Kiwi behind Rascal & Friends launches new plastic-free cleaning range

A Kiwi company is set to launch a supermarket-based range of household cleaning products that will do away with single-use plastics.

Re.stor laundry sheets will be available at Countdown supermarkets from October 4 with surface cleaning products to follow.

The water-free products aim to reduce the carbon footprint of transporting heavy bottles and boxes of powder as well as eliminating the need for single-use bottles.

Re.stor is the brainchild of EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2019, Grant Taylor, who is known for founding the company that launched Rascal & Friends Nappies.

"We have worked super hard to make sure the product performs well and has as little environmental impact as possible," Taylor said.

"We have put the products through a lot of trials and improved things along the way so they work and smell great."

Grant Taylor launched re.stor to reduce single-use plastics in the household cleaning industry. Photo / Supplied

Taylor was driven to create a product that had a low carbon footprint.

A box of the dissolvable laundry sheets is the size of a small book and is equivalent to a 1.8-litre bottle of detergent or 2kg box of powder.

Later this year Re.stor will launch a range of cleaning products which include dissolvable tablets and refillable bottles.

"Globally one billion single-use plastic bottles from cleaning products end up in a landfill every year and we rely too heavily on recycling as the only solution," he said.

"In New Zealand, 42 per cent of bottles that can be recycled, aren't so we need to re-think how products are made from inception, and that's exactly what we are doing with Re. stor."

Taylor had used his experience creating the successful nappy brand Rascal & Friends to streamline the production of Re.Stor.

He was also behind new shampoo and conditioner bars Everblue.

"We did what we could to make Rascal & Friends as eco-friendly as possible but they are still nappies."

Taylor sold Rascal & Friends in 2020 to Zuru Edge, part of Zuru Toys, founded by the Mowbray siblings.

The purchase of Rascal & Friends by Zuru came years after a personal investment in the company by Nick Mowbray, who is a high school friend of Taylor.

The launch of Re.stor was part of a trend of water-less and plastic-free cleaning products on the market.

Others such as Dazz cleaning tablets, which included dissolvable tablets and reusable glass bottles, and Tru Earth laundry sheets, were available for order online.

Luke Bianca from Countdown said the supermarket was working to deliver affordable eco-friendly options at scale.

"We're really committed to providing our customers with products that help them reduce their impact on the planet," he said.

"We want to make being sustainable easy and affordable. By developing convenient, plastic-free or refillable solutions you can do at home, Re.stor is solving this problem."

Bianca has already introduced a dedicated "concentrated cleaning" section in the cleaning aisle which included Ecostore concentrates and Resolv cleaning pods. The Re.stor cleaning range would be on shelves later this year.

"We're really excited to work with this new Kiwi brand that is bringing Countdown shoppers innovative ways to clean that are better for the planet. It's imperative that we provide customers with sustainable products that work. re·stor fills this gap."