Toothbrushing Cups: Do they really save water?
For the longest time, I have been curious about Koreans using “Toothbrushing Cups”.
I was bothered, that I, a Korean did not adhere to this “Korean standard”. I questioned myself if I was really Korean. I needed to try it out for myself. So I got one as soon as I saw it in one of my favorite lifestyle shops called Butter. If you are in Korea, you should visit this store! I usually spend a few hours (who am I kidding) a whole day in this store.
Info: My favorite branch of Butter is in Hongik University Station Exit Number 1. You will see the store before you exit the station. I will probably make a post about it in the future when I visit the store again.
Anyways, so here is what I bought. “Butter Toothbrushing Cup”.
Apparently it is a common practice in East-Asian countries to use these things. It is also known as “gargle cup”, “rinsing cup”, or “brushing cup”.
I bought it for 2000 Won (Approx. PHP 88 or USD 1.68)
As usual, I bought this because of the functionality.
Like any other common toothbrushing cups, It holds around 350ml of water. But what sets this cup apart is the cup lip and the handle. It helps with the drying of both the toothbrush and cup. For the picture, I used a tongue cleaner instead of a toothbrush which I bought from the same store.
Looks like Haru got curious about it too.
Like the title of this post says, what I really wanted to find out was if this really helped in saving water.
The Experiment:
So I did a quick experiment to answer the question
“How much water do I really use in rinsing using my hands vs. a toothbrushing cup?”
First thing I did was to find out how many times I needed to rinse so that there would be no more foamed toothpaste in my mouth. And the answer was 4.
To measure how much water I am using, I placed a basin on the sink. And I measured the water accumulated using a graduated mason jar. I know, kind of disgusting, but you gotta do things to figure stuff out!
The Toothbrushing Cup:
I filled up 350ml in the cup and started rinsing my mouth. I was able to get 5 generous rinses out of it. Since I know that I only need 4, the cup served the purpose well.
Water used: Approx. 350ml
The Cupped Hands:
I turned the faucet on and did 4 rinses properly as fast but as I could. As soon as I was done, I turned the faucet off. I was surprised how much water the basin accumulated.
Water used: Approx. 1700ml
Conclusion:
By using my hands to rinse my mouth, I waste more than 1.3 liters! That is a lot! I didn’t think that it would make much of a difference but it really does.
I am using the toothbrushing cup from now on.
I hope this experiment helped you in deciding to get a cup for yourself.
I suggest that you should. Go on and get any kind of cup. And if you’re not too keen on saving the environment, at least think about saving your wallet.
Maybe I should do an experiment on rinsing my mouth while taking a shower to save more water. Haha.
-Dae
