Blog

Bamboo Piksters have two main differences to the regular interdental brush made by Piksters. They are biodegradable and sustainable. So if you are looking for a more environmentally friendly interdental brush, we may have found it!

Full Review

These Piksters use Bamboo for the handle and are over 97% (including the packaging) biodegradable, making it a hugely sustainable product.

Now, they are pretty much the same as your regular Piksters interdental brush, with the exception of the material used.

There are however a few distinct differences between regular and bamboo interdental brushes. We’ll get to these points shortly.

I am reviewing the assorted value pack of 8 and they range from 00, which is the extra extra small, all the way to number six, which is quite a decent size for an interdental brush. Size 6 would be for someone who has a much wider gapped in their teeth.

Primarily used for your front teeth as there is less chance of bending and damaging the wire of the brush.

Packaging and Details

Piksters have tried to make the bamboo interdental brushes as biodegradable and sustainable as possible.

They’ve basically calculated, 97.6% of this package and contents are biodegradable and sustainable, using recycled paper where possible.

A size 5 Bamboo Piksters Interdental Brush with the cover on

Even the ‘plastic’ cover that goes over the interdental brush is not plastic. It’s actually 100% biodegradable corn-starch derived polymer.

The print on the packaging is soy-based ink, which I’ve never heard of before, but it’s awesome!

The package itself is eye-catching and definitely has that warm earth style, brown paper bag feeling and texture. Something you’d relate to being environmentally friendly in nature. You can almost sense that it’s biodegradable just by looking at it.

The 8 pack of Bamboo Interdental Brushes by Piksters I’ll be testing

Australians do care a lot about the environment as a whole and I think having this product turn out to be mostly biodegradable is a huge step towards sustainability.

As with the regular interdental brushes, It has a detailed description of the different Piksters and sizes available. They use the same phrase, ‘Like floss only easier.’

There is a detailed image/illustration with information of the width and length and all products in the range.

The back of the packaging – Plenty of information and instruction to be found

Finer Points

Opening up the pack is easy and it has a nice little flip lid so you can see the 8 interdental brushes quite clearly. The flip lid is closable, keeping your interdental brushes in place.

It’s also got a little pamphlet inside that’s got thorough details about Piksters and also things you need to know and how the product should be used. So it’s got quite a lot of useful information, which is great for the consumer.

The flip lid is a good idea as it’s closable and reasonably secure

Design, Feel and First Impressions

You can definitely feel that they’re bamboo. My first impression is I like it, it’s eye-catching. The one thing I would probably mention is the writing on the side of the handle is really hard to see. This makes it a little difficult to quickly identify what size you have in your fingertips.

Bamboo Piksters Sizes 00 and 5. It can be hard to identify what size you are holding.

The wording, as you can see, is very light and washed out. Looks like it’s been burnt into the bamboo handle, quite poorly in my mind. But it’s not a deal breaker!

The bristles are very soft and the wire structure is the same as the regular type of interdental brush.

However, the wire’s been inserted into the brush handle a little differently. Glue is holding the wire internally. I don’t know how long it goes down, maybe at least halfway down, but this is a guess.

The wire is inserted and secured by glue to the brush

Dimensions are the same as the regular type and I can easily get 3 fingers on the handle. There isn’t any cut-outs or groves that aid in the grip but it’s not really a negative.

You do have to push the corn starch derived polymer cover on quite securely. If you don’t, I’ve found that it can come loose quite easily, exposing the brush head. So, it’s not a huge deal, but you do have to just make sure you push it down firmly.

Design

The design’s great and it’s pretty much the same as a regular interdental brush by Piksters.  They do mention that you shouldn’t leave these bamboo Piksters in water overnight.  Apparently it can loosen the glue that holds the wire brush in place.

Bamboo doesn’t like a lot of water at the best of times and I have noted that bamboo toothbrushes can develop mould on them. So, try to keep these interdetnal brushes as dry as possible.

How to Use Bamboo Piksters

The best way to use this product would be the same as your regular one. You just make sure you’re following the instructions, putting it, using it for your front teeth (straight line and limiting bending).

Try not to bend the wire, it’s not going to like it. And you potentially run the risk of breaking, or damaging the actual bristles or wire. You just got to make sure you’re following the instructions correctly and you won’t have any issues.

Details Directions by Piksters

Within the Piksters package, you’ll get a little pamphlet and it’s got a lot of information on it and they  break down the certain things that you need to know when using these Piksters bamboo interdental brushes.

They make note stating “unfortunately any brand of interdental brush has the capacity to break”,  this is true.

The Piksters are plastic coated twisted wire, which is the backbone of the brush, so it can break, and if you’re not using it properly there’s a higher risk of it breaking.

Tips to Limit Damage

#1 ” Choose a size that inserts without force”

The correct size will actually fit nicely and smoothly between your teeth.

Now, it should be a snug fit, and this would be an indication that you’re doing it right and it’s the right size.

When you’re twisting, turning and pushing and pulling gently, you’ll be able to dislodge plaque and any build-up of debris that’s in between your teeth fairly easily without doing damage.

#2  “ The front teeth do not require the brush head to be bent”

So basically, insert the brush head in line with the handle.

You want to make sure there’s no chance of bending as you’re going in.

It needs to be a nice straight direct line, your brush head or the brush and the wire needs to be in line with your handle.

#3 “ Insert the brush slowly with a gentle twisting or slight wriggling action”

This basically will ease the brush into the space that is needing to be cleaned, but you’ve just got to make sure the wire does not bend or buckle.

“If the wire does buckle, discard the brush. Once it’s bent, it cannot be straightened properly”.

Now, I’ve had this happen a few times when using these brushes and you can, sometimes it can get caught on the plaque or you’ve maybe put it into too fast and it’s bent a little bit.

You can sometimes just clean it off and use your finger, your two fingers, your thumb and your forefinger to run it over a few times to straighten it out.

This doesn’t work all the time, but it can aid in recovering the brush.

Obviously, if it’s too bent out of shape it’s not worth risking it breaking within your teeth. So you’ve got to make sure that you’re not putting yourself at risk by reusing a brush that’s bent out of shape too much.

#4 “ When using the brush between your back teeth access, may be easier if the brush head is bent over”

Now, there’s a picture on this pamphlet that shows the customer or the user showing how to use it properly.

The proper way is to use your finger at the end of the wire and slightly bend it over into a 90-degree angle.

Instructions on how to bend the brush correctly

They say do not bend the brush at the end of the handle where the wire starts. This will weaken the structure of the wire at a critical area of the brush and you want to make sure you don’t do that so you can use your interdental brush for longer periods of time.

Pushing the tip will avoid the sharp end where the wire meets the handle and it reduces the stress and potential breakage in the metal.

#5 “ Preferably, do not recap a bent brush. If recapping, do not do so more than four times as this will re-bend the wire and increase the chances of breakage”

If you want to store your Piksters hygienically, you can place it upright in a Piksters bathroom caddy, sold separately.

#6 “ Do not bend the handle back and forth against the brush head when the brush is inserted”

Yeah, so you’ve got to make sure it’s always in a straight line, you’re not moving the wire against a different direction to the actual handle. It’s got to be in the same motion.

They also mentioned that there is a product that they have which is a right angle Piksters, and it doesn’t need to be bent. We will have a look at that one as well and that will be coming up in a review shortly.

What Happens if it Breaks

If the wire does break, you can use another brush to push out the broken piece. You can set it from the opposite direction to push it backwards, or if this fails, try pushing it all the way through if there is no blockage in front of that.

There are 11 sizes of Piksters and you may want to find bigger size to help pushing the broken head out, which would probably be a stronger brush to avoid it bending and breaking as well.

You can also use tweezers to pull that broken piece out, which might be a good idea as well.

You can use a toothpick to push it out as well, or you can use a piece of floss, which actually is a good idea, you can actually use a floss to get in between your teeth and tie a knot two or three times on top of each other to floss out the broken piece.

They reiterate that if there is any issue and you can’t get it out yourself, go see your dentist and make an appointment to get it checked and removed professionally.

Just got to make sure you’re looking at it every day you use it to ascertain whether you need to chuck it out and use a fresh one.

Testing the Bamboo Piksters

Even thought they don’t have the cut outs or grip areas like the plastic brushes, a natural material feels a lot better in my mind.

The trick with any interdental brush is to pick the right size. I started with an extra small brush and then progressed to sizes 1 and 2. This was due to some areas between my teeth that were a little larger than others.

Choosing my Bamboo Interdental Brush

Having a range of sizes is an advantage and the 8 pack provides you the option to quickly swap out brushes if needed.

I’ll report back with my long term review to see if bamboo is a positive or negative as far as durability is concerned. Mould could be an issue, we will see.

Price and Value

Bamboo interdental brushes seem to be a little more expensive per brush than the regular kind. Still, they represent good value at around $0.89 per brush.

If you shop around online you are likely to find reasonable deals on this product. At the time of writing this post, the lowest I could see was $7.45 and the highest around $12.00.