The Empty Toothpaste Experiment
I consider myself a tree hugger, but I’ve never thought I was “crunchy” enough to cut open my toothpaste tubes to get out the last little bits. I’ve read online that many people do that as part of their money-saving routine, but for me it was going a bit far.
Well, I decided to try it out for myself and see just how much toothpaste is really left in an “empty” tube.
Here is my seemingly empty tube of toothpaste.
I cut off the top and this is what I was able to squeeze out.
I also decided to try this out with my “empty” face wash. Nate & I had been squeezing this thing to death!
That night I used my rescued toothpaste to brush my teeth. However, in the morning the toothpaste had started to dry up and it wasn’t as easy to get onto my toothbrush. I ended up throwing the rest out.
I had much better luck with my leftover face wash. I ended up using what was left in the lid for a whole week! I don’t know if it is what my face wash is made out of or if it was the humid environment of the shower that kept it usable whereas my toothpaste had dried up.
Conclusion: Dried up toothpaste is no fun to use and with how much Nate & I squeeze the dickens out of our tubes, it simply isn’t worth it. However, I will be cutting open my face wash from now on. Maybe I’m crunchier than I thought. 🙂
When I told my mom I was going to write about this she said, “People are going to think you are crazy!” HAHA! Well, am I crazy? Have you ever cut open your toothpaste tubes?
I do it with my facewash. But I cut off at the top first (the closed end), and then use that part as a lid, and just cut down the tube as I need.
I have cut lotion tubes open…. thanks for the toothpaste tip! 🙂
Put the toothpaste tube in a baggy and it won’t dry out.
i do the same thing with my facewash. nate thought i was crazy till he tried it and saw that he could get so much more out of his too! mine lasted about a week more too.
this is a rather gross tip, rebekah….
…but shockingly useful!
THANKS!
what a coincidence…i use a rather pricey “belly” lotion during pregnancy (because it works!) and so when I couldn’t get one more drop out of the tube the other day, I cut it open to see if I could get any more out of it, even though I had two new ones waiting on the shelf. I felt like I hit the JACKPOT when I saw what was inside! I put the remainder of the tube in a plastic baggie and have been using it for two weeks now and still going.
I love it! It really is amazing how much is left, isn’t it? 🙂
I’ve been cutting off the ends of my hair gel tubes for years. If it has a flat lid that allows the tube to stand up, I cut the tube off at a height that will allow it to just fit on one of my shorter bathroom shelves. It’s not an airtight seal by any means, but it’s enough that it slows down the drying process greatly.
I also cut the end off my hair gel tubes. Then I slide one end of the cut tube over the other to close it.
This is one thing my mom always taught me to do! I do this for all my lotions in tubes or anything I can cut. To help with the drying out, Cut the tube in half (works best on thicker tubes like Bath and Body Works’ cream lotions) and put the top half inside the bottom, which makes it look like a short bottle. It creates a seal that will help it from drying out until you finish what’s left in there. Hope this helps!
Instead of cutting, I just pour in a bit of water to make it(toothpaste, facewash, lotion, sunscreen…) more liquidy and keep using it till the very end.
Don’t even have to squeeze much then.
I have never thought to do that with toothpaste. Thanks for the tip!