The Toilet Plunger Story
Where to begin, I guess it would be appropriate to begin at the beginning. As a youngster, my first experience with the toilet plunger came as it probably did for most. In our own private moment in the bathroom, as we finished our business with a flush, our private moment became public. The water was rising and all we could do was holler for assistance. At this point, every towel within reach had been thrown to the floor, what a mess. In walks dad and behind him peering through the door are all your siblings cheering “way to go.” In his hand is a funny looking device; it has a long handle screwed into a red rubber cup. At this point, your complete attention was focused on him and how he was using this device. If this should ever happen again you wanted to be prepared and understand how to use this special tool. Through the years growing up it did happen again, and this tool was always sitting next to the toilet in a milk jug with the top cut off. It only took that one time to understand that the toilet plunger needs to be as close as possible.
On special occasions when we would have family and friends over, mom would always remove the toilet plunger and hide it out of sight. This was the makings for a disaster. Someone would inevitably have a problem and before you knew it, everybody there had heard about it. You felt sorry for the accused and wondered if the plunger had been in its usual place next to the toilet, would this person have been spared the embarrassment.
As an adult now, with a family and our own home, my views of the toilet plunger have changed somewhat. There is still the need for the toilet plunger and the need is greater than ever. With the energy efficient toilets that are required in the United States, we need the plunger as close as possible. The problem is, that it is an unattractive bath accessory that we are all forced to display. A few years ago, I started noticing that there are plungers in bathrooms everywhere. They are sitting out on bathroom floors in restaurants, gas stations, office buildings, department stores and still in our own homes. Now, I know from past experiences that the plunger needs to be close, but I am unable to accept a filthy toilet plunger sitting on my bathroom floor. There has to be a better way? In the last century we have developed many extraordinary things, the automobile, computers, air travel, televisions, cell phones, etc. Surely they have found a place to put a toilet plunger.
I took it as a challenge and assumed the responsibility of finding a solution for our home. I surfed the internet, researched magazines, went to the library, and also searched the US Patent office. What I found was amazing! For over hundred years, inventors have been trying to hide the toilet plunger. There are many products that exist today that can help us with this design dilemma, unfortunately they are all products that still sit on the bathroom floor. I've been working on a product called Hy-dit, and recently receive a US patent. Never before has there been a sanitary storage cabinet that holds the toilet plunger and that recesses flush into any wall, until the Hy-dit. I feel it is my obligation to work as hard as I can to rid our bathrooms of this disgusting, but necessary bath accessory and put it where it belongs forever. Maybe along the way I can save people the embarrassment of involving other people in a situation that can be resolved by the individual themselves. Whether or not this goes anywhere beyond you (the reader), I have achieved one thing. You too will start seeing toilet plungers everywhere, one down millions to go.