New Floral Foam!
It’s not often that a truly revolutionary product comes along, but OASIS® Renewal™ Floral Foam could be a game-changer for florists everywhere.
Made from plant-based and bio-based materials, it has a low carbon footprint and — just as you’d expect — delivers exceptional performance, making it ideal for all floral designs.
For years, florists have faced a dilemma: balancing sustainability with ease of use and functionality. While eco-friendly products and techniques have brought remarkable change to the floral industry, we take a closer look to see whether OASIS® Renewal™ Floral Foam can take things further and offer florists an effortless way to provide their customers with a truly green option.
Now, let’s dive in and explore whether this product could transform the future of floristry.
What’s included:
Why Is the NEW OASIS® Renewal™ Floral Foam SO Good?
This innovative foam ticks all the boxes, as OASIS® Renewal™ Floral Foam is:
- Made from Plant-based and bio-based materials
- Has a Low carbon footprint
- Performs Exceptional well
- Suitable for all floral designs
It’s no secret that here at Westflor, we are premier stockists and friends of the team at OASIS® Floral Products UK. However, we’re going to take a completely unbiased look at each of these elements and dig into the details so you have all the information you need to buy with confidence.
What Florists Can Expect
With the best will in the world, green products are fantastic, but if they don’t perform well, they’re just not feasible. Thankfully, OASIS® Renewal™ Floral Foam doesn’t just match the performance of standard OASIS® Floral Foams — it exceeds it! This foam provides significant improvements that florists will benefit from, beyond its sustainability.
In this section, we’ll tackle each of the benefits you can expect as we focus entirely on how well this new foam performs when put to the test.
That way, when it’s in your hands, you can have the confidence you need.
How Does It Perform?
The Standard You’d Expect
- Quick float saturation – Takes approximately 180 seconds to soak fully in water
- Superb water uptake – Each brick can absorb and retain up to 2 litres of water
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Excellent water retention – Minimal drainage means less mess and water on the work bench and no need to re-soak
- Unique cell structure – Ensures flowers uptake water easily
- Balanced pH levels – Helps flowers thrive
- Cutting lines – Easily divide bricks into thirds or halves
- Easily cut and shaped – Whether wet or dry
- Brick size – L:23 x W:11 x H:7.5cm (standard size)
- Tested for quality – Every batch meets seven quality standards
- Completely non-toxic
- Manufactured in the UK – Coming soon!
What’s NEW and Better?
New Colour!
No Dyes or added colours
The new black colour is naturally created by the plant materials used in the making of the foam — a double win!
OASIS® Renewal™ Floral Foam is dark greenish-grey when dry but turns a deep, rich black when soaked. This dark receding colour then remains.
The Benefits of Black!
A great new benefit of OASIS® Renewal™ Floral Foam is that the black foam naturally recedes within floral arrangements, making it less visible than traditional green foam, which always needs covering.
Tests have shown this can create real savings
Numerous tests have shown that less flower and foliage are required to cover the foam. In fact; 25% fewer stems are needed to achieve same coverage as traditional green floral foam.
This means you can:
- Use fewer flowers and foliage in your designs
- Create more designs with less materials
- Save time & labour costs
If you prefer you can use the black foam as an Integral Design Feature
It Does It All!
OASIS® Renewal™ Floral Foam has been designed to deliver exceptional results with all stem types. Whether you’re working with soft or hollow stems, thick woody stems, or sturdy stalk-like stems, this foam is perfect! Stems insert easily, and the foam firmly grips them, keeping them securely in place.
Flower Life Tests
As you’d expect from OASIS® Floral Products, hundreds of flower life tests have been conducted, using a wide range of flowers. This extensive postharvest research has been carried out in many laboratories around the world under different conditions.
The results are clear OASIS® Renewal™ Floral Foam provides flower life for 7-8 days. So you can have complete confidence that your designs will look better for longer.
Environmental Benefits
Now that you can be confident it performs just as you and other florist would want — in fact, even better than existing foams you’re used to — it’s time to turn our attention to its environmental benefits.
Plant-Based
OASIS® Renewal™ Floral Foam is made with plant-based, renewable materials.
What Does That Actually Mean?
Bio-based means something is made from materials that come from living organisms, like plants, animals, and microorganisms. Plant-based is a type of bio-based material, and a product is considered plant-based if plants are the main bio-based resource used to make it.
Because bio-based materials are renewable, they grow back naturally and do so within a short-term period (generally 10 years), making them part of a natural cycle.
How Is This Different from Traditional Foams?
It’s no secret that most other floral foams have used petroleum-based resins in their manufacturing process. That’s why this is such a phenomenal break through that changes everything!
Not only is the foam made from bio-based renewable materials, but it has achieved the highest OK bio-based certification available (four stars). This highest rating of 4 stars certifies that the product contains more than 80% bio-based carbon content of renewable origin.
This certification from TÜV Austria, a leading, globally recognised third-party certifying agency is a real stamp of approval.
Low Carbon Footprint
56% Reduction in Carbon Footprint
OASIS® Renewal™ Floral Foam has a 56% lower carbon footprint from the very beginning to the end of its life compared to petroleum-based OASIS® Floral Foams.
Whilst that’s an impressive stat in its own right, it’s also worth reiterating that the CO₂ rating considers every element — from the manufacturing process to the packaging, even the delivery to us at Westflor, and everything in between.
If you’re wondering, all carbon footprint analyses were conducted by nova-Institut, an independent research institute and science-based consultancy specialising in renewable carbon cycles.
Some comparisons
It’s amazing that there’s a whopping 56% deduction in carbon emissions compared to standard petroleum-based OASIS® Floral Foams!
But what does that actually mean in real terms? To put it into perspective, we compared the 0.263kg of CO₂ per brick to everyday activities and items we can all relate to — here’s how it stacks up:
1 Block is equivalent to:
12.5 Blocks are equivalent to:
22 Blocks are equivalent to:
When comparing OASIS® Renewal™ Floral Foam to a cappuccino, a pint of beer, washing and drying clothes, or even a Full English Breakfast, one thing is clear — OASIS® has done a fantastic job in drastically reducing CO₂ levels and the overall carbon footprint of this foam.
Making it Carbon Neutral!
If OASIS® Renewal™ Floral Foam is disposed of in an area that incinerates its rubbish and uses energy recapture, the foam is completely carbon neural!
How likely is that?
Many counties now have Energy Recovery Facilities that safely incinerate the waste and use the heat from this process to create steam, in turn generating electricity which is fed to the National Grid.
In fact, stats show that local authorities in England collected nearly 12 million metric tons of waste for waste-to-energy incineration (EfW) in the year ended 31st March 2023. What’s more, as of December 2024, new waste incinerators will only receive planning approval if they meet Governments strict new local and environmental conditions, including energy recovery.
So it’s not Biodegradable?
Testing for biodegradability and compostability is currently underway. Whilst this is a plant-based product the current advice is to dispose of it in general waste. However, take a look at the FAQ section to see what our friends at OASIS® Floral Products exactly say about this and much more!
When will it be available?
As soon as we can stock it we will! The official line is that it will be available in early spring – We’ll update this and provide information on our socials and in our newsletter as soon as we have more information, so keep an eye out!
FAQs
Is it Biodegradable or Compostable?
OASIS® Floral Products (UK) explain:
“OASIS® Renewal™ Floral Foam is made with renewable plant-based materials. We are working on composability and biodegradability… we are currently testing end of life scenarios, and testing with independent laboratories requires 1-2 years of testing. (Every time we modified the formulation while perfecting the product we had to restart testing.)
We [Smithers-Oasis] will not make a claim without official certification… …independent testing verification… In the meantime, we advise disposing in general waste. For areas that incinerate waste with energy recovery, the product has a net zero carbon footprint. We will keep everyone updated!”
Can you arrange it in like other foam, inserting stems at every angle etc?
Yes! Huge amounts of testing has been carried out with florists around the world and there is not doubt it holds stems, at all angles. It performs exactly like OASIS® Floral Foam, except OASIS® Renewal™ Floral Foam is plant-based!
What is the difference between this and OASIS® Bio Floral Foam?
OASIS® Renewal™ Floral Foam is made from plant-based materials, whereas OASIS® Bio Floral Foam is made from the same materials as OASIS® Floral Foam, with added ingredients to make it degradable.
When will it be available?
Rest assured, we at Westflor will get it the second we can. The official wording from OASIS® Floral Products (UK) is “It will be available early Spring and there is more information to come!”
Not long to wait then!
Can we try before we buy?
There are samples for florists to try and we aim to get these to pass onto our florist customers ASAP. We will keep you updated – Keep checking our website, socials and our Newsletter.
Final thoughts…
This is nothing short of a game-changer for the floristry industry. Most florists know that Smithers-Oasis invented floral foam — now, they’ve reinvented it! This breakthrough highlights their dedication to innovation. They continually bringing florists the best products and continue to strive to do that in the most sustainable way possible.
There’s no doubt that Smithers-Oasis remains a global leader that continues to revolutionise the industry. As we mentioned earlier, we expect ongoing updates that will elevate this product even further!
It’s no surprise that florists around the world have welcomed the launch of OASIS® Renewal™ Floral Foam with enthusiasm and excitement.
