Here at Purple Urchin, environmental sustainability is important to us. We want to continue to make strides forward as a business. And help our customers achieve their sustainability initiatives too!
Purple Urchin will be offering a refill program when we reopen the store. Our team has decided we will wait until the curve has been flattened, and proven to make an impact on reducing the transmission of COVID, before reopening the shop. But in the meantime while we all continue to practice social distancing, we want to provide you with instructions on how to sterilize and clean your liquid soap bottle to safely transfer the contents into it.
HOW TO REMOVE STICKERS FROM GLASS AND PLASTIC BOTTLES
As we phase out plastic here at Purple Urchin, you may still receive one of our Castile liquid soaps in a plastic container as we transition to glass. If you currently have one of our plastic bottles, you can clean and reuse these bottles too!
We recommend leaving stickers on the bottles if you are refilling the bottle with the same scent. Leaving the sticker on the bottle will keep the ingredients listed on the bottle in case anyone has allergies. Follow the first set of instructions (using vinegar and hot water) if you are leaving the sticker on your bottle.
To remove the sticker from the glass bottle, pull down one corner from the fold where the sticker on the glass bottles overlays. Continue to pull the sticker, rotating the bottle. The sticker should remove from our glass and plastic bottles in one, swift pull. The vinyl stickers we currently use are not biodegradable. Our team is switching out our stickers to be more eco-friendly when we launch our new label design!
HOW TO STERILIZE AND CLEAN GLASS AND PLASTIC BOTTLES AND PUMPS
Even though our Castile liquid soap kills bacteria, we recommend cleaning out your liquid soap bottle, when changing out the scent. And even if you're not, it doesn't hurt to freshen it up! Cleaning your liquid soap bottle before refilling it with new, fresh soap ensures nothings left behind for bacteria to latch onto.
There are two ways we recommend cleaning your liquid soap bottle; with vinegar and hot water, and with boiling water. You can do one, or both of these. There's no harm taking extra safety precautions at this time.
WITH VINEGAR AND HOT WATER
Boil water to produce 5oz of hot water, which you'll use with vinegar to clean your glass bottle. As the water is coming to a boil, measure out 3oz of vinegar in a measuring cup. Pour the 3oz of vinegar into the glass bottle. Use a funnel if need be. Pour the 5oz of boiling water into the bottle. Be careful not to burn your hands. Take extra safety precaution, using instruments to prevent spilling the boil water on your hands - such as oven mitts, a funnel and tongs.
Let the bottle sit for 10 minutes. Empty the bottle and rinse until the odor of vinegar dissipates. Leave out to air dry upside down. Alternatively, after you allow the bottle to sit for 10 minutes, you can boil the bottle and pump in boiling water to rinse the odor of vinegar.
WITH BOILING WATER
Place the bottle (including the cap and/or plastic pump) in a pot of boiling water for 10 to 15 minutes. While the glass bottle and plastic pump boil, use a utensil to fill the bottle up to ensure water fully gets inside to clean the interior of the bottle out. After the 10 to 15 minute mark, reduce the heat and allow the bottles and pumps to slowly cool down with the temperature of the water. Remove the bottle and pumps, after the water has cooled, rinse with warm water for one last rinse and then set to air dry.