Kate here from the design team, with an update on Product 100, Dave Fulton’s “all-in-one plunger snake”.
Over the past several weeks, we have been collecting plungers, drain snakes, toilet augers, water guns, air pumps… you name it. We also checked out toilets, talked to professionals, read your comments, assessed the ideas, rigged up a test toilet, and made a TON of mock-ups… all in an effort to create a consumer-friendly plunger for the home, that’s able to handle some seriously tough clogs.
Through all of this we stumbled upon something pretty awesome. Via biomimicry, we created a plunger design that pulls its inspiration from nature. This particular design features two chambers. One chamber forms a seal, while the other handles the movement, much like the way an octopus sucker works. This reduces the chance that the seal is lost when pressing and pulling, and consequently cutting down on splashing.
This, along with a few other tweaks in diameter, shape, etc., has left us with an outstanding plunger. Our mock-up was clearing out every clog we threw at it. We’re pumped to evoke the innovation of Dave Fulton’s idea through the evolution of an effective plunger, that consumers can depend on to go beyond the limits of their current plungers (and in the process, ward off those plumbing bills). So just a heads up: you won’t find a snake in our design… but you’ll find something just as effective. To get involved in this product’s Color/Material/Finish project, click here.
11 Comments
G.James | 04/07/2011 6:06 PM
The Famous Fulton Flusher
Jason Hennessy | 04/07/2011 8:17 PM
Sometimes an idea seems good on paper but doesn’t end up so good for real life.
Good work in creating what sounds like a cool product that is still inspired by Dave’s vision
Ken Somerby | 04/07/2011 8:32 PM
How is this choice going to affect all those who submitted and voted for other concepts, which this was not one of them?
babs | 04/08/2011 2:08 AM
That is so cool. I never thought I would say that about a plunger but I want one.
Pete G. | 04/08/2011 6:59 AM
So it’s a toilet plunger… m’kay.
Well, the design of the outer funnel shaped housing is quite nice. However… either the whole housing is very, very large or the plunger head seems to be too small.
As a former landlord, I could tell you that there was only ONE plunger type that consistently worked: a high displacement, bellows-styled plunger. High water displacement being the key… Your plunger design seems like it could work — provided the head is big enough, and that the seal created with the bowl will be designed well enough to hold the huge water pressure when plunging down.
When handling partial clogs where bursts of water pressure may not be enough, the trusted sink auger or drum auger did the job well enough.
Good effort… wish it good sales.
btw, I would hope that Judi’s quick-boil bowl, which shared the ProdEval win with this somewhat misguided choice, received the same thought, effort, scientific research, and TON of mock-ups.
mccoy | 04/08/2011 10:29 AM
Cool, Biomimicry. That will make for good press when this is launched.
nstlkr | 04/08/2011 12:47 PM
Any hints on why the snake was removed from the ‘plunger with a snake’? It’s pretty much nothing like the submitted idea now.
jess | 04/08/2011 1:07 PM
One thing we realized through research, development, and comments from experienced community members, is that one reason homeowners think they need a snake (or a plumber) is because their current plunger is inefficient. Hence the change. If we can completely eliminate the need for a snake by improving the function of the plunger, then we’re able to solve the same problem, just in a different way.
Both Ben and Kate, the lead designer, reached out to Dave by phone, and he seemed pretty pumped about the way this product is evolving. Gotta say, we are too!
Dave Fulton | 04/08/2011 1:53 PM
While I do think it is pretty far from my original solution it is easier to clean, takes less time and cost in production, can be sold cheaper, and works like a regular plunger so there is less confusion about how it works on the consumer side.
I can roll with the punches here cause I know that most of the time in the creative process the first idea isn’t always the best one. And after talking with Kate I know she put some serious effort into every aspect of the idea and wound up finding a better solution all around so way to go Kate.
jess | 04/08/2011 2:10 PM
Go Kate! And go Dave!
Popeye | 04/09/2011 2:53 PM
If the water freezes this could be a fine LUGE II.