apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Ummm, I think lapping is just fine. If not get a cup/glass. Anyway keeping the water on while you aim for your mouth seems wasteful. My 2 cents.

I could be wrong, of course, but my first thoughts when looking at this are that the amount of water wasted while trying to adjust the stream just so combined with the inevitable mess of water on my clothes/the floor would make this toothbrush worthless to me.

I'd rather slurp from my hands, honestly (or directly from the stream under tap, which is what I do most of the time).

My next door neighbor growing up had a plastic Shamu head from Sea World that fitted over the faucet. When the mouth was open, the water ran normally. When closed, the water was redirected out of Shamu's blow hole, turning the sink into a water fountain. It was probably an overpriced $4 from the Sea World gift shop back in the mid-80s.

I suspect the underlying product is a joke, but I can't tell if this post is as well.

I think this is halarious and might be a good way to get kids interested in brushing their teeth.

Turns out shamu is still available:
http://www.tinyliving.com/store/product/737/faucet-fountain/
and only costs $4.

It's taking a lot of restraint to not order one of these for myself. I think I'll use a friends child as and excuse to buy one.

I've always hated the idea of a toothpastey glass living by the sink, so I've always gone straight for the stream out of the faucet--just like from the garden hose, no hands needed. When I moved into a new construction condo recently, I wasn't totally thrilled with the look of the highly-arched faucets in the bathroom, until I experienced how easily they facilitate my chosen form of rinsing. Now, I love them!

Since the point of the exercise seem to be cleaning one's teeth, I wonder just how good a job the brush itself does. Given the advances in both manual and electric toothbrushes, I'd suggest one best forego the joys of making a mess and focus on a brighter smile. After all, mashed potatoes can be catapaulted across the dining room with a spoon, but that doesn't mean dinnerware designers need to advertise this capacity as a design feature.

And genuine thanks to those several who commented on the waste of water - I confess: I am insufficiently aware of my water usage and their comments serve as good and needed reminders.

vertigo-
thats my excuse whenever i get something thats childlike " what i got it for..um..whose kid is available..ah yeah THAT one.."

lol

but my friends are on to my game...damm

1,750..for something i can do for free....with my hand...rightttt sure...let me get my wallet. oh wait. my wallet just gave me the finger and walked off. haahah

cute idea, but way overpriced.

I finally have the ultimate excuse for getting all the childlike stuff--a two-year old. And I, uh, I mean she will be getting one of those shamu thingys!

We used to use the Shamu thing, too. (Actually it came in several different forms.) It was very handy when the kids were a certain age, and you didn't have to take it off the faucet when you didn't want to use it.

Why would a cup get toothpasty? I use a cup, and it's quite clean.

I've never been one to keep a glass at the counter--but maybe you can rinse it out well (should only take a couple of swirls of clean water) to get the toothpaste residue out each time. I agree with everyone that this seems a huge waste of water, even if the idea is very interesting. The shamu thing is cool, if they could make it look a little more grown up....not that I wouldn't love to have shamu on my faucet, it's just what my family will think of me when they see it in my bathroom.

The toothbrush is interesting, but if we're to "imagine if everything were designed with this much efficiency in function" why not start with the faucet itself.

I can't find a link and I don't remember the brand, but my parents have these great, nice looking lavatory faucets that turn into drinking fountains with a simple twist of the spout. They work really well and are pretty efficient as all the water arcs up to drinking height.

Genius. And almost as much fun for kids as Shamu.

ha! Shamu! fun! Much more fun than the toothbrush...even if toothbrush was $4.

Clever, but the hand is mightier than the brush and has been around for at least 5,700 years.

Or do what Starck did:
http://www.hansgrohe-usa.com/products/singleprod.php?prod_line=Starck&prod_num=10120&page=brand_return.php
I have one of these and let me tell you - its fantastic!

I love this- I mean I want it to be integrated into the design of my SoniCare toothbrush, but I like the idea.

That said, there is something about instruments used for teethbrushing that really grosses me out- using a cup in the bathroom, using your hand to slurp from, and toothbrushes that constantly stay wet...YUCK...there has to be a better way to achieve oral cleanliness...

I can't wash spoons by hand without soaking myself. The only way this could work for me is pre-wet-t-shirt contest.

brittanykate-

i hear you..when i do dishes it looks like i was at a water ride at great adventure. it never fails....

hahhahaha

i need to wear a raincoat when i do dishes

My mom gave "faucet fountains" as stocking stuffers about twelve years ago. Very like shamu, but on the utilitarian side of whimsical. Of course, we still tease her about it... but maybe she was just trend forward?

Of course the water back home I was willing to drink straight from the tap too...
Perhaps britta could come up with a faucet fountain filter and solve my lingering tap water issues?

Wow, yeah, I didn't realize this was a problem that needed solving. Are people really spending their lives thinking about this? That's a little depressing. Perhaps people are using far too much toothpaste? Size of a pea, hello? One handful of water should be enough to rinse.

I'll stick with my electric toothbrush. Not sure, but I think Brita makes a bathroom faucet mount water filter with a fountain on it that serves the same purpose.....

its your hand...it worked for you when you where 4..it still works for you now..
hahaha

How can you use this AND save water?

I had the shamu head just 10 years ago or so ... damn, I forgot about it until you just mentioned it!

And yeah, I think the toothbrush thing is way too wasteful ... it would take a few moments to get the aim right and by then, you would have wasted a lot of water and probably made a big mess.

Whereas Shamu got the aim right every time ... ;-)

ya know, all of my toothpastes say NOT to rinse. one even says not to drink or eat w/in 30 minutes.