Friday, October 10, 2014

Bamboo cycle wipes

This sample of White Lightning bamboo cycle wipes showed up in the workshop this week. I finally read the info today.

The wipes are made of a tough, durable  but biodegradable bamboo fiber fabric. Supposedly it will degrade in 28 days when composted. Use a disposable product without guilt!

Yeah? What about the packaging?

My "cycle wipes" are little squares of old cotton tee shirt tucked into the bags on each bike in the fleet. I carry another scrap or two in the bum bag I use for commuting. Those and saliva make up my cleaning kit. Every so often I launder the little rags. When they get too bad I throw them away.

Your alcohol based cleaning towelettes can potentially dry out in the package if you haven't had occasion to use them in a long time. On the other hand, if I can't produce saliva I have worse problems than a bit of grease on my hands.

Your socks come in handy for minor finger wiping, too.

Maybe if I had a rash of roadside breakdowns and had to grovel around the grimier parts of my bike several times in a row I would feel differently. How many non biodegradable packages of biodegradable wipes would dry out before that happened?

2 comments:

John said...

Disposable rubber gloves are my way of dealing with the griminess of shop repairs, usually carry a pair with on rides too. Old worn out laundry items are a mainstay and how I preserve the integrity of said gloves. Not the greenest solution...somewhere in the middle. Those wipes just dry-out my skin too much.

GreenComotion said...

It rains bunches here and so for the most part the frame stays clean (good thing I have mudguards). The wheels get a bit dirty and I wash my bike sometimes in the summer. Otherwise, a bucket of soapy water and a rag does it for me. Rags are a plenty at our home, as there is a hoarder (don't tattle on me now) who never throws anything away :)

Peace :)