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ONE OF THE most frustrating feelings in the world is struggling to get the last bit of ketchup out of the bottle or the last squirt of toothpaste out of the tube.
Thankfully, there may now be a solution to the age-old (first world) problem.
A coating called LiquiGlide can keep the inside of a container permanently wet and allow its contents to easily slide out.
Look how easy it is get to mayonnaise out of a bottle coated with it…
The substance was originally created in 2012 by a professor, Kripa Varanasi, and his grad students at MIT.
They’ve formed their own company, and it’s now getting some traction among consumer products.
Why so hard?
The reason it’s so difficult to get things like glue and condiments out of their containers is because they are viscous liquids that can’t flow without a powerful push.
When these kinds of liquids flow through a pipe or a bottle, the layer of liquids flow at different speeds and create friction and viscosity. The layer at the very centre of the container is flowing fastest and the layer that is closest to the container sticks to its surface.
The idea behind LiquiGlide is to create an extra layer between the container and the liquid that will help the liquid slide out easier.
It’s a liquid coating that binds much more strongly to textured surfaces than to liquids, so when it’s painted onto the inside of a container, the liquid can flow freely over it without creating friction and viscosity.
“We’re not defying physics, but effectively, we are,” one of the MIT grad students, Dave Smith, told the New York Times.
So what’s in LiquiGlide?
It depends on the liquid and containers that each batch is made for. For any food containers, the coating is made from edible materials like plants.
Other than solving a universally frustrating problem, LiquiGlide also cuts down on waste. You end up wasting less glue, paint, condiments, etc., because it’s much easier to get out the last few stubborn squeezes.
However, the original intent behind LiquiGlide was not to make it easier to have ketchup with your chips.
Varanasi had been thinking about industry applications like more efficient oil pumping. For now, the company has found success in consumer products, but it will continue pursuing industry application ideas too.
In the US, Elmers Products, Inc. is on board and has already signed a contract with LiquiGlide.
An easier to squeeze mayonnaise bottle might be coming out this year, and easier to squeeze toothpaste could be here in 2017. For some reason, ketchup companies have shown little interest.
But just look at that flawless pouring:
- Kelly Dickerson
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The new lube..
I like the way you think.
Get a room.
Slippy when wet
That’s what we want, more chemicals in our food
Brian in all fairness article does say its made from edible plant materials.
Also, people who use ketchup are generally not all that concerned about an extra chemical or two.
True, Neal. Same with people who glug back 2L bottles of Diet Coke with aspartame.
Everything is chemicals.
Just run a drop of vinegar through your ketchup…it’ll flow away after that
Neil`s onto me.
Those in glass houses, Neal.
https://youtu.be/YkVWccmK48U
Yes but I wasn’t actually throwing stones, was I. Unlike you when you track me down on Twitter just to repeatedly ask whether I’m “handicapped” because of the way I speak on my podcast.
Thanks for the plug though.
You do put on a funny voice though. Like a simpleton yokle style character. Not my thing, but the voice you do is very well executed for the character. Credit where it’s due.
And yes – you had a go at people who consume chemicals in their food, whilst you sit there with a stinky old mattress against your wall & glug down bottles of diet coke – all the while judging others.
Best thing with the tomato ketchup is, when you make Bolognese sauce, put a small amount of water in
ketchup bottle,with the lid on of course, shake like mad and add to sauce. Then you can recycle bottle so you are saving the planet as well!!!!
In all fairness, not all plants are safe to eat.
It’s the waste left in the bottle that’s part of the profit . What manufacturer wants to lose that?
Exactly – to get 50 bottles worth of ketchup I’d guess a person needs to buy 51 bottles – a 2 percent margin right there!
Except a little bit like when the made it easier for bleach to pour , people use the product quicker and replace ! It will be more profitable for companies as customers would run out of ketchup sooner not fooling them selves ah sure the loads left in that bottle just give it s good whack ;)
It flows a bit too quickly though. You could end up with half the bottle on your plate very easily, going by the GIF anyway.
Other liquids will play catch-up…
Another application one can think of is to have a coating on the inside of the car’s windscreen, so that condensation can glide down as soon as it forms. Not sure if it can also be used outside the windscreen as a repellent for rain & bird droppings.
What if one was to ingest some of this substance? Would you have the sh!ts permanently?
Rub a small amount of shaving foam on to ur windscreen till it dissapears…. Fog free windows
Put some of those cat litter pebbles that you can buy into a sock or a washing powder net and leave them in your car. They absorb all the moisture and keep windows condensation free!
“it’s now getting some traction among consumer products.”…this product works with Zero traction!
Article on the same substance dated 2013. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2356793/No-whacking-ketchup-bottle-Scientists-develop-non-stick-coating-help-sauce-slide-out.html
It’s still news if you haven’t seen it before.
Johnaton you’ve to much time on your hands
It would be amazing to have this stuff in make up bottles too especially the glass ones. The amount of product left does be crazy.
” it wasn’t the mustard you ate, that made Mr Coleman rich, – it was the bit you left on the side of the plate…”
Is this article new? This coating has been Round I. Sauce bottles for about a year now.
a little drop in every cistern would disrupt historic reign toilet brushes .
That looks gross! Into the kettle, upside down (top on of course) with the hot water for a min does the same !
All that hassle for some ketchup dregs? lol – poor people suck.
Except that effectively being boiled will destroy lots of condiments.
You can’t do that with mayonnaise for one thing
An ironic little section from the above
” it’s now getting some traction among consumer products”.
Not irony.
Great Stuff! Another plus is washing! As a recycler, washing those things out are a pain in the behind, especially mayo in a glass jar! Think of all the water it will save too. Getting the last drop of red sauce out was never an issue for me. A put a tiny bit of water in and give it a shake, Voila! Don’t ya just love science!
This could have a thousand other consequences on food which all have to be tested before being used, it could affect flavour, texture, nutritional content, shelf life etc. can’t just be rushing in with sweeping changes
I wonder what sort of chemicals makes this achievable? I’d be very nervous about this in foodstuffs until I saw the ingredients.
We’re on the slippery slope. This could be used in car engine manufacture to make pistons last longer, might it do away with lubricants?
GM Tomatoes?
have your say