FAQ

Discover all you need to know about the Origami Bottle & DiFOLD

It's important to fold it right.

How to fold your Origami Bottle?

  1. Remove the cap and hold the bottle's base.
  2. Press on the STRAIGHT horizontal lines.
  3. Compress well and tighten the cap.

* Check out our helpful video tutorial.

Top 5 Questions

The Origami Bottle can resist up to 100.000 folds and years of use. Of course, you need to take care of it such as washing it regularly and avoiding drops.
The bottle is not 100% drop-resistant. There are three weldings on the bottom that might break when the bottle is dropped filled with liquid.

The Origami Bottle is made of using a premium plant-based polymer produced by Envalior, a Dutch Company formerly known as DSM.
This polymer is food-safe, BPA/BPS free, and does not contain any leads or toxins that can leak even when filled with hot water.

1. The body
- Bio-based: the material is made from sustainably sourced rapeseed, with 43% of the material being bio-based and 57% petrol-based. The bio component is expected to increase in the future.
- Durable: can resists 100.000 folds, without any damage to the folding creases. We offer 90-day Warranty for any manufacturing defects. 
- Recyclable: it is closed-loop recyclable, meaning it can be recycled without losing its properties. The category of this polymer is TPC, TPE-E, No. 7.

*Every color is food-certified and the product is FDA-approved and EU 1935/2004 compliant.

2. Neck and cap: made of stainless steel.
3. Gaskets: made of food-grade silicone.

You have options to wash it by hand or safely put it in the dishwasher. You can remove the internal silicone gasket in the cap and clean all parts individually.

We do recommend manual wash with a bottle brush because dishwashers are much more aggressive when it comes to temperatures and detergents.

If you prefer dishwashing please keep temperature up to 150 °F (65 °C) and use fragrance-free detergents to avoid any slight detergent odors. When placing the bottle in the dishwasher make sure nothing presses it to avoid deformations.

The Origami Bottle is safe for hot and cold water but it’s not isothermal and its surface gets hot. If you use it for hot water we recommend that you do not touch the hot surface to avoid burns. Use the tightened cap ring instead.


The Origami Bottle is designed to hold water.
We do NOT recommend using it for coffee, tea or other drinks as stains and smells may occur.

Carbonated/Fizzy Drinks: While it's technically possible to put such drinks in the bottle, we do NOT recommend it. Carbonated drinks create very high pressure and inflate the bottle because the material is flexible, so the bottle shape changes and stays inflated, especially the bottom.

Folding and Unfolding

To fold your bottle make sure it's empty. Тhen remove the cap and follow the instructions:

1. Remove the cap and hold the bottom.
2. Press on the straight HORIZONTAL lines from bottom to top - 3 times in total.
3. Compress well to remove air and tighten the cap.

If you use it with care, the Origami Bottle can last for years. Even the thinnest parts between two sections can take 100.000+ folding and unfolding cycles.

The Origami Bottle is not designed to be used when it's not completely unfolded. To avoid spills we recommend unfolding all sections of the bottle.

You cannot fold the bottle when full, as the water it is holding will spill.

Unlike other collapsible bottles, the Origami Bottle is ultra sturdy and stable when unfolded. One of our main goals when designing the Origami Bottle was to make it as stable as a conventional bottle, so you can use it without compromising on convenience.

Use

Yes. Give your DiFOLD Bottle several deep cleans with dishwashing detergent and hot water to remove any residual manufacturing odors.

The Origami Bottle is designed to hold water. We DO NOT recommend using it for coffee, tea or other drinks as stains and smells may occur.

The Origami bottle is currently designed to hold still water, so we do not recommend using it for carbonated water. Carbonated water creates high pressure and due to the flexibility of the material the bottle inflates and cannot stay on a flat surface. Moreover, with such high pressure, the bottle may break at the weldings especially if it’s pressed or dropped.

The Origami Bottle is designed to hold water. It is safe for hot and cold water but it’s not isothermal and its surface gets hot. If you use it for hot water please DO NOT touch the hot surface to avoid burns. Use the tightened cap ring instead.

Yes, it is safe to put ice cubes in the bottle. Ice cubes vary in dimensions and the diameter of the cap is 1.34 in (34 mm), so you have to check if these two aspects are compatible.

You can keep your filled Origami Bottle in the fridge.
DO NOT put it in the freezer when filled with more than 50% of its capacity. As with any other container, the water will expand in volume and the bottle can break.

The Origami Bottle is not isothermal. Unfortunately, no material currently available has the properties to fold and be isothermal at the same time.

No, the Origami bottle is not microwave-safe. DO NOT put it in microwaves or ovens.

It is recommended to wash and dry the bottle after use. Do not leave your bottle folded with residual liquids inside for more than a week. An unpleasant odor might appear and you would need to wash it thoroughly.

Cleaning

You have options to wash it by hand or safely put it in the dishwasher.You can remove the internal silicone gasket in the cap and clean all parts individually.

We do recommend manual wash with a bottle brush because dishwashers are much more aggressive when it comes to temperatures and detergents.

If you prefer dishwashing please keep temperature up to 150 °F (65 °C) and use fragrance-free detergents to avoid any slight detergent odors. When placing the bottle in the dishwasher make sure nothing presses it to avoid deformations.

Yes, the bottle can be safely washed in dishwashers. We recommend using fragrance-free dishwasher detergents to avoid any slight odors from detergents. And please make sure nothing presses the bottle when placed in the dishwasher to avoid deformations.

You can remove the silicone isolation gasket from the cap and clean both parts separately. It is NOT necessary to do so every time you clean your bottle.

After use we recommend that you dry your bottle. Then it's ready to fold it again and bring it with you wherever you go.

Specific Use Cases & Issues

Your bottle may not remain folded if:
- You have removed the internal gasket and haven’t placed it back.
- You have placed the internal gasket back but you haven’s pressed its periphery properly back into the internal surface of the cap which may lead to a poor vacuum effect or leakages. Use a spoon to press the gasket to the upper part of the cap. See an explainer video in the beginning of this page.

The materials used are premium, food-safe, taste and odor-free.

Prior to using it for the first time, the bottle may have slight residual production odor, which disappears after first washing.

Bottles that have taste or smell are usually made of low quality polymers or silicone.

To make sure that the bottle remains odor-free it is enough to wash it regularly and to dry it after use.

Leaking may be a result of poor closing of the cap or dislocation of the internal gasket. When placing the internal gasket back, make sure that its periphery is firmly placed on the internal surface of the cap. Use a spoon to press the gasket to the upper part of the cap. See an explainer video in the beginning of this page.

If the leaking occurs from the bottom or any of the folding creases, please reach out to us at shop@difold.com with more info on how this has happened and if it is a manufacturing defect, we'll replace it with a new one.

When the bottle is exposed to extremely cold temperatures the material freezes and may break if pressure is applied. We recommend waiting for the surface to reach room temperature before folding it again.

The Origami bottle is leak proof. Just make sure the cap is properly closed and that you have placed the internal gasket back in its place if you have taken it out. It's important to firmly push the gasket's periphery in the cap.

The Origami Bottle is airport security friendly, as long as you remember to empty out the water.

A change in altitude leads to a change in the air volume inside the bottle. When you fly by air the bottle can look more inflated or compressed. In such cases, you can simply open the cap to equalize the pressure and it won’t lead to any damage to the product.

Technology and Sustainability

Yes, we have patents both on Utility and Design level. We're patenting a wide spectrum of foldable geometrical patterns and the Origami Bottle is our first creation and representative of the bigger ReUse ReFold movement that we envision.
We aim to create a whole portfolio of fodable reusable products that reprace more and more single-use items.

All DiFOLD bottles are made of TPC, TPE-E No. 7 which is marked at the bottom of the bottle.
The cap is made of stainless steel.

If you accidentally bought a knockoff or counterfeit DiFOLD bottle, you should demand a refund from the seller. Please also report the fraudulent seller to us through our contact form.

Replicas made of silicone or other materials do not have the same performance as the DiFOLD Origami Bottle. If you think you have purchased a fake bottle or you see one listed in the marketplaces and you are not sure if it's original, do not hesitate to contact us at shop@difold.com

During the 2 years of research and development process of the bottle, we have done a wide range of tests. Among them are:
- durability tests with different materials for the main body to find the material that has the right characteristics to be both stable and foldable;
- we have done both overall and specific migration testing for various chemicals and the migrations, if any, were way below the allowed thresholds for food safety even at 212 °F (100°C).

We are working with a German quality assurance partner to ensure that the quality of the product is sustained over a long period of time.

All the materials are food-safe tested and certified and are FDA and EU 1935/2004 compliant.

We have estimated that the carbon footprint of the Origami Bottle is 680g of C02 emissions. For reference, competitive foldable bottles made of silicone have footprint of 120-130% more, equal to 1.2-1.3 kg of CO2.
*Thеsе calculations are based considering the database of Delft University of Technology.

The Origami Bottle is designed for easy and effective recycling. Please follow these steps for disposal.

Please cut the plastic portion of the neck and separate it from the metal neck part. Then dispose every part as recommended: 

  • Plastic section of the body (TPC, TPE-E, No. 7): plastic or general waste container
  • Metal neck (stainless steel): metal waste container
  • Cap (stainless steel): metal waste container
  • Gaskets (silicone): general waste container

Product development, design and prototyping is taking place in Sofia (Bulgaria). This is where we are based as a team.

Our manufacturing is taking place in Schenzhen, China. With expansion we'll be looking to set a 2nd production base in Europe where we can optimize shipping, CO2 emissions and undergo production with minum carbon impact.

* If you don't find what you are looking for, send us a message and we will get back to you.