Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

To all you brillant, inventive minds I ask you to please come up with  something that will help me with this annoying problem I encounter daily.

In my kitchen I have about 5 bottles of cleaning products in squirt type bottles, all still about a quarter full but the little tube doesn`t go down far enough to reach what is left, so when I try to use it nothing comes out.  I also have the same problem with the pump dispensers of  liquid hand soap, lotion, bodywash, shampoo, etc.  Am I the only one annoyed by this problem?  Can somebody come up with a solution?

Hummm, well I always dump the left over into a slightly used newer bottle. But what you could also do to get that last little bit would be to visit your local pet shop and buy a foot or two of the air hose line. Cut about 1-2" off it and attach at the bottom this should give you the extra reach your looking for.

I do that too Todd, but that means I have to buy a new bottle, use enough of it to make room for what is left in the old bottle, and transfer, depending on my aim, is not always successful.  Plus, I have lots of clutter.  That trick doesn`t work for lotions.  Although I usually try turning it upside down and leaving it, hoping it will work it`s way up to the top, in the meantime some of the soap/lotion leaks out and makes a mess. 

Your idea was a good one, I`ll give it a try.  I was just hoping it might trigger someone to come up with a new idea for packaging this stuff. There has to be a better way....

You will never get all of a product out of a bottle.  It is designed that way so you will have to buy more product.  Turning lotion bottles upside down only defeats your purpose as it is being drawn from the bottom of the bottle.  My recommendation is to only buy products that come in refillable bottles and let the manufacturers know that this is your intent.  Then, buy a small funnel to assist with the refill.  Keep the big bottles in the laundry room or garage so they are out of the way.  I once found a bottle in a hardware store that had a tube that went all the way down with a 1/8" crown that rested on the bottom.  I bought 4 and lost them all when my daughter got married.  If you find them, let me know.

CampSteve, I can use the driving over it with a car method for my thicker products like lotions! I have a spatula, I`ll try it today.

Craig,  It straightens curly hair?  Really?  I`ve been battling with that all my life!  Do the generic brands work as well as the brand name products? 

I`ll go looking at the hardware store (or maybe just contact a realtor), I had no idea such things were sold at hardware stores.  The strong smell of fertilizer keeps me away from them.

Thanks....

I will remember you and I`ll buy some for me, all my relatives and friends....It is an ongoing problem and annoyance that someone, and it sounds like it might be you, dummypreneur, can profit from!  Good Luck!