarily caused by abrasion, aging, and sunlight, accumulate along with various natural materials like hair and skin flakes to form what are known as "dust bunnies." The synthetic content in household dust is heavily dependent on the materials present in the living environment.

In addition to hair, skin particles, and mites, house dust consists primarily of plastic abrasion from carpets, blankets, upholstered furniture, curtains, shoe soles, textiles, and other objects.  

It cannot be reliably filtered out by sewage treatment plants, ends up in nature with sewage sludge, and is responsible there for the emissions of climate-damaging ethylene and methane gases. Millions of tons of tiny plastic particles are already destroying CO2 sinks on land and in the water. They can cause various cancers in humans and animals and are suspected of leading to reproductive disorders and thus to the extinction of important microorganisms. Before broken-off plastic fibers and fragments disintegrate into even smaller pieces, microplastics must be filtered out where they are generated. Because all experts agree: microplastics simply do not belong in the environment!

Household dust is the collective term for particulate and fibrous

emissions in enclosed spaces. It is composed of various substances that are highly dependent on the living conditions of the occupants (e.g., the presence of pets and carpets). Household dust essentially consists of abrasion, i.e., fibers and particles from home textiles, clothing, and upholstered furniture. However, hair, skin flakes, and plant pollen also account for a certain proportion, whereas toner from laser printers, tire wear, and fine dust usually play only a minor role in private indoor spaces.

The "sludge" remaining in the bucket filter can be removed while moist and disposed of in the residual waste. After use, the filter surface can be cleaned with a cloth or a soft brush (natural bristles!). Attention: Please do not clean under running water!

In principle, yes. However, you should not use just any cleaner, but rather ensure that yours is biodegradable and contains neither solid microplastics nor liquid polymers. While surfactants derived from palm oil are of natural origin, we prefer clean soil and an intact rainforest. There are alternatives! Please always clean responsibly and also take care not to expose the filter to highly overdosed, viscous, or acidic cleaning solutions.

The "sludge" collected in the bucket filter consists of a collection of various materials that should under no circumstances be released into the environment or returned to the material cycle.

To avoid this, disposal in a sealed container in the residual waste is the safest solution.

Yes, they do. Sewage treatment plants clean and filter our wastewater. But there are at least three major problems with this:

1. Even modern sewage treatment plants cannot completely remove microplastics. The smaller particles are particularly problematic. Studies show that significant amounts of microplastics can be found in the river "downstream" from the treatment plant.
2. The sewage sludge filtered out in the treatment plant is usually spread on fields by farmers as fertilizer, which leads to extreme microplastic pollution.
3. To prevent backflow into our homes, some untreated wastewater contaminated with microplastics is diverted directly into rivers and lakes during heavy rainfall.

So, join in! Filter your wastewater! You are the last line of defense before the microplastics from your household dust enter the environment!

For the GUPPYFRIEND bucket filter, we use an untreated, silicone-free, and particularly fine laboratory-grade polyester filter mesh that is characterized by high alkaline resistance. As it is a monofilament, the filter mesh itself does not release any microplastics into the environment.

The GUPPYFRIEND washing machine filter itself does not shed any microplastics. The reason for this is the specific structure of the yarn and its unique properties. The yarn used to weave our filter material consists of a single strand, known as a monofilament. The yarn is therefore more like a stable rod that cannot unravel and shed microplastic fibers in the process. Furthermore, the strand is round, smooth, and the material is particularly resistant to alkaline solutions. This results in a very tough and stable fabric that does not abrade and is not damaged by detergents, for example.

This is different for the yarns used for textiles. These usually consist of multiple strands that are twisted together. During use and washing, the threads gradually untwist and abrade due to their rough surface. This causes them to shed tiny microplastic fibers.

The filter mesh of the GUPPYFRIEND bucket filter is manufactured in France and Italy.

The functionality of the fabric, which is specially manufactured for filters, has been extensively tested and scientifically confirmed. It is used in the filtration of food products such as drinking water, as well as in technical industrial laboratories, for example for particle separation.  

The challenge for us was to define the appropriate mesh size for this high-tech fabric. Our goal is to filter as effectively as possible without having to wait a long time for the liquids to be filtered to "seep through."  

The German Textile Research Center North-West (DTNW) supports us in analyzing particles and creating statistics on the materials commonly found in private and commercial environments. In the microscopic analysis conducted by the DTNW, it was determined based on dust samples from various households that the filter material we use is very well suited for filtering household dust from cleaning and rinse water. Click here for the test. 

To verify our results, we regularly supplement our test series with additional dust samples.