Do you cut open the toothpaste tube in order to use more toothpaste?

[unsinkable]

There is so much toothpaste you can't squeeze out. It feels so wasteful to throw the tube away when I know so much more is in there. 

 

I cut them open (or DH does) and can probably get 4-6 more 'servings' out. Only one of us will do it, to prevent spreading germs, just in case.

 

Are we the only ones who do this?

[Flowing Brook]

where's the I don't use toothpaste option? :cool:

[unsinkable]

where's the I don't use toothpaste option? :cool:

coming right up!

[Mandylubug]

I can understand WHY you would do it. However, I must admit to being too lazy right at bed and right when I wake up to care enough to locate a pair of scissors and chop a corner off, LOL!

[KungFuPanda]

In the course of a lifetime, I can't imagine this effort saving me more than one or two tubes of toothpaste. I say the juice ain't worth the squeeze.

[unsinkable]

I can understand WHY you would do it. However, I must admit to being too lazy right at bed and right when I wake up to care enough to locate a pair of scissors and chop a corner off, LOL!

Oh, we flay it open.

 

Cut off the end and up a side. Most of the paste is stuck in the folds.

[creekland]

Toothpaste isn't that expensive for us to worry about that last little bit...

[amyco]

I don't do this with toothpaste but I recently did it with a lotion tube, and was amazed how much was still in there...but after 2 days or so it kind of got dried out and icky. 

[Cinder]

No. I use the handle of my toothbrush to squeeze all the toothpaste to the top and will sometimes roll up the tube and clip it with a binder clip so the toothpaste doesn't get squooged back down. Then we squeeze and squish until we can't get anymore toothpaste out of the tube. Then we finally toss it out. It's so much easier to do this now that the tubes are plastic. But back in the day when the tubes were . . . what, aluminum? . . . it was easier just to cut the tube open. I'm not sure my parents did that, though. We just used one of those tube-squeezer thingees that everyone had. Remember those?

[zoobie]

No. I use the handle of my toothbrush to squeeze all the toothpaste to the top and will sometimes roll up the tube and clip it with a binder clip so the toothpaste doesn't get squooged back down. Then we squeeze and squish until we can't get anymore toothpaste out of the tube. Then we finally toss it out. It's so much easier to do this now that the tubes are plastic. But back in the day when the tubes were . . . what, aluminum? . . . it was easier just to cut the tube open. I'm not sure my parents did that, though. We just used one of those tube-squeezer thingees that everyone had. Remember those?

My grandmother had a metal one. I have the new, plastic kind. I will cut open the tube when I don't have a backup yet.

[Alice]

No but I do take off the pumps on any kind of lotion or shampoo with a pump top. There is always a ton more in the bottle when the pump stops working. 

[unsinkable]

No but I do take off the pumps on any kind of lotion or shampoo with a pump top. There is always a ton more in the bottle when the pump stops working. 

 

Oh, for shampoo, I rinse the bottle with water and can get 2 or 3 washes from the stuff stuck to the sides. 

[Alice]

Oh, for shampoo, I rinse the bottle with water and can get 2 or 3 washes from the stuff stuck to the sides. 

 

You win! :) 

[unsinkable]

You win! :)

 

I was sharing, not trying to one up you.

 

I'm sorry.

[Alice]

I was sharing, not trying to one up you.

 

I'm sorry.

 

 

I knew that, I didn't take it as one-upping. 

 

 

 

 

But you do win. :)

[happi duck]

I do the same thing...right down to one user to avoid germs!

 

I figure that eventually it means a little less trash created by our family...if this was standard practice it would add up.

[Lolly]

Oh, for shampoo, I rinse the bottle with water and can get 2 or 3 washes from the stuff stuck to the sides. 

 

Now, I do do this. It is easy, unlike cutting the toothpaste tube.

[Chris in VA]

Nah. Life's too short.

[Catwoman]

I don't normally do it, but I would if I'd forgotten to buy a new tube and didn't feel like making a special trip to the store just for toothpaste. I do try to squeeze out every last bit from the tube, though. My dh doesn't, and he opens a new tube days before I'm ready to toss the old one.

 

It's so stupid, really. I waste money on other stuff and I'll trade in a car with 15,000 miles on it, but I hate wasting the last of the toothpaste. And soap. I use that right down to the end, too. And liquid dish detergent.

 

I like to think I'm quirky, but it's more likely that I'm just plain nuts.

[Mandylubug]

Oh, we flay it open.

 

Cut off the end and up a side. Most of the paste is stuck in the folds.

Even more effort required there lol. We do try to get as much as possible out but we stop once it seems flat and none can be forced out by rolling the tube.

[Ellie]

No. I don't feel the need to be that frugal. :-)

[marbel]

Sometimes.   Usually if I forgot to buy it and we're just about out, but sometimes when I'm feeling like we're spending too much money and being wasteful.  Not that a tube of toothpaste makes much difference but overall those sorts of things can add up.   "Pennies a day" can become quite a few dollars in a month.

 

I also rinse out shampoo, conditioner, dish soap etc., to get more out of them.

[unsinkable]

I know I'm wasteful in other ways, but I really couldn't believe how much toothpaste is left in there!

[Amy in NH]

We use a plastic tube squeezer thingie (that's the technical term), and then take the cap off and squeeze the rest out until there is really nothing left.

 

I also rinse the shampoo and conditioner bottles to get a couple more uses...

[texasmama]

I consider myself very thrifty, and I have never cut a toothpaste tube to get more of it out.

 

(Thrifty defined as I have a lip balm on which the turning thingie broke off so the only way I can use it is to shove my finger up into the tube and push it up.  It is almost gone anyway, so I scrape my lips against the plastic trying to get some lip balm out.  After I post this, I am SO throwing this in the trash because what I am doing is ten times cheaper and worse in every way than cutting open a tube of toothpaste.)

[texasmama]

I do have a favorite kind of pricy lip gloss that I about break my fingers trying to get more out of...I have a thing for lip products....

[texasmama]

Also, my dh and I shared an electric toothbrush for about ten years so no worries about spreading germs with toothpaste.  ;)

[texasmama]

And I'm so cheap that rather than replace a toothbrush after a child has strep throat, I dip it in bleach and then rinse thoroughly!

 

(Can I please win a prize here?  You see how hard I am trying, right?)

 

[Word Nerd]

I buy toothpaste that's in a bottle, not a tube--but I wouldn't cut it if I did use a tube.

[weddell]

I haven't cut one open yet, but I did buy a toothpaste tube squeezer thing at the dollar tree ($1!). It does get quite a bit more out than just squeezing the tube myself. I'm not sure how many years it will take me to "earn" back that dollar in saved toothpaste...

[unsinkable]

And I'm so cheap that rather than replace a toothbrush after a child has strep throat, I dip it in bleach and then rinse thoroughly!

 

(Can I please win a prize here? You see how hard I am trying, right?)

Yes! You win!

 

I will give you bonus prizes for sharing the electric toothbrush AND you shall be awarded the Ultimate Prize, if, while sharing the toothbrush, you dipped it in bleach if either you or your DH got strep throat!

 

:lol:

[unsinkable]

I haven't cut one open yet, but I did buy a toothpaste tube squeezer thing at the dollar tree ($1!). It does get quite a bit more out than just squeezing the tube myself. I'm not sure how many years it will take me to "earn" back that dollar in saved toothpaste...

Is it time for toothpaste math?

[texasmama]

Yes! You win!

 

I will give you bonus prizes for sharing the electric toothbrush AND you shall be awarded the Ultimate Prize, if, while sharing the toothbrush, you dipped it in bleach if either you or your DH got strep throat!

 

:lol:

Oh yay!  I win!  I win!

 

No, I don't think I dipped it in bleach while we were sharing it.  I never get strep...darn the luck.  Sadly, if one of us was sick, the other used a different toothbrush until the illness subsided.  Now, we each use our own - he uses the electric, and I use a manual.  I was overbrushing my gums and causing issues with the electric!

[unsinkable]

Oh yay! I win! I win!

 

No, I don't think I dipped it in bleach while we were sharing it. I never get strep...darn the luck. Sadly, if one of us was sick, the other used a different toothbrush until the illness subsided. Now, we each use our own - he uses the electric, and I use a manual. I was overbrushing my gums and causing issues with the electric!

Ouch. Sounds painful.

 

Your electric brush had only one head? I thought you could get more heads?

[texasmama]

Ouch. Sounds painful.

 

Your electric brush had only one head? I thought you could get more heads?

I guess I was too cheap to buy more than one and too lazy to continually change them out.  :D  So yes, we used the exact same toothbrush for ten years.  Ewwwww, gross.  For whatever reason, this did not skeeve out my germ phobic dh.

[unsinkable]

I guess I was too cheap to buy more than one and too lazy to continually change them out. :D So yes, we used the exact same toothbrush for ten years. Ewwwww, gross. For whatever reason, this did not skeeve out my germ phobic dh.

Awwww....wuv, true wuv!

[texasmama]

Awwww....wuv, true wuv!

Mawwage...

[unsinkable]

Mawwage...

Exactly!

[Lolly]

I guess I was too cheap to buy more than one and too lazy to continually change them out.  :D  So yes, we used the exact same toothbrush for ten years.  Ewwwww, gross.  For whatever reason, this did not skeeve out my germ phobic dh.

 

Eh, you kiss. Same thing as sharing a toothbrush!

[Cindy in FL.]

I don't cut the tube, but I do mangle it pretty badly. I've also been known to suck the last bit out!

[KungFuPanda]

Eh, you kiss. Same thing as sharing a toothbrush!

No. No it's not.

[texasmama]

Eh, you kiss. Same thing as sharing a toothbrush!

This is our thought.

[Unicorn.]

Oh, we flay it open.

 

Cut off the end and up a side. Most of the paste is stuck in the folds.

My tube doesn't have any folds. I squeeze and flatten from the bottom, no rolls or folds.

 

I pay 97 cents for a tube of toothpaste. I don't think I would even save a tube over a lifetime. I think you have me beat on being frugal. Dh would be shocked!

[unsinkable]

I don't cut the tube, but I do mangle it pretty badly. I've also been known to suck the last bit out!

Toothpaste sucking also earns a prize.

[mom2samlibby]

I guess I was too cheap to buy more than one and too lazy to continually change them out. :D So yes, we used the exact same toothbrush for ten years. Ewwwww, gross. For whatever reason, this did not skeeve out my germ phobic dh.

I think I'm going to barf now. Just reading that grosses me out so much.

[Ellie]

No, but I admit to doing this with shampoo and conditioner.  There seems to be a lot left that is hard to get out.

 

I use really expensive shampoo and conditioner, so I work very hard to get every.little.bit.

[Unicorn.]

I use really expensive shampoo and conditioner, so I work very hard to get every.little.bit.

Now I do this. I add just enough water to get every last bit off the sides and bottom. :D

[athomeontheprairie]

I can honestly say it has NEVER occurred to me to do this

[mama27]

Ours is always watery and icky by the time we get to the end. I have a hard enough time using it then let along cutting open the tube (which I never thought of).

[fairfarmhand]

I use the handle of my toothbrush to squish the tube completely flat.