Usability Forum

More small things considered: toothpaste cap

By Eddieelcid73. Wednesday, November 23, 2005 3:19:29 PM

I'll tell you what I like about Chinese people. They're hanging in there with the chopsticks. You know they've seen the fork. They're staying with the sticks. I don't know how they missed it. Going out all day on the farm with a shovel. Come on. Shovel. Spoon. You're not plowing 50 acres with a couple of pool cues.
-Jerry Seinfeld

Why do we even have the removable toothpaste cap anymore? It's the chopsticks of toothpaste. Surely there can be little argument that it is superior to the flip top toothpaste cap. Does it cost less that the flip top? Is this an economics issue, or are Crest and Colgate determined to clog my drain and litter my bathroom cupboards & floor with stray caps? Perhaps they enjoy the crusted toothpaste rings all over my counter from setting it down there?

The only thing I EVER notice about the toothpaste I buy is if it has a removable cap. Unfortunately, this is after the fact. I don’t care enough about the product to remember which ones have flip and which brands have removable caps (a brand identity problem?). When I’m choosing I want so bad just to pop the box open to peek. I don't want to scare my wife, so I refrain from calling home to ask my wife "quick, go to the bathroom and look at the toothpaste!" -so I gamble and usually win. But sometimes I still end up with the removable cap. How do simple designs like this still manage to get screwed up?

As a side note, it appears someone is thinking about this still

Another side note- I believe the removable cap shown above was designed by IDEO which makes this more interesting. Their goal was to prevent residue in the cap, but what good is that if you can't find it?source

Ideas on snacking"Ten to avoid" is centered on usability

Comments

Anonymous # Sunday, January 29, 2006 7:45:21 PM

Aubrey Jean writes: ok so i like the caps on toothpaste if you use them right and put them on after applying then you dont get the nasty globby tooth paste on your counter and all that jazz so i think they are usefull but whatever you think

Eddieelcid73 # Monday, January 30, 2006 1:54:12 AM

But are then any better than the flip top? If you put the flip top back, you still prevent the nasty globby tooth paste no?

eh- to each their own I guess.

Anonymous # Tuesday, June 19, 2007 11:21:06 PM

Anonymous writes: i also like the caps on toothpaste. I mean think about it if your going somewhere and you have the one with the flip top if the tube squishes then you've got toothpaste all over the place.

Anonymous # Tuesday, January 1, 2008 2:00:49 AM

akaskent writes: The flip cap can be used as a regular cap too. If you are traveling you should secure your toothpaste with travel caps. I would buy the flip caps separately if they would sell them.

Anonymous # Wednesday, September 2, 2009 7:54:29 PM

Anonymous writes: i like eating toothpaste so i dont care if i have a cap or not thats just me

Anonymous # Wednesday, September 2, 2009 7:56:09 PM

Anonymous writes: your an idiot..... i can't believe you eat toothpaste i think you may have been dropped on your head as a child therefore you are mentally challanged in a major way

Eddie LopezEddie_Lopez # Wednesday, September 2, 2009 8:24:49 PM

now now children....

Anonymous # Thursday, September 17, 2009 4:44:34 AM

Anonymous writes: A short film about toothpaste http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tS3HeHRKOMs

Anonymous # Sunday, December 27, 2009 12:56:16 AM

Anonymous writes: obviously "you're" the idiot

Anonymous # Monday, January 11, 2010 8:05:08 PM

Anonymous writes: Crest travel size has the old-fashioned simple cap, which I prefer. It can be used interchangeably on larger tubes with the modern stay-on cap, which I can never get to seal properly. So I keep the simple ones.

Anonymous # Thursday, September 23, 2010 12:05:54 AM

Michigan Linda writes: Oh my gosh! I thought I was the only one who really, really misses the flip-tops that used to be on the Crest toothpast tubes a few years ago! I saved some and have been using them since Crest went to the old-fashioned ones!

Anonymous # Saturday, January 29, 2011 1:48:35 PM

Anonymous writes: To use a flip-top, everyone involved has to be equally devoted to keeping the lid fully closed and the lid area completely clean. A slight build-up of toothpaste can prevent the lid from closing fully, and then a slight pressure on the tube can cause more toothpaste to ooze out, leading quickly to a lid that won't close at all. Toothpaste very quickly dries to a consistency that is really hard to wash off. Halfway through our tube of flip-top Crest my husband agreed to pretend that there was no flip-top, and to unscrew the whole lid. But even I who _am_ dedicated to lid cleanliness fell afoul of a private tube of flip-top toothpaste once. I got a flip-top by mistake while travelling. One day I opened my bag and the tube had half-emptied into the plastic bag holding my bathroom stuff. Urgh. 3 Cheers For The Old-Fashioned Cap.

Anonymous # Friday, March 18, 2011 4:19:38 PM

Stefani in Seattle writes: I love the flip top caps! I ran across this because I was looking for a source for the ones that fit the Crest tubes, I just have one left. I have a Colgate one too, but I don't usually use Colgate. Flip top = one handed use and the cap never rolls off into the bathroom grossness.

Anonymous # Friday, June 24, 2011 8:30:58 PM

Anonymous writes: Does anyone know the name of the brands that have these flip top caps at the present time? I inadvertently threw out an empty tube that I had switched one of these caps onto, but I don't remember what brand of toothpaste that originally had the flip top.

Anonymous # Friday, July 22, 2011 4:14:44 AM

Hank writes: I would readily use any brand that had the flip top.

Anonymous # Friday, July 22, 2011 4:24:04 AM

Hank writes: Well, I found a place to order the caps and have enough for several life times. Here is the link: http://rego-tube.en.alibaba.com/product/232382641-201209218/Common_Cap_For_Toothpaste_Tube_Flip_Top_Caps_PP_Caps_.html Minimum order; 50,000 and you guessed it, Made in China.

Anonymous # Friday, August 5, 2011 7:06:51 PM

Anonymous writes: What about which type or brand based on the ingredients? Do any ingredients make any difference in the effectiveness of removing plaque and preventing gum disease? I found this article. http://lomalindaperio.com/toothpaste-and-toothbrush-368.htm What do you think about it?

Anonymous # Tuesday, August 30, 2011 2:16:48 PM

Anonymous writes: epic fail

Anonymous # Tuesday, August 30, 2011 2:18:07 PM

Anonymous writes: I they eat it, atleast they have minty clean breath!