Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Two (and some more) Questions relating to Toothpaste

How do they line up the red and blue and white stuff to come out evenly, even in the squeezy type tubes?

On the solid type tubes, where does the tube get the energy to squeeze the toothpaste out?

(why those colours?)

Could you live on Toothpaste if you ever found yourself stuck in a toothpaste shop in an earthquake? and for how long would you live on it before it poisoned you?

If mint is supposed to be so good with lamb, why don't they sell toothpaste in butchers shops?

11 comments:

swiss said...

the wonder of the internet - diagrams and everything!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A1047836

i don't think toothpaste has any nutritional value but i think if you were to ingest enough you'd damage yourself

NanU said...

I saw a murder mystery once where the ingenious weapon was a great excess of toothpaste. Three tubes-worth all at once seemed enough, but that's only TV.

Niamh B said...

swiss that explains the hard tubed ones, but not the softies... which reminds me of another question on those hard tubes. I'll put it up now.
That's interesting NanU, tv can't be trusted tho, surely the internet has the answer somewhere..

Unknown said...

I suspect they have a squeezy tube widget ( which is probably a toothpaste squeeze fairy) the ensure that no matter what the stripes are always perfect.

As for being able to subsist on toothpaste I doubt it. Not only is it rather indegestable especially without water but you'd be committing toothfairycide.

And I have no idea why they don't sell toothpaste in butchers

The Dead Acorn said...

If the earthquake was strong enough, it's likely that the stripes would get all mixed together, which would really make life not worth living.

As for those particular colors, I always thought red, white, and blue was just in the United States and England, and assumed that Irish toothpaste had green, white, and orange stripes. I guess I don't have to continue saving up for a trip to Zimbabwe to try their 5 color paste.

Niamh B said...

Thanks Gwei, very sensible, tho I'd quibble on its digestibility, I often enjoy the odd toothpaste snack, tho, yes it is dangerous - the proof is here
http://www2.fluoridealert.org/Alert/United-States/National/Toothpaste-How-Safe
Acorn, We do have one with a bit of green too, but no, I doubt Zimbabwe have anything more exciting than the 3 colours. Gosh, and I never thought of the earthquake mixing the toothpaste. I'm going plain from now on

jinksy said...

I like your thinking! I've always understood the secret to the stripes is in the dispensing head - all the toothpaste inside the tube is white, but I'm open to suggestions! :)

Dominic Rivron said...

There's a good wikipedia page on toothpaste with links to the patents for stripey toothpaste dispensing tubes. It's easy to put different colours in one "squeezy" compartment because the toothpaste is so viscous the colours won't mix in the tube.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toothpaste

Niamh B said...

Thank you Jinksy, interesting hypothesis, i think we may have to cut one open to verify
and thanks Dominic, most helpful - wikipeeja knows all doesn't it?

Unknown said...

I thought those colors are only for the purpose of design.Dental site explains that red is for cavity protection and green is for mint. White is obviously for whitening.

About the packaging, I think it is just marketing for dentists because they are all busy for intricate packaging.
Just thoughts from a fan!

Niamh B said...

Thanks Jennifer,
Always interesting to hear from a new commenter.