Wype reimagines the future of bottom care

Wype is changing bottom care for the better. The eco-friendly, certified-organic gel can be applied to regular toilet paper to boost its cleansing power. The formula contains aloe vera, chamomile, coconut and additional botanicals to clean gently and leave the skin soothed and moisturized.

The company was founded by Italian-born Giorgia Granata, who had established a successful career in fashion and luxury goods but, while working at Versace, found she was losing interest in her trade.

“Making exclusive products for an exclusive brand allows [you] to work with top-notch professionals and artisans,” Granata says. “But at the same time, the final product is only enjoyed by very few. And the fashion industry, especially seven-plus years ago, was a beacon for promoting consumerism, unhealthy beauty standards, murky labor practices and pollution.”

So, she made the decision to change careers and pursued an MBA from London Business School. While studying in her new country, there was one preoccupation that immediately started bothering her: “As an Italian, I had always been accustomed to having a bidet,” Granata says. “The absence of this essential portion of my self-care routine was leaving me uncomfortable and wondering how to resolve the situation in a rented flat, far from home.”

That’s when a lifechanging lightbulb moment occurred. This was late 2019.

To solve this issue, “I thought there would be no better way than to apply the skills I had picked up throughout my degree, to research the international intimate hygiene market and see if there were any interesting patterns and a potential market opportunity,” Granata says. “I set out to create an eco-friendly intimate hygiene brand that would be able to fit seamlessly into a ritual as old as time, while also improving it.”

A sustainable mindset

What Granata learned from her research is that while many cultures use water in various formats to freshen up, toilet paper–favoring countries had turned to wet wipes. In the UK alone, wet wipes were causing 300,000 yearly sewer blockages and costing the water industry hundreds of millions of dollars in damages to sewers and pipelines. And yet, the toilet wipe category is booming, with legacy brands evolving their offerings and newcomers showing impressive growth.

“It seemed to me like there was a need for a sustainable alternative—something put together thoughtfully, with an elegant and functional design, to fit seamlessly into people’s lives, and allow [them] to clean more effectively than with dry toilet paper, but without the environmental and infrastructural drawbacks of wet wipes,” Granata says. “And so, the Wype journey began.”

She examined similar products on the market, and after reviewing foams, sprays and a variety of other solutions, she envisioned a gel formula that could cleanse on the go without soaking up the toilet paper and tearing through it.

“I approached one of the top design studios in London with my concept, and they told me that the costs for custom tooling would be substantial and advised to test the concept with an off-the-shelf bottle to start with,” Granata says. “So the first year, we did just that. We bootstrapped a small run in off-the-shelf bottles, and after trying several iterations of the formula—taking inspiration from facial and intimate cleansers while trying to incorporate a rinse-free cleansing effect that wouldn’t be oily or sticky—we finally hit the spot.”

From there, things were in motion. Granata paid for a cheap branding project on 99designs. She created the website and designed all of Wype’s ads in Canva. That first year, the company generated $400,000 in direct-to-consumer sales.

“Wet wipes have definitely given intimate care a bad name,” Granata says. “These days, every category offers sustainable options, so why should this be different? The key when thinking about sustainability is that it’s not enough to slap a label on a bottle—we’re talking about behavioral science, top-notch product design, advisors from [fast-moving consumer goods] to health care. You can’t half-ass it.”

The product has to be sustainable, she adds, “but also provide something for the customer to love on top of the sustainability credentials, which, in this day and age, should really be the baseline.”

Wype has already prevented around 50 million wet wipes from entering the waterways, according to data obtained by the company through a partnership with one of the major water companies in the UK. During a 12-week product trial within their community, the results found that 77% of wet wipe users were able to adopt Wype completely or partially in lieu of wet wipes, and 84% of participants were in favor of Wype partnering with water companies to encourage a reduction in wet wipe flushing.

The end game

While mostly selling online currently, 2024 is going to be the year of omnichannel for the company.

“We have been DTC and on Amazon for a while now, and we feel that retail is a natural segue for where we are as a business,” Granata says. “The work we have been putting in on understanding where we fit in retail started about a year ago, and we have supported our strategy with the advice of industry experts, category data and, as always, user surveys. So we’re really feeling confident that we have the right plan in mind at this point, and so far, results have very been promising.”

The company has a few retail launches planned for later this year, plus several other ongoing conversations.

And while Granata proud that she created an eco-wipe concept, she realized along the way that it’s not just about the wet wipes, but also the problem they are solving for the user.

“Yes, most of the time it’s hygiene, but a lot of the time there is more to it,” she says. “Soreness, irritation, itching. The reality is that the body part we treat goes through ages and stages in life, just like any other part of our bodies, and this is being completely ignored by the current offering.”

Evaluating the future of Wype, Granata envisions it will become an essential, like toothpaste or deodorant.

“I want the whole concept to be completely destigmatized,” she says. “The perception that this type of self-care is a niche is laughable: 75% of the population experiences problems with their bottom at one point in their adult life.”

Granata wants Wype to be the go-to brand for bottom care. “Because we’re not a paper company or a wipe company or a skin care company—we’re a bottom company,” she says. “That’s our expertise; that’s what we do. We want people to know that they are in good hands, no matter what’s going on back there.”