Toothbrush?

[Bud Guitrau]

Anybody here made molds for toothbrushes? Curious about the process, moreso the addition of the bristles. Appreciate anybody shedding some light.

Hi Paul,

I believe all tufts are auto-loaded into the mold insert. The bristles are pre-wrapped in bundles called "tufts" and are secured at their base or root by a thin strip of flat wire. Cheaper brushes use aluminum or brass wires, but better toothbrushes (Colgate, Oral-B, Butler and the like), use a nickle-silver alloy which has better anti-bacterial properties. Only the cheapest brushes like the complimentary ones given to forgetful hotel guests aren't anchored.

This strip is called "anchor wire" and believe it or not, is big business (figure 30-60 tufts in each toothbrush, multiplied times the jillions of toothbrushes produced everyday). The anchor wires hold the tufts tightly in bundles and provide better "roots" for the tufts after molding. There are even patents for these wires, including grooved and two-sided grooved wires for better anchoring properties in electric and children's toothbrushes (ever see how mangled-looking a child's toothbrush gets? lol)

The toothbrush cavity itself is not anything out of the ordinary but the bristles are typically inserted automatically by machine for speed and to insure proper depth of insertion.

Knowing this... now we can all sleep tonight. (Just brush your teeth first) lol

Bud

[CNC Pro]

I was surprised to find that not all toothbrushes are made in offshore factories.
I recently had a local shop owner come by to check out my shop. He was on his way to a near-by injection company with a set of molds he’d made for producing “safety” toothbrushes issued to prison inmates. A cleaver design for an ever-increasing niche market (unfortunately!).

[sdantonio]

Originally Posted by KBW does your tooth brush ever smell like fish?

I had an x-girlfriend once who had a special electric toothbrush set asside that she used as a vibrator (small, compact and very localized... hit the right spot in just the right way).

so, the answer to your question is yes, I once had a toothbrush in the house that smelled like fish. But it wasn't the one used for brushing my teeth.

[tobyaxis]

Originally Posted by sdantonio I had an x-girlfriend once who had a special electric toothbrush set asside that she used as a vibrator (small, compact and very localized... hit the right spot in just the right way). so, the answer to your question is yes, I once had a toothbrush in the house that smelled like fish. But it wasn't the one used for brushing my teeth.

I do not believe that this is the right place for this post. Though it's pretty funny, because by accident I used a friends toothbrush that was exactly like my old one to clean dog dodo on the bottom of my sneaker. Oops. LOL, I never told him when I realized it after he brushed his teeth. He was late on his half of the rent anyway.