The Ingenious Invention That Could Change How We Use Everyday Products
There’s nothing more frustrating than fighting with a bottle or tube to get the last bit of ketchup, toothpaste, or mayonnaise.
Whether you’re scraping, squeezing, or shaking with all your might, there’s always a stubborn portion left clinging to the sides, refusing to be freed.
If you’ve ever found yourself squishing a ketchup bottle upside down or trying to coax toothpaste out with a butter knife, you know exactly how annoying this can be.
But here’s the good news: a breakthrough technology called LiquiGlide is here to make those struggles a thing of the past. It’s an innovation that promises to make containers of all kinds—whether it’s your favorite condiment or glue—effortlessly dispense their contents with ease. The secret?
LiquiGlide’s revolutionary liquid coating that keeps the inside of a container perpetually wet, reducing friction and allowing even the thickest liquids to glide out without a fight.
What’s more impressive is the technology’s potential to reduce waste and save consumers a lot of time and effort.
In fact, LiquiGlide is already gaining traction with several consumer products, showing how it could impact everything from your household essentials to industrial applications.
The Problem We All Know Too Well
Think about how many times you’ve found yourself tapping, shaking, or squeezing with all your might just to get that last squirt of ketchup onto your fries or finish off the last bit of mayonnaise in the jar. It’s a common struggle—and a frustrating one.
It’s something we all deal with every time we use products that are thick, sticky, or viscous, like shampoo, ketchup, condiments, and even glue.
Why is this so difficult? The answer lies in how liquids behave inside containers. Most of these liquids are viscous—meaning they resist flow.
The consistency is thick, and when such liquids are inside a container, they don’t flow easily. Instead, the liquid closest to the walls of the container tends to stick, while the liquid in the center flows faster.
This creates friction and viscosity, making it hard for the liquid to escape without some serious force. It’s a physics problem that we’ve all experienced firsthand: we need to apply more pressure, shake harder, or tap the container repeatedly to get those last drops.
This is where LiquiGlide steps in, offering a game-changing solution that could make the “last drop” struggle a thing of the past.
The Game-Changer: What is LiquiGlide?
LiquiGlide is not just another fancy coating; it’s a sophisticated technology that permanently alters the behavior of containers to make them incredibly efficient at releasing their contents.
Originally developed in 2012 by Kripa Varanasi, a professor at MIT, and his grad students, LiquiGlide has evolved into a product that’s now gaining attention from some of the biggest brands in the consumer market.
Here’s the magic behind it: LiquiGlide is a liquid coating that’s applied to the inside of containers. It works by creating a thin layer between the container and the liquid inside, which dramatically reduces the friction that typically causes the liquid to stick to the sides.
As a result, liquids are able to flow out easily without needing to apply excessive force or shake the container.
The real genius of LiquiGlide is that it doesn’t just solve the problem temporarily—it’s permanent.
Once the container is coated, liquids can flow freely for as long as they’re inside the container. And as if that wasn’t impressive enough, LiquiGlide’s coating binds to textured surfaces much more strongly than to the liquids, allowing the liquid to slide out easily without creating any resistance.
As Dave Smith, one of the MIT grad students behind LiquiGlide, said, “We’re not defying physics, but effectively, we are.”
The technology makes it possible for liquids to behave in ways that we’ve never seen before.
A Closer Look: How Does LiquiGlide Work?
To understand just how revolutionary LiquiGlide is, let’s break down how it tackles the issue of liquid flow in containers.
When you try to dispense a thick liquid, like ketchup or glue, you’re actually dealing with a viscous liquid.
Viscosity is a measure of how thick a liquid is and how much it resists flow. In containers without LiquiGlide, the outer layers of the liquid cling to the walls, while the inner layers flow more freely. This friction prevents the liquid from flowing out easily, leaving you with that dreaded “stuck” portion at the bottom.
LiquiGlide eliminates this friction by applying a slippery coating to the inside of the container. Once the coating is in place, it allows the liquid to slide smoothly over the surface without getting stuck.
Essentially, the liquid is now in a position to flow out effortlessly, even when it’s thick and sticky. This is where the magic happens.
This breakthrough makes a wide variety of products—from condiments and paint to shampoo and glue—easier to use, more efficient, and less wasteful.
For example, with LiquiGlide, you could use less ketchup, less shampoo, or less glue, because more of the product will come out with each squeeze. This reduces the frustration of trying to get the last bits out of the container and significantly reduces product waste.
How LiquiGlide Helps Reduce Waste
If you’ve ever struggled to get the last bit of shampoo or lotion out of a bottle, you know how frustrating it can be to throw away half a bottle of product because you just couldn’t get it out. As it turns out, this is a common issue.
According to a consumer report from 2009, people are throwing away up to 25% of their lotion, 16% of their detergent, and 15% of their condiments due to the difficulty of getting the last few squirts out.
LiquiGlide can drastically reduce this waste. With its unique liquid coating, you can easily dispense every last drop of product.
This makes it not only a more cost-effective solution but also an environmentally friendly one, as it helps reduce the amount of product that ends up in the trash.
Beyond Consumer Products: Industry Applications of LiquiGlide
While the main focus of LiquiGlide’s development has been on consumer products, the industrial potential of this technology is enormous.
The initial intent behind the creation of LiquiGlide was not just to make your ketchup bottle more efficient, but to address broader issues in industries where thick, viscous liquids are used, such as oil pumping and chemical manufacturing.
For example, in industries that rely on oil extraction or the transport of chemicals, LiquiGlide can make the flow of these materials more efficient. By reducing the friction in pipes and containers, LiquiGlide could lead to significant improvements in the efficiency of industrial processes, saving time and resources.
The Impact on Consumer Products: What’s Next for LiquiGlide?
Currently, LiquiGlide is making waves in the world of consumer products.
The company has already partnered with major manufacturers, including Elmers Products, which is incorporating LiquiGlide into its products. One of the first consumer products expected to feature this revolutionary coating is an easier-to-squeeze mayonnaise bottle set to hit the market this year.
Following that, we may see toothpaste tubes that dispense product effortlessly by 2017.
But while the product has already found success in some areas, ketchup companies have shown little interest in adopting LiquiGlide for their bottles.
It’s curious because, as anyone who’s ever struggled with a ketchup bottle knows, LiquiGlide could completely transform the experience of using this popular condiment.
The Future of LiquiGlide: A World Without the Last Drop Struggle
The possibilities of LiquiGlide are still unfolding. With its ability to reduce waste, improve the efficiency of product use, and open up new avenues for industrial applications, LiquiGlide has the potential to change the way we interact with everyday products.
As the technology continues to evolve and more consumer goods incorporate it, it could become a standard feature in everything from food containers to personal care products.
In the future, we may never again need to struggle with an almost-empty bottle or tube—LiquiGlide promises to make sure every last drop is easily available.
The journey is just beginning, and one thing is for sure: LiquiGlide is here to stay, and it’s only going to become more integrated into our daily lives.
Imagine a world where every product you use is efficient, waste-free, and frustration-free. That future might not be as far off as you think.
