{
  "slug": "cotton-swabs",
  "name": "Cotton swabs",
  "question": "Which cotton swabs contain no plastic, stick and box included?",
  "status": "nothing-qualifies",
  "updated": "2026-11-11",
  "editor": "jake-avins",
  "page": "https://amaterio.com/plastic-free/cotton-swabs/",
  "summary": "Nothing in cotton swabs has earned a spot yet. We checked one, Sustainable Tomorrow's bamboo swabs, and it isn't sold anymore: the shop's page now sends you to its home page and the catalog lists no swabs.\n\nThe other swabs on the list are still to be checked, stick, cotton and box.",
  "whyPlastic": "The stick was the plastic part, and the swap to paper or bamboo is real. What is left is smaller. A paper stick is rolled and glued, and the glue is rarely named. A bamboo stick can be varnished or coated, and \"biodegradable\" sometimes means a PLA stick. The cotton head can be cotton or a blend. The box is the other half: a clear plastic lid, a window, a film wrap around the carton, or a \"compostable\" pouch that is a bioplastic. Reusable silicone swabs are a different product, with silicone as the whole body.",
  "whatToCheck": [
    "The stick: bamboo, paper or wood, or PLA \"biodegradable\" plastic?",
    "A paper stick: what glue rolls it?",
    "A bamboo stick: raw, or coated?",
    "The cotton head: 100% cotton, or blended with synthetic fiber?",
    "The box: card all through, or a plastic lid, window or film wrap?",
    "Refill pouches: paper, or \"compostable\" film?"
  ],
  "faq": [],
  "whyNone": "",
  "products": [
    {
      "slug": "sustainable-tomorrow-bamboo-cotton-swabs",
      "name": "Bamboo Cotton Swabs",
      "brand": "Sustainable Tomorrow",
      "category": "cotton-swabs",
      "tier": "unlisted",
      "rank": null,
      "page": "https://amaterio.com/plastic-free/cotton-swabs/sustainable-tomorrow-bamboo-cotton-swabs/",
      "url": null,
      "affiliateUrl": null,
      "price": null,
      "madeIn": "",
      "inTheBox": "",
      "unknowns": [
        "swab stick",
        "cotton tip",
        "tip fixing",
        "binder holding the cotton on the stick",
        "box"
      ],
      "verdict": {
        "summary": "Not sold new. The maker's address for these swabs now sends you to the shop's home page, and the full catalog lists no cotton swabs at all. We could not read what they were made of, and there's nothing left to buy.",
        "date": "2026-11-11",
        "passes": [
          "pass-1",
          "pass-2"
        ],
        "agree": false,
        "caveat": "Not sold new: the product page redirects to the home page and the catalog lists no swabs."
      },
      "components": [
        {
          "name": "swab stick",
          "role": "major",
          "material": "",
          "class": "unknown",
          "ruling": null,
          "source": null
        },
        {
          "name": "cotton tip",
          "role": "major",
          "material": "",
          "class": "unknown",
          "ruling": null,
          "source": null
        },
        {
          "name": "tip fixing",
          "role": "minor",
          "material": "",
          "class": "unknown",
          "ruling": null,
          "source": null
        },
        {
          "name": "binder holding the cotton on the stick",
          "role": "minor",
          "material": "not stated",
          "class": "unknown",
          "ruling": "R8",
          "source": null
        },
        {
          "name": "box",
          "role": "major",
          "material": "not stated",
          "class": "unknown",
          "ruling": null,
          "source": null
        }
      ],
      "packaging": {
        "verified": false,
        "materials": [],
        "class": "unknown",
        "source": null
      },
      "commentary": [],
      "images": []
    }
  ]
}