Lego Toothpaste Tube Squeezer
This morning while brushing I found myself wishing I had one of those plastic toothpaste tube squeezer thingies (the technical term).
I checked Amazon and the ones I liked were about $5 each. I also wasn't happy about bringing extra plastic crap into our home. So I thought about how to make one.
Lego construction seemed a promising route.
This should work equally well for other tubed materials like sunscreen, makeup, oil or watercolor paints, etc.
I checked Amazon and the ones I liked were about $5 each. I also wasn't happy about bringing extra plastic crap into our home. So I thought about how to make one.
Lego construction seemed a promising route.
This should work equally well for other tubed materials like sunscreen, makeup, oil or watercolor paints, etc.
Pieces
Find the 4 required Lego technic pieces. They are:
-2 bars with holes, at least 9 holes long for a standard tube. Longer is fine.
-The critical pins that my son the Master Builder calls "threes." These pins have one end that fits securely into a bar's holes. The other end has a double-long section that the bar can slide on. This lets you adjust the distance between the bars.
-2 bars with holes, at least 9 holes long for a standard tube. Longer is fine.
-The critical pins that my son the Master Builder calls "threes." These pins have one end that fits securely into a bar's holes. The other end has a double-long section that the bar can slide on. This lets you adjust the distance between the bars.
Assembly
Put together with enough space between the pins to accommodate your preferred tube. Mine was at the ends of a 9-hole bar. It doesn't seem to matter if the pins are oriented the same or swapped.
Use
Voila! Nudge the bars apart, insert tube, and squeeze together. The bars make a surprisingly effective squeegee and stay where you leave them, forcing the remaining toothpaste to the spout end. Have fun and thanks for reading.