Experiment: 23 Tubes 1 Bowl
As an experiment, Steve Vigneau recently squirted more than almost two dozen expired toothpaste tubes into a bowl and stirred up the goop. He then brushed his teeth. Vigneau documented his experiment with some colorful photographs. 23 Tubes 1 Bowl (via Laughing Squid)
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Hey there... It's me, Steve, the guy linked to there. 23 tubes is just a bit under two dozen, though. ;)
Thanks, Steve! I made the correction. Keep up the great work!
Not just toothpaste, toothpaste toothpaste. Wow, that's Xtreme!
Quite a pretty bowl there. But once he mixes it, the blue-grey skunge in the bowl is pretty nasty-looking. I wouldn't brush my teeth with it. Ewww.
Wow, that's... well... bleah. I share his disgust for flavored toothpastes.
I usually take any toothpaste-themed discussion and steer it toward an event that changed my life: I used to suffer from constant canker sores, often increased by stress. A friend referred me to Rembrandt Whitening for Canker Sore Relief, now called Rembrandt Extra Gentle.
There's a common toothpaste chemical missing from this formula that seems to be the underlying cause of many canker sores - in my case, ALL my canker sores. Switching to this toothpaste has changed my life. I no longer carry Ambesol in every pants pocket and jacket I own. I don't suffer through meals. My quality of life shot through the roof. I suffer maybe one canker sore a year.
If you suffer from canker sores, you can't go wrong by trying this toothpaste out for a few weeks. Another benefit - it's flavor is so subdued that using another toothpaste seems like brushing with candy now. I can't speak for the whitening effects, though.
@3 - Xopher
The Blue-grey "skudge" isn't really so bad. If you took out the coloring additives of many modern consumables, they'd be pretty gnarly too.
Or better yet: just go visit the produce section of a grocery store, notice the color of many fruits/vegetables, then grow your own or visit a local produce farm.
It goes hand and hand with advertising deception. Color doesn't equal quality.
I once imbibed an unholy mixture of coke and pepsi as part of an alchemical ritual to protect myself from binary marketing and brand loyalty. Its thus far worked for ten years straight with no snags.
That's skunge, please. I don't know what skudge might be! :-)
Seriously, I know about the color additives, and the cucumbers oiled with inedible petroleum goop, and other stuff like that.
I have to say, though, I have used artificial color to enhance the esthetics of a food item I was preparing. But then I AM a candy maker, of the filled-chocolates variety...kinda goes with the turf. Can YOU tell orange-extract-flavored buttercream from lemon-extract-flavored buttercream by sight? Need the color in production, even if it didn't enhance the flavor of the end product (which it does...something yellow tastes more lemony to the average person than something white, though I myself experience quite the reverse effect).
I've never heard of this "expired toothpaste," does it have dairy in it or something?
Ths s n f th mst nntrstng thngs BB hs vr pstd...
Is the fact that they are "expired" supposed to add to the allure of the "experiement?" What was the dude expecting to happen? Cracked teeth from artificial mint overload?
#8: toothpaste has an expiry date on basically because it turns lumpy and chunky after a while. Nothing wrong with it, but the texture tends to freak out the consumer.
"Expired" toothpaste gets sold at dollar stores. Just make sure if you're picking up cheap toothpaste that it's made for your local market - if you're in a country that flouridates the local water, don't use toothpaste for a country that doesn't because there's a LOT more flouride in it - stacking it on top of your normal daily consumption is considered risky.
Of course, if you use well water or bottled water exclusively and DON'T use a flouride mouthwash, you probably should use the extra-flouridated stuff.
DAN @9, IMO, the picture alone was worth the post.
23 Tubes 1 Bowl. The title is killing me.
I'd never noticed that toothpaste had expiration dates.
Brad S. (#4) What is the ingredient that causes you so much trouble? SDS?
I liked this comment at the site:
"How does one even accumulate expired toothpaste?! Do you brush your teeth every other Thursday or something?"
LOL.
It looks like a fine palatte for an artist. My son would go to town.
I'm with David @ #11: while this wasn't cutting edge experimentation, that photo is be-yute-iful.
@13 TRR:
I think the ingredient is sodium lauryl sulfate. But don't hold me to that.
So, like 2 girls 1 cup, but cleaner.
Y'know, like no poop.
smurf innards?
Brad,
That's what I thought. Sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) == Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). It is a detergent/surfactant that makes the toothpaste foamy in use.
Some brass players try to avoid it due to the effects it has on playing, but there are few toothpastes without it.
Even Tom's of Maine has it, though they explain the source as being from coconuts or something. Could just as well be from natural gas. It makes no difference. It's not a naturally occurring substance - not that I'm opposed to using synthetic materials, but be honest in labeling.
@20, and I know I'm a couple of days late - to be fair here, Tom's of Maine does sell several SLS-free toothpastes. These use some other wacky foaming agent that (in my opinion) doesn't foam as well, but it does do the trick.
I have a strange allergic reaction to some (most) toothpastes where the skin from the inside of my cheeks will peel off. It's not the SLS that causes this, I'm wondering if anybody out there has any idea what it might be? I'm sure it isn't the SLS because I pretty much always buy the normal Tom's of Maine toothpastes which do contain SLS. These don't bother me but most other toothpastes I try do... Any takers?