I wish I invented Q-Tips. They are a small wonder of the world. Everyone needs them but they are used for a variety of uses even becoming flowers when stuck in Styrofoam balls. What is wrong with a bouquet of Q-Tips? It should make somebody smile. The everyday product is used by women when doing their nails, men use it to clean hard to reach places and any art product can do with some paint on the tips of a Q-Tip. I did not run out of things to write about but just let me be on this one please.

How much work went into even inventing cotton balls on the end of a stick?  The mastery of the product keeps this brand in business. Sure there are cheaper knock offs out there for you to buy. I can go to CVS and find an entire wall of their brand of Q-Tips for a cheaper price but I learned my lesson when instead of a soft bendable cotton stick I had a plastic weapon with fall off ends approaching my body or project. Not going to happen again. I will go to the bottom shelf in the store in the corner to find my name brand more expensive Q-Tip.

Don’t mistake simplicity for the master of engineering of this small product. The Q-Tip hit the market in the 1920’s as a tiny tool for baby care. They even put a picture of a baby on the box. Since then it has gone to wooden sticks for hospital care. Despite the changes what has never changed was the amount of cotton used on each tip. The diameter of each tip is exactly the same for every swab.  It is that precision that make Q-Tip lovers just want to stack them somewhere and all fit nicely. You Tube has plenty of uses for the product displayed in all kinds of videos. Use it for a fire starter, stir your coffee with it make designs with it. With water and baking soda it can become an improvised tooth brush.

The one most common use even the manufacturer says as a warning NOT to use it for. To stick it in your ear. I use it to absorb the water in my ear cup after a shower. I guess some idiots stick it deep in their ear and puncture their drum. Don’t do that. It has to be painful too. The warning on the box says: Do not insert swab into ear canal. Entering the ear canal can cause injury. If used to clean ears, stroke swab gently around the outer surface of the ear only.  Keep out of the reach of children.  Those little bastards will stick them all over you when you are sleeping.

The product is still made from 100% pure cotton. Whatever you decide to do with them it is good to know that the company is still doing well and doesn’t expect to run out of them anytime soon. They make a billion swabs each year. That means if you laid them out you could go to the moon and back three times. So go have some fun with your Q-Tips. Sigh!