The SuperStream way to clean toilets

Leave it to a man to try and clean feces residue from the toilet bowl by peeing it off! Apparently that’s what Chris Bouton tried to do, after being disgusted by the nasty toilet bowl brush nearby in its stand. In fact, on his Kickstarter site, Bouton said he actually tried many times to “pee off the poo stuck on the sides of the toilet bowl,” but to no avail. He needed more than a stream to do the job; he needed a SuperStream, a power washer for the toilet.

The SuperStream requires several molds—judging from the video on Kickstarter—which isn’t going to be cheap. However, Bouton says he has a manufacturer lined up and needs $50,000 for the molds to injection mold the components. From the size of the product, and the number of components there appear to be, I’d say $50,000 will not go far. Perhaps he’s found a moldmaker or molder in China that will do it for that amount. Good luck, Chris! Oh, and that patent on the Splash Guard component might not mean much in China.

When I checked out the project on Kickstarter, it had 42 backers that pledged $5,300 of his $50,000 ask, and 12 days to go to get the rest. But I did like the video he had on the Kickstarter site, with the bear-in-the-woods theme and the beautiful forest fairy put to music and poetry. A nice touch! By the way, don’t be afraid to watch the video: Bouton used gold glitter in the toilet bowl to demonstrate the effectiveness of the SuperStream.

Okay, I know that most moldmakers and molders have just about seen it all when it comes to great ideas. When I worked in tooling/molding sales it was common for someone to walk into the plant carrying a large box or paper bag containing “great idea” that would be the next best thing since sliced bread. Back then there was no Kickstarter to help fund these great ideas, so it was up to the individual to come up with the money for the molds.

That’s where the inventor would offer the moldmaker a percentage of the profits from the sale of his or her great idea, a partnership that would net the moldmaker big bucks, more than enough to pay for the mold(s). I’m not entirely skeptical of that type of deal. I’ve known a few moldmakers who actually did partner with an inventor and it worked out quite well. But more often than not, I’ve seen that kind of relationship end badly in lawsuits and no winners at all.

One older couple came into the plant where I was working at the time in marketing and sales, and they had actually mortgaged their home (which was paid for at the time) to get the money to buy a mold for their Beater Bib—think of a round Tupperware lid only with two holes in it to accommodate the beaters. It would prevent splashing during fast mixing of batters to make whipped cream and so forth. This couple was certain that it would truly be the next great thing in bakeware.

I politely signed their non-disclosure agreement (the inventors always have these agreements at the ready), but couldn’t imagine in my wildest dreams ever wanting to steal this idea.

Over the years I have learned that inventors are always long on great ideas and short on cash. Perhaps the SuperStream will be a product for the masses, but from the looks of the Kickstarter campaign, I rather doubt it. Some advice that a very successful inventor of the pultrusion process told me once: “Invent for the masses, eat with the classes. Invent for the classes, eat with the masses.”

Hmmm. I know a few other inventors (in the automotive market, notably) who would do well to heed this advice!