ReFloss is a product designed to make flossing easier and more environmentally friendly. Intended to be a rival to the less sustainable floss picks, ReFloss aims to make flossing more convenient by keeping the ease of use that floss picks provides but eliminating the waste.

ReFloss comes with two elements: the actual floss holder itself and the cover. The floss holder houses a spool of floss that you run through grooves leading up and down the head, before into a screw that secures the floss. The cover protects the floss head while not in use, and comes with a small and safe blade to cut used floss.

Process

Our brief for this project was to use the human-centered design process to develop an innovative houseware product that is desirable, technically feasible, and financially viable. The permitted product categories were: personal & home healthcare, cleaning, organization & storage. And if we so desired: we were allowed to submit this project to the gia Inspired Home Show 2025 Student Design Competition.

I decided to go with personal & home healthcare, and after looking at some aspects of my own personal life, I wanted to design a product that made flossing as convenient as using floss picks while eliminating the waste that comes with it. The product had to be just as, if not more, convenient than using floss picks, and also be technically feasible. After ideating, I decided to go with a floss holder that used tension to hold the floss while housing a spool of average store-bought floss.

Prototyping

During the prototyping phase, I went through many different iterations to find the perfect fit for as many users as possible. The first couple prototypes were too bulky for smaller hands, and the neck was too short to reach the back teeth. Eventually, I shrunk down the case size, and extended the neck length while adding small ergonomic changes such as adjusting the screw positions and adding more grooves.

Final Product

Process Book