I've used vault toilets in national parks, gas station bathrooms in the middle of nowhere, and restrooms in countries where the toilet paper situation ranges from thin to nonexistent. The reality is that even as a guy, sometimes you need more than what's hanging on the wall - and the pack of flushable wipes most travelers carry is quietly destroying plumbing, septic systems, and the environment. Jim Kaslik founded The UnWipe to solve that problem with a reusable silicone device that turns whatever toilet paper is already there into something that cleans the way a wet wipe does - without any of the damage. We sat down with Jim to find out how it works and why it belongs in every travel kit.
The UnWipe is available directly from theunwipe.com and on Amazon. One purchase, no refills, no subscriptions.
The wet wipes industry is worth $27 billion globally, and most of those products don't break down the way their labels suggest.
- A study testing 23 "flushable" wipes found that none fully disintegrated under standard sewer conditions - they persist in pipes and wastewater systems, forming massive blockages called fatbergs
- Over 50% of wipes labeled flushable contain PET plastic - the same material in plastic bottles, making them effectively non-degradable
- U.S. clean water utilities spend an estimated $441 million per year clearing wipe-related blockages from municipal systems, according to the National Association of Clean Water Agencies
- Kimberly-Clark paid $20 million to settle a federal lawsuit alleging its flushable wipes caused damage to sewer and septic systems
- Michigan, Washington, Oregon, California, and Illinois have all passed laws requiring "Do Not Flush" labeling on non-flushable wipes - and the federal WIPPES Act passed the House in 2024
Jim Kaslik's design background spans sustainable houses profiled in HGTV, the Travel Channel, and Fine Homebuilding, plus a kitchen product featured on ABC TV's The Chew and The Rachael Ray Show that replaced tens of millions of feet of single-use plastic wrap.
With The UnWipe, he's tackling the 100 billion flushable wipes flushed every year - a product category that costs U.S. municipalities hundreds of millions in sewer damage annually. The UnWipe is a premium silicone device that transforms ordinary toilet paper into a textured, moistened wipe alternative. It weighs 3 oz, lasts indefinitely, and requires no refills or subscriptions.
You can learn more at theunwipe.com and connect with Jim on LinkedIn.
The Problem That Started It All
What do you love about working with The UnWipe? What keeps you excited about showing up for this particular mission every day?
Honestly, it came from a very real, very common experience - being somewhere with a less-than-ideal bathroom situation and wishing there was a better option than the dried-out pack of wet wipes in the cabinet. And then I learned of the terrible damage that flushing those wipes causes to plumbing, sewers, and the environment. What I love about working on The UnWipe is that it solves a problem almost everyone has faced, especially when you're traveling or out in the real world. It's simple, practical, and once people get it, it just makes sense.
Can you walk me through what that discovery process looked like? How do you go from 'this product is broken' to 'I'm going to build something that replaces an entire category'?
I found the wipes, saw they were unusable, and then read an article from an engineer friend about the harm they cause. That was followed with a visit to the local wastewater treatment plant where I was shown how much expensive damage they cause. With my background in design, I started working on options that would be small enough to be portable and with a novel element that added value beyond wipes. Through prototypes and testing, we proved it was possible to transform ordinary toilet paper into a form with thick texture that cleans better. Since toilet paper is universally available, the market potential became obvious.
Closing the Awareness Gap
For most travelers, the damage is invisible. They flush a wipe at a campground or a national park restroom and walk away never knowing what happens next. How do you close that gap?
The mainstream media, and smaller media outlets, are doing a good job of spreading that word. Buildings put signs in stalls reminding people to not use wipes there. Cruise ships are especially attuned to the damage potential because their waste systems are so self-contained. Individuals document and share personal experience with home clogs caused by wipes that cost many thousands of dollars to repair. Most people know of the problem by now, so we can focus on providing a solution that solves the problem through avoidance. While some people ignore the damage that wipes cause, media at all levels is doing a good job of spreading awareness.
What It Looks Like to Travel With The UnWipe
Walk me through what it actually looks like to travel with The UnWipe. How does it fit in a bag, what does the airport bathroom experience look like, and what do you say to someone who's thinking 'this sounds great at home, but I'm not sure I want to deal with one more thing when I'm on the road'?
The UnWipe is sized to fit into any normal backpack pocket, cross-body pack, fanny pack, coat pocket, auto glove box, or hand, making it quite discrete if that matters to the individual. It only weighs 3 oz and is the size of a bar of soap. It's all silicone, making it especially rugged and durable (also, no plastic!) Take it into the restroom, stop at the sink to add a splash of water, and take it into the stall with you. When done with the "toileting occasion" and attending to the hygiene part, simply open The UnWipe's lid, press a normal hunk of toilet paper onto the special mesh. That transforms the paper to work better than dry paper by giving it the thick, damp texture. It gives the vibe of wet wipes, without the cost or harm of wipes. Then wipe with it like normal, repeat as necessary, flush like normal, and go on with your day. It's clean paper and clean water - in an improved form - with no new or strange habits to learn. The benefit is worth the extra 3 seconds of using The UnWipe because it means a cleaner butt than one would otherwise have when putting that butt back in the car or airplane seat. That comfort matters a lot to people, and we've made it easy to achieve with no extra time needed and no harm to plumbing or the environment.
Built to Last, Not to Reorder
The person who hears 'one-time purchase' and immediately thinks 'what's the catch?' We're conditioned to buy wipes in bulk, subscribe to refills, toss and replace. How do you convince someone that The UnWipe actually lasts - and what does 'lasts indefinitely' look like in practice?
We've been testing it for 7+ years and customers have been using it for over three years. We are regularly told stories as comments on our social media or people taking it all over the world, on cruises, to the gym (because protein powder can hit hard!), and even something as mundane as staying in the desk drawer at work to make the bad bathroom experience there less unpleasant. Being made of silicone rubber and not petrochemical-based plastic, it should absolutely last more than a decade, and we have no accessory products to sell - you simply don't need them. Okay, you need toilet paper, but that's universally provided, and if it's not, then the restroom is likely unusable anyway. Please note that The UnWipe works just as well with facial tissues, paper towels, and shop towels, though of course, like wet wipes, those should never be flushed.
The Pitch That Sells Itself
The UnWipe is asking someone to spend money once on something they currently get 'for free' bundled with every gas station stop or hotel bathroom. What does that sales conversation actually look like, and where do you find people are most ready to hear it?
While they get toilet paper available for free, they do not, at any of these places, get what The UnWipe provides. Almost every person knows that dry toilet paper does not clean thoroughly, and that the cheaper paper at many public restrooms does an even worse job of cleaning. And the consequence of that is having to sit or walk around for hours or the rest of the day with some awkward feelings (forgive the implied imagery). The UnWipe allows people to use this same paper to create a completely different, better, thorough, more hygienic result - a clean butt, to be blunt - with only something the size of a deck of cards and with the clean water and clean paper readily available most of the places people need and use restrooms. Gas stations, highway rest areas, airports, airplanes, houseboats, RVs, gym, work, restaurants, amusement parks, and on and on. When we present those scenarios clearly, people can recall a time they've been there and had that need with no good options, and that's when they understand what a powerful choice The UnWipe gives them for a better result.
A Simpler Solution to a Problem You Stopped Complaining About
Jim's approach is refreshingly straightforward - take a problem everyone has, build something that lasts, and skip the subscription model entirely. For the guy who's packed wipes for every road trip, camping weekend, or international flight without thinking about what happens after they're flushed, The UnWipe is worth the 30 seconds it takes to understand. Pick one up at theunwipe.com or on Amazon before your next trip.
