Why didn't pump toothpaste catch on?
September 17, 2010 7:31 PM Subscribe
Why didn't pump toothpaste catch on?
Let's face it: getting that last bit of toothpaste out of the tube is a pain in the ass. If only there was some technology that let you get *all* the toothpaste, and didn't require you to break your fingers doing so. And then lo and behold there was! The vertical pump toothpaste dispenser. How many years ago was that? Anyway, that many years later, here I am realizing that despite the brilliance of pump toothpaste technology it just never caught on. What gives, America?
Let's face it: getting that last bit of toothpaste out of the tube is a pain in the ass. If only there was some technology that let you get *all* the toothpaste, and didn't require you to break your fingers doing so. And then lo and behold there was! The vertical pump toothpaste dispenser. How many years ago was that? Anyway, that many years later, here I am realizing that despite the brilliance of pump toothpaste technology it just never caught on. What gives, America?
It would always get knocked over, was more expensive, and has way more packaging/plastic wasted.
posted by elpea at 7:37 PM on September 17, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by elpea at 7:37 PM on September 17, 2010 [3 favorites]
They are (were?) more expensive, they clogged up, and once emptied they were more garbage.
posted by Sys Rq at 7:38 PM on September 17, 2010
posted by Sys Rq at 7:38 PM on September 17, 2010
They really seemed like a complicated solution to a simple problem.
posted by auto-correct at 7:41 PM on September 17, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by auto-correct at 7:41 PM on September 17, 2010 [3 favorites]
Seems like the pump was a solution that was worse than the problem. I get a little thrill out of throwing away the tube even when there's still 4-5% of the toothpaste is left. Makes me feel rich.
posted by bluejayk at 7:41 PM on September 17, 2010 [9 favorites]
posted by bluejayk at 7:41 PM on September 17, 2010 [9 favorites]
the squeeze clamps for the tubes work better.
posted by nadawi at 7:43 PM on September 17, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by nadawi at 7:43 PM on September 17, 2010 [2 favorites]
According to random people on the internet, the tubes produced 70% less waste (link to cited article is dead), making them the "greener" option as well as the smarter more cost-effective option for the producer. Additionally the pump designs leave more toothpaste behind which is sort of not great from the consumer's perspective. I see the upright squeezy-toothpastes still around a lot, I feel they are what replaced the pump.
posted by jessamyn at 7:43 PM on September 17, 2010
posted by jessamyn at 7:43 PM on September 17, 2010
I love carefully working the toothpaste tube slowly up to the v-e-r-y last bit over the month or two of its lifespan. The pump denied me that pleasure and fell over into the sink all the time, too. Boo, pump.
posted by Aquaman at 7:46 PM on September 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Aquaman at 7:46 PM on September 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
With modern plastic toothpaste tubes, it's way easier to get that last bit of toothpaste than it was with the old metal ones (looks like the metal ones were phased out in the '90s). The metal ones would crack and leak and develop sharp bits, and once you'd folded up the end once, good luck unrolling it to get any trapped toothpaste without disaster. So the plastic tubes made the pumps pointless, and since they were more expensive, the new tubes won.
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 7:53 PM on September 17, 2010
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 7:53 PM on September 17, 2010
er, the "they" that was more expensive was the pumps. Just realized that sentence wasn't especially clear.
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 7:54 PM on September 17, 2010
posted by Blue Jello Elf at 7:54 PM on September 17, 2010
This simple tube squeezer lets you squeeze the last bit of toothpaste, without the need for a pump mechanism for each tube of toothpaste.
posted by needled at 8:03 PM on September 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by needled at 8:03 PM on September 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
I think the biggest problem was that you weren't sure when you were going to run out of toothpaste so sometimes you were stuck with hardly any on your brush and you would have to run out to the store and buy some more.
posted by cazoo at 8:08 PM on September 17, 2010 [6 favorites]
posted by cazoo at 8:08 PM on September 17, 2010 [6 favorites]
In my experience, they just sucked. After I'd release the pumping mechanism, it would continue to squirt onto my counter a little bit each time, eventually building up a huge mess, and it ran out way faster than a regular tube (perhaps that was the idea).
posted by Melismata at 8:14 PM on September 17, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by Melismata at 8:14 PM on September 17, 2010 [3 favorites]
Article about the introduction of the pump you might find interesting from the NYTimes, 1984.
posted by modernnomad at 8:15 PM on September 17, 2010
posted by modernnomad at 8:15 PM on September 17, 2010
The pump is still available on some kids toothpaste. I got one for my kids even though it was more expensive because I thought it would help them use less toothpaste and make less mess. I was wrong on both counts. The tube is just plain easier and cheaper, win-win all around.
posted by TooFewShoes at 8:21 PM on September 17, 2010
posted by TooFewShoes at 8:21 PM on September 17, 2010
Here's a tip, instead of rolling the toothpaste tube up, just cut the tube open once it's "done", and you can get every last drop...you'll be surprised at how much is left inside an "empty" tube. This works with anything that comes in a tube.
posted by BozoBurgerBonanza at 8:43 PM on September 17, 2010 [8 favorites]
posted by BozoBurgerBonanza at 8:43 PM on September 17, 2010 [8 favorites]
Some of the talk here seems to imply they don't exist anymore or are rare/very uncommon. Here in the UK, it's not the most popular option but I'd guess at least 25% of toothpaste comes in pump form. My parents will buy nothing else.
posted by wackybrit at 8:55 PM on September 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by wackybrit at 8:55 PM on September 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
The other nice thing about the tube squeezer gizmos is you can avoid having the "don't squeeze the tube in the middle" argument, again, and again... Just slide it up.
I never liked the pump for all the reasons cited, tipped over too easily, couldn't tell when it was running low and the pump tended to keep oozing that little bit more than needed.
posted by wkearney99 at 9:11 PM on September 17, 2010
I never liked the pump for all the reasons cited, tipped over too easily, couldn't tell when it was running low and the pump tended to keep oozing that little bit more than needed.
posted by wkearney99 at 9:11 PM on September 17, 2010
What makes you think pump toothpaste delivers 100% of the toothpaste? That depends on the distance from the bottom of the tube to the inner floor of the container.
Is this question philosophy or religion?
posted by John Cohen at 9:21 PM on September 17, 2010
Is this question philosophy or religion?
posted by John Cohen at 9:21 PM on September 17, 2010
Toothpaste pumps have a huge design flaw: the pump pushes up from the bottom. This means that the pump becomes increasingly top-heavy as you use it. In my experience by the time it's halfway empty, it will fall over if you look at it wrong.
I do still see them at the store, though. My guess is that people buy them in order to short-circuit the "you forgot to put the cap on the toothpaste" argument.
posted by ErikaB at 9:25 PM on September 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
I do still see them at the store, though. My guess is that people buy them in order to short-circuit the "you forgot to put the cap on the toothpaste" argument.
posted by ErikaB at 9:25 PM on September 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
My second purchase of a pump toothpaste had a defect. It took a lot of strength - both hands grasping the tube & pump handle - to pump any out.
It went in the trash after a few days, and I vowed to never buy one again.
Wouldn't take many of these QC problems to make the vendors drop this product, or at least (as happened) it would minimize the market for them.
posted by IAmBroom at 9:55 PM on September 17, 2010
It went in the trash after a few days, and I vowed to never buy one again.
Wouldn't take many of these QC problems to make the vendors drop this product, or at least (as happened) it would minimize the market for them.
posted by IAmBroom at 9:55 PM on September 17, 2010
I love the fact that this question is in 'religion & philosophy'. I don't know if that was a mistake, but I'm amused by that.
I remember when pump toothpastes came out. I was in elementary school. We actually had a school assembly about dental hygiene. It really was a veiled excuse for them to give out free samples, coupons, and comic books that featured a cool superhero that was a kid-friendly 'glittery' toothpaste in one of the new pump tubes. I was so excited about the pumps (and the sparkliness), that I begged my Mom to buy me the new toothpaste but she wouldn't because she claimed that it would be more expensive and you were just paying more for the packaging. It was the worst Christmas ever. That didn't really answer your question.
posted by Mael Oui at 10:13 PM on September 17, 2010 [4 favorites]
I remember when pump toothpastes came out. I was in elementary school. We actually had a school assembly about dental hygiene. It really was a veiled excuse for them to give out free samples, coupons, and comic books that featured a cool superhero that was a kid-friendly 'glittery' toothpaste in one of the new pump tubes. I was so excited about the pumps (and the sparkliness), that I begged my Mom to buy me the new toothpaste but she wouldn't because she claimed that it would be more expensive and you were just paying more for the packaging. It was the worst Christmas ever. That didn't really answer your question.
posted by Mael Oui at 10:13 PM on September 17, 2010 [4 favorites]
I reject the premise, as well.
Every pump I ever saw [OK, the two of them] left a bunch of inaccessible toothpaste at the top. The flat-top plunger came up to the rounded top of the cylinder and stopped, leaving the dome and tube full of toothpaste that you couldn't get out without opening the thing with a shop knife.
No such problem with a tube.
posted by chazlarson at 11:04 PM on September 17, 2010
Every pump I ever saw [OK, the two of them] left a bunch of inaccessible toothpaste at the top. The flat-top plunger came up to the rounded top of the cylinder and stopped, leaving the dome and tube full of toothpaste that you couldn't get out without opening the thing with a shop knife.
No such problem with a tube.
posted by chazlarson at 11:04 PM on September 17, 2010
I also used to pine after pump dispensers as a child in the 80s and was always refused one.
Now in the UK, my boyfriend buys them and I'm forced to use his occasionally. Man they suck big hairy balls. They are, for a start, harder to use -- the paste doesn't burst out under pressure like whipped cream from a can, you have to press really hard to get a thin puny worm of it. Since I like using a lot of toothpaste that's annoying. They are monumentally fucktastic when the product runs low -- you have to jam the end of a toothbrush up the bottom of the pump to get a pea-sized amount (despite there being maybe 15% left). You can't just snip the end off like with a tube if you're desperate for one or two last squeezes -- they are always wasted. Plus more expensive and ecoterrible. Fuck me if I know why they are still around here; luxury gimmick I guess.
posted by dontjumplarry at 11:09 PM on September 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
Now in the UK, my boyfriend buys them and I'm forced to use his occasionally. Man they suck big hairy balls. They are, for a start, harder to use -- the paste doesn't burst out under pressure like whipped cream from a can, you have to press really hard to get a thin puny worm of it. Since I like using a lot of toothpaste that's annoying. They are monumentally fucktastic when the product runs low -- you have to jam the end of a toothbrush up the bottom of the pump to get a pea-sized amount (despite there being maybe 15% left). You can't just snip the end off like with a tube if you're desperate for one or two last squeezes -- they are always wasted. Plus more expensive and ecoterrible. Fuck me if I know why they are still around here; luxury gimmick I guess.
posted by dontjumplarry at 11:09 PM on September 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
I found if very difficult to control how much toothpaste came out of the pump. I hate toothpaste and use as little as possible on my toothbrush. Also, I had to leave the toothpaste pump out on the sink or counter - it would not fit in the medicine cabinet. Toothpaste isn't that expensive, I will sacrifice the tiny dollop left in a tube in order to have control over dispensing and being able to easily store my toothpaste.
posted by The Light Fantastic at 11:44 PM on September 17, 2010
posted by The Light Fantastic at 11:44 PM on September 17, 2010
Let's face it: getting that last bit of toothpaste out of the tube is a pain in the ass.
So just don't bother, and it'll still be less expensive and less wasteful than a toothpaste pump.
posted by pompomtom at 12:30 AM on September 18, 2010
So just don't bother, and it'll still be less expensive and less wasteful than a toothpaste pump.
posted by pompomtom at 12:30 AM on September 18, 2010
Mentadent had a great tasting two-part (AquaFresh-like) toothpaste, but it came in this stupid pump contraption that was the size of one of those stand-alone electric can openers.
Not only was the thing incredibly top-heavy most of the time (liable to cart-wheel off the bathroom shelf if you looked at it wrong), you had to really push hard on the damn thing to get the toothpaste out. In fact, a lot of the time, you'd have to actually pick it up and work it with both hands like a concertina. Now you're using twice the amount of hands to get the toothpaste out—it was just stupid, so very stupid.
And of course when the tubes run out, you threw away this huge heavy hunk of plastic. It was the most environmentally unfriendly packaging I've seen. Why couldn't they just throw it in a normal 2-compartment tube like AquaFresh? I think the company just liked to think of themselves as the Bang Olufsen of the bathroom shelf or something.
posted by blueberry at 1:09 AM on September 18, 2010 [1 favorite]
Not only was the thing incredibly top-heavy most of the time (liable to cart-wheel off the bathroom shelf if you looked at it wrong), you had to really push hard on the damn thing to get the toothpaste out. In fact, a lot of the time, you'd have to actually pick it up and work it with both hands like a concertina. Now you're using twice the amount of hands to get the toothpaste out—it was just stupid, so very stupid.
And of course when the tubes run out, you threw away this huge heavy hunk of plastic. It was the most environmentally unfriendly packaging I've seen. Why couldn't they just throw it in a normal 2-compartment tube like AquaFresh? I think the company just liked to think of themselves as the Bang Olufsen of the bathroom shelf or something.
posted by blueberry at 1:09 AM on September 18, 2010 [1 favorite]
Yeah, my sisters made an even more dreadful mess than they had before, so back to the tubes for them. By the time pumps were widely available I had "graduated" to Arm & Hammer, so I never got to use a pump. I associate them with seven-year-olds semi-gleefully yet accidentally spurting toothpaste onto the bathroom mirror and adjacent surfaces.
posted by SMPA at 5:35 AM on September 18, 2010
posted by SMPA at 5:35 AM on September 18, 2010
Response by poster: I am appeased.
posted by Hobbacocka at 7:35 AM on September 18, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by Hobbacocka at 7:35 AM on September 18, 2010 [3 favorites]
Attention all wannabe product designers... this is a perfect example of why possible things are not necessarily successful things.
Carried to the extreme, one could envision frozen toothpaste sticks that you remove from the freezer 1/2 hour before need. That would be possible, but carry with it a whole host of disadvantages.
Thus with pumps for toothpaste. In 10 minutes, one could come up with 100 compelling reasons why they suck. One wonders how Proctor and Gamble, et al, managed to tool, package, and market such junk when it seems that even a small marketing study and some consumer testing would show it to be marginal.
Successful products are USUALLY driven by consumer need. Either the need is there first, or a product generates it (think iPod), but just because P&G has money in their R&D budget to MAKE something is not a predictor of success. Novel ideas are almost worthless without demand.
'If you build it, they will come' is blatant bullshit. Money is separated from its owners when something meets a need.
posted by FauxScot at 7:42 AM on September 18, 2010
Carried to the extreme, one could envision frozen toothpaste sticks that you remove from the freezer 1/2 hour before need. That would be possible, but carry with it a whole host of disadvantages.
Thus with pumps for toothpaste. In 10 minutes, one could come up with 100 compelling reasons why they suck. One wonders how Proctor and Gamble, et al, managed to tool, package, and market such junk when it seems that even a small marketing study and some consumer testing would show it to be marginal.
Successful products are USUALLY driven by consumer need. Either the need is there first, or a product generates it (think iPod), but just because P&G has money in their R&D budget to MAKE something is not a predictor of success. Novel ideas are almost worthless without demand.
'If you build it, they will come' is blatant bullshit. Money is separated from its owners when something meets a need.
posted by FauxScot at 7:42 AM on September 18, 2010
I recently tried those new pumps with the "Iso-active" toothpaste. I guess the toothpaste in them fizzes/foams up more or something, almost like gel shaving cream. I actually really liked the toothpaste itself - delightfully foamy and tasted good. And it came in Sensodyne, which I need for my sensitive teeth. But damn that pump mechanism straight to hell. It would leave that bit of toothpaste in the dispenser tip after each use (unlike a tube, which often kind of sucks the toothpaste back in after you release your squeeze hold on the tube). So despite my best efforts to be neat and tidy, a little smudge of paste would end up on the inside of the cap. Then, because it's special foamy toothpaste, that smudge would foam and expand and get all over the place - the inside of the cap, the outside of the pump. Then it would dry up and form a plug in the tip. It was a goddamn sticky mess from Day 1 of use.
Plus the top heavy thing, ugh.
I would buy the shit out of the iso-active toothpaste if it came in a tube. Alas, it does not. It's as if the product designers never actually put that shit on their own shelf and used it before selling it.
posted by misskaz at 8:24 AM on September 18, 2010
Plus the top heavy thing, ugh.
I would buy the shit out of the iso-active toothpaste if it came in a tube. Alas, it does not. It's as if the product designers never actually put that shit on their own shelf and used it before selling it.
posted by misskaz at 8:24 AM on September 18, 2010
You don't even need a clamp squeezer on modern toothpaste tubes. I use a rolling pin. And you can file that under religion ;)
posted by halonine at 8:28 AM on September 18, 2010
posted by halonine at 8:28 AM on September 18, 2010
Pretty sure mentadent still comes in a pump. My son decided it was hand soap when we were visiting family. (And just kept pumping, and pumping and pumping to get more when it wouldn't lather up... I am not a fan of the pump after cleaning up that mess, let me tell ya.)
posted by lemniskate at 9:16 AM on September 18, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by lemniskate at 9:16 AM on September 18, 2010 [2 favorites]
You don't even need a clamp squeezer on modern toothpaste tubes. I use a rolling pin.
Side of the toothbrush works pretty well too.
posted by mendel at 9:11 PM on September 19, 2010
Side of the toothbrush works pretty well too.
posted by mendel at 9:11 PM on September 19, 2010
Successful products are USUALLY driven by consumer need. Either the need is there first, or a product generates it (think iPod), but just because P&G has money in their R&D budget to MAKE something is not a predictor of success. Novel ideas are almost worthless without demand.
This exactly. Either it is a product that meets a need or they are attempting to manufacture a need. For example, remember a few years ago when they tried to convince us to buy a special liquid soap for the sole purpose of washing our fruits and veggies? You might not, because it never caught on. Currently I am watching with horror as they try to convince us that bathroom towels are only used by the scum of the earth and terrible parents as they try to get some sort of home bathroom disposable paper towel dispense to catch on.
I and a bunch of other kids were in one of the focus groups for the commercials that introduced the pump. They showed us three commercials (on storyboards) and got our feedback. One was so ridiculous I can't even remember the premise. The other tried to convince us the pump was "fun"! The other basically said it was easier to use, etc. It was interesting to be in a focus group, exciting to see "our" chosen commercial show up on TV many months later, and disappointing to actually use the product which was not easier or more efficient at all.
posted by mikepop at 7:00 AM on September 20, 2010
This exactly. Either it is a product that meets a need or they are attempting to manufacture a need. For example, remember a few years ago when they tried to convince us to buy a special liquid soap for the sole purpose of washing our fruits and veggies? You might not, because it never caught on. Currently I am watching with horror as they try to convince us that bathroom towels are only used by the scum of the earth and terrible parents as they try to get some sort of home bathroom disposable paper towel dispense to catch on.
I and a bunch of other kids were in one of the focus groups for the commercials that introduced the pump. They showed us three commercials (on storyboards) and got our feedback. One was so ridiculous I can't even remember the premise. The other tried to convince us the pump was "fun"! The other basically said it was easier to use, etc. It was interesting to be in a focus group, exciting to see "our" chosen commercial show up on TV many months later, and disappointing to actually use the product which was not easier or more efficient at all.
posted by mikepop at 7:00 AM on September 20, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by KateHasQuestions at 7:33 PM on September 17, 2010 [2 favorites]