June 12, 2017

Toothbrush Holder

A toothbrush has to go somewhere, and the usual answers are all a bit poor: a cup that never dries out, a wall mount that needs a drill and a decision, or the edge of the sink. This one uses the object already standing next to the sink — the tube of toothpaste.

The first version was a blob of hot glue squeezed onto the crimped end of a tube. Ugly, but enough to prove the two things worth proving: that the flattened seam at the top of every toothpaste tube is a perfectly good mounting rail, and that a tube standing on its cap is stable enough to carry a brush.

The first proof of concept: a blob of clear hot glue moulded onto the crimped top seam of a toothpaste tube

An Ultimaker print head laying down the first layers of three small yellow parts on the glass bed

Three yellow printed holders finished on the printer bed, each showing the wedge-shaped slot

Yellow test prints on a dark fabric background, including a two-piece version and a variant with a round cutout

Two revisions side by side on a wooden desk: an angular yellow version and a rounded white one marked v4

The white prototype in use, clipped to the seam of a toothpaste tube and holding a white toothbrush upright

The final black holder in a bathroom, holding a pink toothbrush upright on a tube standing on its cap

Side view of the final holder, showing the brush handle resting against the tube and the head hanging clear

Close-up from the front of the black holder gripping the tube seam with the toothbrush neck seated in the channel

Six revisions followed over a couple of months on an Ultimaker. The part that survived is small — roughly 22 × 22 × 20 mm — and does two jobs with one shape. Underneath, a slot tapering about 10° pushes down over the crimp and wedges tight: the further it goes the harder it grips, so there is nothing to clip, screw or glue. Above it, a teardrop body opens into a channel that takes the neck of the brush. The brush leans back against the tube, the head hangs clear of every surface with the bristles in the air, and the two of them travel as one object — which was the part that turned out to matter most, since a tube of toothpaste is already in the bag.

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Brush Holder 6.0 — the final geometry. The wedge slot grips the tube seam; the channel above takes the brush neck

A patent search in late 2017 turned up a crowd of prior art — holders that clamp, screw and snap onto toothpaste containers, going back to the 1980s — and the project stopped there. The geometry is still good though, and the model above is the one that got printed, so anyone who wants one can take it.