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  • Ditch the Disposables: The Best Reusable Cotton Pads and Makeup Remover Cloths

    Ditch the Disposables: The Best Reusable Cotton Pads and Makeup Remover Cloths

    If you take your makeup off every night, you’re getting through a lot of cotton wool, and all of it goes straight in the bin. A single reusable pad can replace thousands of disposable rounds over its lifetime, which is better for the planet and far cheaper for you.

    The catch is that not all reusables are equal. Some are gentler, some last longer, and some (despite the eco marketing) actually shed microplastics. Here’s what to look for and the pads and cloths worth buying.

    In This Guide:

    1. Why ditch single-use pads
    2. What to look for
    3. Our Sustainable Picks
    4. How to keep them clean

    1. Why Ditch Single-Use Pads

    Disposable cotton pads seem harmless, but the scale is the problem. Used twice a day, they add up to hundreds per person per year, and conventional cotton is resource-intensive to grow. Multiply across a household and it’s a steady stream of waste for a few seconds of use each.

    Reusables turn that into a one-off purchase. Buy a set once, wash and reuse for months or years, and you stop the cycle, while saving the money you’d spend repurchasing cotton wool forever.

    2. What to Look For

    Two things matter most: material and washability.

    On material, natural fibres win. Cotton, organic cotton, lyocell and bamboo are soft, effective and (mostly) biodegradable. Avoid microfibre if you can: it removes makeup well with just water, but it’s a synthetic that sheds microplastics in the wash, which rather undercuts the point. Look for OEKO-TEX certification (tested for harmful substances) and, for bamboo, FSC certification (responsibly sourced).

    On washing, choose pads you can wash hot. A 60°C wash is the hygiene standard for face cloths, so pads rated only for 30°C are harder to keep genuinely clean. A set of around seven is ideal: one a day, then a weekly machine wash.

    3. Our Sustainable Picks

    Four reusables across budgets and cleansing styles. Drop your tagged links into the markers below.

    Best overall:

    LastObject LastRound. A set of seven dual-sided pads in a cotton-lyocell blend, machine washable at 60°C, rated for 200+ washes and stored in a neat reusable case. Soft, durable and naturally moisture-wicking, the closest thing to a disposable round that lasts.

    Best budget swap:

    Bamboo Reusable Cotton Rounds. A multipack of soft bamboo pads with a mesh laundry bag, usually for a few pounds. Biodegradable fibre, gentle on skin, and one pack retires thousands of cotton-wool rounds. The easiest, cheapest place to start.

    Best for water-only cleansing:

    Face Halo. A makeup-artist favourite that lifts makeup with just warm water, no product needed, thanks to its ultra-fine fibres. Hugely effective and reusable up to around 200 washes. One honest note: it’s a microfibre, so rinse it well after each use, and if microplastics are a dealbreaker, lean on the natural-fibre picks above.

    Best for a full cleanse:

    MakeUp Eraser Cloth. A soft reusable cloth that removes a full face (even long-wear) with water alone and replaces hundreds of wipes. Great for a deeper, all-over cleanse rather than spot removal. Like Face Halo it’s a synthetic fibre, so a hot wash keeps it fresh; an organic cotton muslin cloth is the natural-fibre alternative if you prefer.

    4. How to Keep Them Clean

    Reusables only work if you keep them hygienic, and it’s easy. Rinse each pad straight after use to stop makeup and oil setting in. Pop them in the mesh wash bag (most sets include one) and machine wash at 60°C with your towels, roughly once a week.

    Air dry rather than tumble to protect the fibres, and replace them when they start to thin or stop feeling soft. Treated well, a good set lasts months or years, paying for itself many times over.

    Stop Binning, Start Washing

    Switching to reusable pads is one of the simplest sustainable swaps there is: a one-off buy that quietly removes a steady stream of waste from your routine and saves you money every month. Choose natural fibres where you can, wash them hot, and you’ll barely notice the change, except that you’ll never run out of cotton wool again.

    Pick the set that suits how you cleanse, then browse the rest of our sustainable beauty edit for more easy swaps.

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