What cheap tool/gadget do you use that greatly improves your daily life?
Just went down the aliexpress rabbit hole again. Theres really everythinf for some of really niche things that i wouldnt ever buy, but some things really do look appealing. I wonder what do you guys use daily thats worth lets say under $20
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Floss picks. Flossing is actually more important than brushing and it's really nice to have a pack of floss picks at your desk so you can floss absent mindedly while watching a video or even in bed.
It's so much wasted plastic though. I 3D printed a handle and with a little sandpaper to smooth the handle out, it's super easy to floss. Using this one currently: https://www.printables.com/model/267704-dental-floss-holder-with-tensioner/comments
Would be better with the 90 degree bend.
But also PLA will grow bacteria after putting it in your mouth even if you wash it.
I actually modified it in solidworks to have a nice curve, and open at the tips vs trying to thread the floss everytime.
Bacteria? You're brushing your teeth with a reused toothbrush. Besides, that's what immune systems are for.
Different plastics have different properties, like how much moisture they hold. You can clean polypropylene but you'll never clean off PLA
I used petg, better for the engineering stuff that I do.
Feel free to google whether you should be putting petg in your mouth and then giving it time to grow bacteria and then putting it back in your mouth again.
(you may be shocked by the answer)
I don't think anyone is shocked. PETG is probably the best solution here since it can be food grade and transparent to help with disinfection via UV. Would probably be a good idea to limit each one to a month of use or something but it's still better than the wasteful alternative.
Jesus, clickbait language in comments is worrying
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I understand your point, and still disagree.
If I could injection mold it out of polycarbonate, I would. I'd still rather use this than mindlessly buy 150 plastic prongs, only 5% of each disposed piece being actual floss.
Go for it, but maybe don't tell people it's a good idea without explaining any of the risk
Caveat emptor. We are all masters of our own destinies.
There are also wooden floss picks out there, for those who don't have a printer but want to use less plastic.
Awesome! Thank you so much, I have floss picks that I hate as they're crappy and break or stretch out before I can do my whole mouth so I end up using two. Definitely printing this when I get home!
Glad you like it. Maybe snap the ends off as threading the floss through the holes is a pita haha.
I also thought that too and I've been looking for a reusable one now. I bought one but it's too much of a hassle and frankly takes more time to change floss than actually flossing (have to unwind, remove from track unwind again, pull floss, rewind, align with track, rewind again and trim)
There's always a tradeoff: security or convenience, environmental destruction or convenience, healthy life or convenience..
I don't mind at least trying to do something right. But I don't know other people's lives so most I'll do is ask them to consider or try something new.
I started doing this a few years ago, and it made a world of difference. I dislike the whole process of using regular floss; having to wrap it around my fingers and then try to maneuver it around inside my mouth, all while staring at myself in the bathroom mirror is a mental burden. Now I just keep a bag of floss picks in easily reachable places where I tend to spend the most time, and I've ended up with really good flossing habits.
I'm in the same boat. I didn't floss until I started using those little picks. I've looked into reusable floss holders, but none of them seem like something I want to regularly stick in my mouth.
A year's worth of floss picks is the same amount of plastic as just a couple of bottles/containers. If you feel bad about the plastic waste but can't find an alternative, you can always focus on getting fewer single-use plastic containers.
There are also wooden ones; still making trash but at that point it's equivalent to a bad toothpick habit lol
Hmmm. Wooden toothpicks would make me look like some 1950s gumshoe...
I've got one that's basically a handle that dispenses the floss, so you just use it and then click a few times and there's new floss ready for next time. Makes it a lot easier to get done.
Do you know the product name?
Yeah, it's a GUM Flosbrush.
Dentist hate this one little trick… because it is not actually as good as flossing. Floss picks tend to have a very tight piece of floss. It is good for cleaning the surfaces directly between your teeth, but not the curved parts of the teeth.
I hate regular floss (or rather sticking my fat fingers deep into my mouth), so flossing sticks are better than nothing.
What I do to mediate that is sticking in the floss pick, turning it and pulling it out while under tension and whatever it doesn't get will be removed by brushing. My dentist told me I have very healthy teeth (I actually don't even brush very consistently (please don't do this even though it happened to work out for me (I was depressed, just listen to your dentist))). I also floss the gap between each tooth twice, once applying pressure to one side and vice versa.