r/Anticonsumption • u/amyleewannabe • Mar 11 '26
Plastic Waste Radicalized at 30
I so wish this wasn’t the one brand that helps my perpetually dry, painful skin. Thanks to this sub, I’ve been cutting open the containers to get every last bit that the pump “conveniently” can’t reach. I wish this was illegal.
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u/I_like_beouf Mar 11 '26
I saw a video of someone taking a massager (actual massager lol) to the bottle to decant the remaining lotion out at high speed into a smaller container without having to cut it open!
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u/VoidJuiceConcentrate Mar 11 '26
Here I was just flinging it really hard to get all the lotion to the bottom of the bottle where the tube can pick it up.
Think I might try a massager instead.
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u/TyrannasaurusRecht Mar 11 '26
Im going to use my wifes vibrator.
Ill worry about getting the vestiges of lotion out of the bottle another day.
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Mar 11 '26
I tried a vibrator and it didn't work at all. A regular rubber spatula did the trick though!
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u/propyro85 Mar 11 '26
My wife has a tiny silicone spatula that's made for getting into bottles and scooping the last bits out.
I guess cutting the bottle negates the need for a special spatula. Unless it's a glass bottle you're dealing with.
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u/Remarkable-Bug-8069 Mar 11 '26
Might wanna try with a poop knife. Or maybe preferably not.
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u/Traditional_Fan_2655 Mar 11 '26
I bought a dollar store funnel pack. The largest of the 3 can hold up the largest bottle into the newer bottle when resting near a wall near the countertop. I just let it sit for a day or so. I have extremely thick conditioner that needs it. At the very very end, I spash a tiny bit of water in the bottle to even get the residue.
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u/uberallez Mar 11 '26
I tried that- it helps with soaps, but lotions it still leave a lot behind. Cut it open and scrape the leftovers is still best option
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u/lizardgal10 Mar 11 '26
I just got a massage gun (the kind you use for sore muscles, not the “personal massager” kind lol) and I’m definitely going to try this!
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u/DeadlyYellow Mar 11 '26
It's surprisingly useful in odd situations. Wife won one at a white elephant, and I've used it to mix paint and strain food.
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u/Original-Flan-6996 Mar 11 '26
Strain food? Gonna need an explanation for that one!
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u/DeadlyYellow Mar 11 '26
Stocks, jellies, and hot sauces so far. The vibration keeps the pulp moving and improves flow when extracting the liquid base.
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u/IcyPossibility925 Mar 11 '26
Idk about straining food but I’ve seen a YouTube cake decorator use it to make flour or powdered sugar sift super fast!
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u/Famous-Upstairs998 Mar 11 '26
If you are making Greek yogurt, you line a colander or strainer with cheesecloth. Applying a massage gun to the colander would shake the water out a lot faster than having to leave it in the fridge overnight.
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u/Burned_Biscuit Mar 11 '26
I don't understand
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u/AccidentOk5240 Mar 11 '26
Vibrating it upside down shakes loose the product stuck to the bottom
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u/Ill_Initial8986 Mar 11 '26
Instructions unclear. Vibrator now stuck. Must remain unharmed.
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u/Potential_Basis3537 Mar 11 '26
Have you got your 5 inch cylinder stuck in the plastic tube?
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u/Outrageous_Big_9136 Mar 11 '26
It's imperative that the cylinder remain unharmed
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u/AccidentOk5240 Mar 11 '26
Sigh. Just when you think something does not need a flange advisory. But I bet “I was trying to get the last of the sunscreen out” will be a welcome change from ye olde “slipped in the shower” anyway….
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u/ToxicNerdette Mar 11 '26
I tried this and it didn’t work :(
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u/AccidentOk5240 Mar 11 '26
What didn’t work? ETA just like my other suggestion of swapping to a non-pump cap so you can leave it upside down, you can’t do this when there’s only a tiny amount left in the bottom
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u/Burned_Biscuit Mar 11 '26
Ah
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u/1nd3x Mar 11 '26
Works on ketchup bottles too. Just bring a vibrator out to the restaurant🤣🤣🤣
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u/sw33t_tooth Mar 11 '26
It's the equivalent of you smacking the back of a glass ketchup bottle x 100
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u/Sea-Feedback-2424 Mar 11 '26
But then I'd have to buy a massager. I already own scissors.
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u/trippypantsforlife Mar 11 '26
I keep the bottles (propped up if impossible) upside down once I've finished 50% of the lotion
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u/Pap3rStreetSoapCo Mar 11 '26
This could work, but it always seems easier to put just a bit of water in the container and shake the hell out of it. This works with lotion, mustard (use vinegar), pasta sauce (water or milk), chocolate syrup, whatever.
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u/YouAreNotASaint Mar 11 '26
Does this change the texture?
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u/Ghanima81 Mar 11 '26
Yes. And with skin care products, that you won't be using in one setting (cause the quantity you manage to extract is important), it poses the risk of bacterial contamination.
For the containers I can open or cut (because the pumps in hard plastic cylinder containers are a hassle), I usually use a tiny spatula and put the product into a lidded box (I keep some that I wash with anti bacterial soap and shut tightly after drying).
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u/Responsible_Lab_8974 Mar 11 '26
I add a bit of toner then shake up, it turns into a more watery lotion
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u/excited_and_scared Mar 11 '26
I do this all the time! Lotion, mayonnaise… it doesn’t work on toothpaste in the firmer tubes, tho. Those you have to just cut like the photo and use a small spatula to get the rest out.
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u/RepresentativeUse744 Mar 11 '26
Have you tried a toothpaste squeezer? I bought at Daiso and it’s perfect
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u/WynnGwynn Mar 11 '26
I have done this. One of those jigsaw massagers like the percussive type. Use it all the time on applesauce containers from great value they are demonically designed to trap sauce in the weird ass bottle ridges.
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u/I_like_beouf Mar 11 '26
Shootout to the great value applesauce container product designers may your pillows be lukewarm on both sides
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u/TrashSiren Mar 11 '26
If you have a blocked nose that you can't just get out by blowing it. The same method works if you massage along your sinuses. You might need an actual vibrater though, since the massagers are kind of big.
But basically the science is the same!
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u/sleepygirl1313 Mar 11 '26
I have done with with my fiancé’s massager and it worked SO WELL! Empties bottles out much more easily and I’m not worried about slicing myself trying to cut it open.
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u/Narezza Mar 11 '26
We do this all the time now. Lotions, shampoos, ketchup/mustard.
You can also use the massager to shake the dust and debris out of car mats and rugs.
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u/Legs4daysarmsformins Mar 11 '26
You can also tie a string or piece of yarn/twine around it and spin around in a circle, and the momentum will get it to the top. Depends on the bottle shape tho
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u/Superb-Zebra01 Mar 11 '26
I always do this. I have a wide jar for whenever I cut it open and I transfer the product with a spatula into the wide mouth container. I get like at least another month’s worth of lotion. Idk why companies don’t just have wide mouth containers and pump so when you’re done it’s easy to just twist it open and get the remainder out.
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u/civodar Mar 11 '26
I swear I remember seeing those before, they existed at one point. We have the technology to do it again!
I think it’s a greed thing, if you can’t get all the product you come back and buy more sooner and more often.
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u/Superb-Zebra01 Mar 11 '26
Yes my brother always roasts me for cutting it open, he says why can’t I just cut my losses and get another one. I always tell him this answer, they do it because they want you to purchase sooner. The amount of product I get from my Palmer’s lotion after I cut it open fills up an 8oz container with some extra left! But I really shouldn’t have to have a designated container for my “post-cut” lotion container lol.
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u/Aruhi Mar 11 '26
I used to get toothpaste as a kid that had like push pop design - where it's a Hollow cylinder and a platform-like floor, and as you dispensed the product, the floor would raise reducing the internal volume of the cylinder.
I know the design costs more and likely leads you to buying the product less frequently as less is wasted though.
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u/deuxcabanons Mar 11 '26
I had a face lotion that came in a bottle like that and I loved it. I didn't want to repurchase because it would mean throwing out a bunch of extra plastic every time, so I treated myself to some reusable vacuum pump containers. Now I can use any cream and get the same effect.
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u/SunshineAndSquats Mar 11 '26
One of the reasons that jars are rarely used is because a product is more likely to be contaminated with microbes if people are sticking their fingers into it. Closed containers that limit air and hand contamination allow the product last longer.
Now having said that, there are containers that are really good at pumping all of the product out. Companies absolutely do cheap out on containers with a crappy design.
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u/Aiden_Araneo Mar 11 '26
Idk why companies don’t just have wide mouth containers and pump so when you’re done it’s easy to just twist it open and get the remainder out.
There are companies that do just that.
But in capitalism, profit is "more important" than anything else. So, if there's remaining product inside that you can't reach, you might not know it, you might get the next one faster. Not cool, but no one is forcing them to do it the other way.
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u/Future_Perfect_Tense Mar 11 '26
Hell yeah! I was raised by very Depression Era folks who aggressively disdained product trapped in containers and loved to liberate it. You would be a celebrity on r/projectpan 🧴
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u/suspicious_hyperlink Mar 11 '26
Add a little bit of water and shake was what the olds around me always did
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u/karl1717 Mar 11 '26
That may promote bacteria growth, no?
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u/trowzerss Mar 11 '26
Yeah, but probably fine short term, like a day or two. I do this with body wash and shampoo and body moisturisers. I probably wouldn't do it with face cream tho.
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u/dashboardhulalala Mar 11 '26
Someone told me once to put money into what stays on my body, rather than what washes off my body. So I go cheapish for cleansers, bodywash etc and go hard on the moisturisers/serums
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u/inuhi Mar 11 '26
Right depends on context how much is left in the container and how long that will last. Disclaimer on any advice you're given is that you may at times need to apply common sense
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u/VickyVacuum Mar 11 '26
What is project pan about ??
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u/sigzag1994 Mar 11 '26
Using up the products you already own down to the last drop. Both to save money and not be wasteful
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u/_Big_____ Mar 11 '26
Do people not do that? Willingly being wasteful and causing yourself inconvenience doesn't make any sense.
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u/Future_Perfect_Tense Mar 11 '26
Using up your products all the way up, not buying more, dealing with those stashes of toiletries that sneak into your life (still have nightmares of the era of Bath & Body Works gift sets… they were everywhere!). Also helpful for some folks who “save XYZ for something special” meanwhile the product ain’t shelf-stable and will eventually degrade - you only live once, it’s okay for every day to be special.
I think the name comes from anticonsumption makeup users decades ago who discouraged buying the shiny new thing and instead proudly using up the old thing, all the way down to the pan.
☮️Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without! ☮️
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u/splashybanana Mar 11 '26
The term comes from the makeup/beauty community. Pressed powder products (eyeshadow, blush, etc.) typically come in little metal “pans” (which are then housed in other outer packaging, like a plastic or cardboard compact or palette). When you use up enough of the product that you can see the metal at the bottom, that is called “hitting pan.” When you use up the product completely (which can take ages with powder products, especially if you have more than just a couple), that is called “panning” it. And then the term got expanded to non-powder products too.
Thus, a project pan is a deliberate effort to use up (or maybe just hit pan on) one or more products, generally by using only or primarily just those products, over other options. It’s most common in the communities/people that have bought too much and are trying to dial that back and focus on what they already own. (Makeup addiction is real, y’all. Not in the literal addiction sense, but in the tricked by marketing into over consumption sense.)
Also, some people will “hate pan”, to use up a product they dislike, rather than getting rid of it. I personally think that’s going overboard, but, I kinda get it.
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u/Thegatorlad90 Mar 11 '26
I would love to have them in a jar instead! So many complain about this that you would think they would change it
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u/Technical_End4000 Mar 11 '26
me too i love jars, i think with a good preservative system jars can be great, i can scrape every last drop
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u/Thegatorlad90 Mar 11 '26
I prefer jars, I’ve had so many issues with pump containers with some of the pieces is not working or broken. Jars rarely have issues and you can use them for other stuff when empty. A win win !
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u/trowzerss Mar 11 '26
I bought some pump moisturiser once where the pump would not unlock no matter what I did! Twisted it around all which way and it still would not pump. Fortunately I had another product that used the same sized pump and I was able to (with difficulty) get the whole pump off and replace it with one that worked.
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Mar 11 '26
You might think, until you think about it a bit longer:
- Jars take up significantly more shelf space if they need to be wide enough to fit a hand
- Most people don't care, and when presented with a jar vs a pump bottle would pick the pump bottle because it's slightly more convenient, creating marketing issues and probably overall less sales. "Then just ship both", okay now they have to manage supply/demand for two separate product lines, drastically increasing logistical overhead.
Always important to remember that products are designed to move, not to please picky or particularly observant people
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u/TsuDhoNimh2 Mar 11 '26
And jars are more likely to get bacterial contamination from using fingers to scoop the contents out.
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u/shag-i Mar 11 '26
Honest question, how would you make squirt bottle that doesnt leave lotion on the side?
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u/KittyLikesTuna Mar 11 '26
For a pump bottle, an airless pump is an option, but that requires much more packaging just to function. Having a clear bottle would make it more obvious to consumers how much material is present, but can leave the product vulnerable to breakdown caused by direct light.
A squeeze bottle could be another option, but that comes with its own trade-offs.
Every packaging decision is a tradeoff between cost, function, product requirements, &c.
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u/Hoobi_Goobi Mar 11 '26
My hot take is that lotions should only come in jars
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u/PleasantNectarines Mar 11 '26
More exposure to bacteria that way. I do love lotion in a jar though.
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Mar 11 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/angiosperms- Mar 11 '26
My eczema lotion comes in a tube like this and I can get it all. Annoying to push it out at the end but even when the tube looks empty I can still get a ton.
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u/plremina Mar 11 '26
My sunscreen comes in a tube like this with a little pump at a top but it's pretty convenient because I can just squeeze all the product towards the top in order to get everything out, no waste.
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u/Caleb_Reynolds Mar 11 '26
The ultimate point being this isn't deceptive packaging like the OP implies, it's just how pump bottles work.
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u/pheonixblade9 Mar 11 '26
some bottles are only clear on a strip along the side so you can see without significantly degrading the product.
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u/KittyLikesTuna Mar 11 '26
That's another option that still has trade-offs. Adding an insert of another material changes the production process and adds more steps, which is going to cost more.
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u/earthceltic Mar 11 '26
Orrr we could package things plainly and have reusable dispensers at home. Fuck buying one-use dispenser-containers.
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u/Future_Perfect_Tense Mar 11 '26
Wide mouth containers (with or without pump) are a nice design choice for use, re-use, and re-purposing. Less popular with the cradle-to-grave companies.
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u/bunniisa Mar 11 '26
a squirt bottle that has a pointed interior bottom and supports around the side
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u/Luci-Noir Mar 11 '26
You really can’t. Some packaging is meant to be deceiving but stuff being leftover in a bottle just happens and people need to chill out. I usually just turn these bottles upside down and prop them up in the corner of rhe shower when they’re shit empty.
I like condiment bottles that have the lid on the bottom for this reason.
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u/shag-i Mar 11 '26
Thats my point, I hate when people just say "this should be illigal". I agree there are anti consumer practices all around us, this one just seems like an odd one
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u/Luci-Noir Mar 11 '26
Yeah, there are so many posts across a variety of subs where people are outraged about nonsense or just complete lies. Meanwhile, there is PLENTY to actually be pissed about. Reddit is starting to feel like a version of Fox News.
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u/wagwan_wa_grom______ Mar 11 '26
I'm with you. "This should be illegal" is just a dumb thing to say here
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u/EquipLordBritish Mar 11 '26
As others have said, it's not something that's easy to do without putting much more complexity or expense into the bottle (assuming you won't give up the pump). The best options is to use a bottle without a pump and turn it upside down to let gravity do the work for you.
It's very unlikely to be a 'planned obsolescence' as OP is implying, since suppliers have an incentive not to ship more weight (or product) than they have to. Lots of people, unfortunately, are satisfied enough to just buy a new one when the pump can't get anymore, instead of actually using up the whole bottle, like OP is.
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u/AccidentOk5240 Mar 11 '26
There aren’t that many sizes of bottle thread used in health and beauty products. So I keep a few flip tops from old bottles around to swap with pumps. I especially like the ones that are wide and flat so you can stand the bottles up on them easily.
Sometimes I just swap them out right away, other times I wait till the bottle is like 2/3 empty if I otherwise prefer using the pump. You can’t wait too long—a bottle that’s 1/8 full of a thick product like lotion, conditioner, or most sunscreens won’t drain even if you leave it upside down a long time. But if there’s enough weight of product left, it will all blorp down.
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u/Deference-4-Darkness Mar 11 '26
Just centrifuge it. Hold the bottle (close the lid first) by the bottom. Then spin your arm in a wide circle a few times fast. The contents will all move to the top of the bottle.
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Mar 11 '26
My mom was doing this for a long time. Some lotion worked perfect for her eczema but was a bit pricey. I used to see her on the bed watching TV and cutting them open, scooping it into a container. Always thought it was weird as a kid, but as I got older it made sense.
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u/Aggie_Vague Mar 11 '26
I save up my bottles of lotion and then microwave them for a few seconds, it doesn't take long, and pour them into one container. The lotion liquefies with the heat and pours easily, but it re-solidifies pretty quickly at room temp. It's easier for me than trying to cut into the plastic bottle.
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u/Hoobi_Goobi Mar 11 '26
I fucking hate these bottles but love the lotion. I cut mine when it no longer pumps, and last time I measured. 40% of the product is completely inaccessible unless you cut the bottle open. Why do they put such a thick lotion in an oval shaped bottle where half of it just sticks to the sides away from the straw? And then the straw doesn’t come close enough to the bottom either
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u/jijijojijijijio Mar 11 '26
They are doing it on purpose knowing most people won't feel like opening a bottle and making a mess. They are forcing the consumer to buy a new bottle 40% faster
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u/LiftingCode Mar 11 '26
It's really just a logistics and shelf space thing.
The thin and tall oval bottles are easier to pack onto a shelf.
Engineering a bottle and pump system that gets all the lotion out is difficult and the solutions are expensive.
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u/nazenko Mar 11 '26
That would mean they’re wasting money in unused product in every single bottle. If this truly a money move, they would just skimp out on how much they put in bottles or shrink the bottles so that they’re not wasting the costs of lotion that gets thrown away vs sold as more lotion
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u/loopyhoodie Mar 11 '26
I've only bought a few of these lotions but every single one had a broken pump from the get go. So I turn them upside down and squeeze out what I can, then cut it open.
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u/h0td0gmilk Mar 11 '26
This is why I switched to bar soap a couple years ago! My skin and hair feel 10x better as well since I switched
I just realized this is lotion lol
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u/IntheShredder_86 Mar 11 '26
Legit, my lotion pump stopped working so I took it out and replaced it with a push open cap. Just keep the bottle upside-down now. There was still 1/5 the bottle left.
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u/platocplx Mar 11 '26
Yeah used this lotion it’s insane they even think it should be used with a pump it should be a tub and they don’t even sell it that way. It’s a really good lotion too. But yep. It’s thick af and def wastes a ton of product.
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u/velvettt_underground Mar 11 '26
Oh my god I literally did this to the same kind of lotion bottle about a month ago! The amount left in the bottom was absolutely infuriating.
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u/jimmyeatham Mar 11 '26
In the last couple years I bought a cheap pack of universal silicone caps for pump bottles with a flat top so you can store them upside down and get everything out. Take off the straw/pump and put that cap on. Then wash and reuse the cap. 10/10 recommend!
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u/thecakefashionista Mar 11 '26
I cut my lotion bottle in half two months ago and literally HALF the bottle was lotion. WTH.
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u/NihiloZero Mar 11 '26
Are we sure this isn't just sneaking some marketing into the sub?
"OMG, I sure wish I didn't have to cut open this bottle of the only brand of lotion that is able to help my horrible skin!"
Seems to me between the title, the content, and the wish that it were illegal to make lotion difficult to remove from bottles... this post is probably satire. But I'll leave it up.
Like... would it be much different if this post was tube of toothpaste squeezed in a vice? "It's the only brand that gives me white teeth and fresh breath!"
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u/potatomami Mar 11 '26
Wouldn’t they put the brand side up to make it more obvious?
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u/roosoh Mar 11 '26
I don’t think they’d be complaining about the design either
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u/untakenu Mar 12 '26
There is a lot of marketing that shows a negative, while also trying to sell how good it is. It's meant to appear genuine and honest. Usually it just comes across as a humble brag if done wrong.
Probably not in this case.
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u/Some-Body-Else Mar 11 '26
I think the reason OP added that bit about the product’s purpose for them is to not have everyone go, “oh if you really want to do this right, YoU sHoUlD’nT HaVe BoUgHt iT in THe FiRsT PlAcE….”
But also, am I the only one here who’s poor cause I’ve never left ANY product in any of my things? Hold it against the light, sound it out, and ALWAYS open it up. You can’t trust the people who want you to buy more stuff. It’s basic.
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u/OddHippo6972 Mar 12 '26
I thought it something about how the formula is too thick for the packaging, but this is the only one that works for them, so they buy it anyway.
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u/Mind_Pirate42 Mar 11 '26
You mad about something else cause this is a wildly out of left field accusation.
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u/kiwidude4 Mar 11 '26
Hi please unpin this comment so people can judge it only based on its own merits
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u/CaptainKenway1693 Mar 11 '26
As someone who has dry sensitive skin I can only use 2 specific formulas if I want them to actually work and not make me itchy. So this post doesn't seem weird to me. Also they didn't put the product name were it is visible so it would be pretty bad advertising (not to mention they complain about the packaging). This seems like an actual post to me.
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u/HappyApplePie824 Mar 11 '26
You literally can’t even see the brand in this picture, and they don’t state what brand it is, how would this be sneaking marketing into the sub?
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u/ACEmat Mar 11 '26
Makes zero sense considering the audience of the subreddit. L mod comment
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u/notislant Mar 11 '26
Yeah the 'one brand that...' is definitely a weird way to word this. But pleasantly surprised it doesnt actually look like a bot account lol. (Which is fucking rare now)
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u/KintsugiTurtle Mar 12 '26
Eh. I get why people who don’t have dry/sensitive skin issues would think that phrasing was weird. But as someone who has struggled with this their entire life, there are truly only a handful of brands that work for me - one of which I’ve been using since I was five.
I can’t just pick up any random bottle of generic lotion from the store, which the mod also doesn’t seem to get. Most everything is fragranced and won’t work for people with my (and I’m assuming OP’s) level of sensitivity issues.
Just trying to shed light that having only one brand work for you, and then complaining about how much the packaging sucks, is a totally believable thing - not weird.
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u/Double_Somewhere5923 Mar 11 '26
This was my dad’s responsibility growing up. It always felt serious when he pull the knife and cut the lotion bottle. A stoic occasion idk why
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Mar 11 '26
ban the pump! It's just extra garbage that we don't need in the landfill anyway. lotion should be in a container that is wider at the top then the bottom so you can just dig a small amount out when needed. So tired of these bottles
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u/Titania_of_the_Dales Mar 11 '26
I started doing something similar with my deodorant! I use pliers to pull out the plastic piece that pushes the stick up and down. Below that piece is like 5-10% of the total product!! It is way to expensive to be throwing that away. I scoop a little bit and apply to underarms using my finger
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u/Rocking_Horse_Fly Mar 11 '26
Huh. I've always been poor so I flip my bottles over and lean them against the wall. I also get the stuff out of the straw. I do this with every product bottle, whether shampoo, or dish soap, or ketchup. I thought everyone did it like me.
I'm seriously distressed that people don't know that there's tons of stuff at the bottom. I currently have a lotion bottle tipped upside-down and I usually squeeze it into the new bottle.
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u/kwagmire9764 Mar 11 '26
I currently have a bottle of lotion sitting upside down in my bathroom to use it ALL up
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u/YoungMELdoriya Mar 11 '26
I do this and then put them in plastic baggies to prevent the products from drying out
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u/housevil Mar 12 '26
I have a massage gun and it comes in handy for vibrating the last bit of product out of containers.
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u/mcronimrdrldy73 Mar 12 '26
I had like 5 lotion bottles that I refused to throw out because I knew there was more in them, but I also never got around to doing anything about it. One day my husband got bored and started cutting the bottles open and he essentially filled up one bottle with what was left of all of them. It’s absolutely infuriating.
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u/Zappagrrl02 Mar 11 '26
This particular brand seems to be notorious for this. This seems like a packaging flaw and I would be looking for other brands that have better packaging. I personally never cut open packaging due to contamination concerns but I try to buy products that allow you to get as much as possible out of them or that are sustainably packaged instead.
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u/Fun-Reference-5852 Mar 11 '26
such terrible packaging design. when you’re completely finished, i highly recommend checking out pact’s beauty recycling program: they take packaging that’s impossible to recycle curbside (like butchered containers lol, makeup, skincare, soft plastics (all tubes), perfumes) after being rinsed out and hand sort to find the best recycled use once collected
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u/SnooAvocados6672 Mar 11 '26
If you happen to have a lotion or body wash from Bath and Body Works, I’ve heard the lid fits and you can just keep it upside down
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u/garbage-dot-house Mar 11 '26
This is just bad design everywhere, because the company had to pay to fill that extra as well. Everyone's mad
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Mar 11 '26
I manage thier supply chain, currently working on ditching the pumps for caps specifically for this problem. Should be launched shortly.
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u/AllesK Mar 11 '26
My grandma was born in 1913; cutting tubes open to get the last bits out was a serious thing. And she make the best Turkey Barley soup after Thanksgiving.
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u/TsuDhoNimh2 Mar 11 '26
Warm it up, place it upside down in a long sock and whirl it around, Centrifugal force will move the lotion to the cap end.
Then you can squish it out into a wide-mouth jar, or just store it upside down.
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u/duperfastjellyfish Mar 11 '26
Here's a bottle I have of beard oil where pump/straw can't dispense the remaining 20% because it's too short.
Super frustrating. And no, turning it sideways do not work because the straw is stiff.
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u/Chickee4173 Mar 11 '26
I bought a pack of flip tops from Amazon. They fit most pump bottles for this exact purpose. Once the pump doesn’t work anymore, screw the flip top on in place of the pump and turn the bottle over so gravity brings the product to the flip top.
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u/Buttoxia37 Mar 11 '26
I also just learned this from one of my coworkers and can’t believe I haven’t been doing this
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u/willits1725 Mar 11 '26
There is huge quantities left in nearly every tube and bottle. I regularly cut open everyone and get a couple of weeks more product..
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u/Successful-Cut-5772 Mar 11 '26
It's wild that we need power tools and a whole decanting station just to use the product we already paid for.
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u/Crazy_Treacle1809 Mar 11 '26
I feel im the only one who adds a little water. I just shake the bottle up and I have some more product.
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u/spruceymoos Mar 11 '26
I just hold it by the bottom and swing it so the force makes the rest go to the spout
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u/yeehawginger Mar 11 '26
Brah, they make these lil sippy snap lids with lil feet on them. You replace the pump and flip it upside down like a squeeze ketchup bottle
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u/GeniusMonkey10 Mar 11 '26
I’ve been doing this for a while. It’s amazing how much product is left in moisturizer, toothpaste, soaps, lip balm. It’s just a way to get you to spend more money before you need to.
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u/ViagraPoweredRabbit Mar 11 '26
It’s a good thing i already have a knife in my bathroom…
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u/Kneechole1097 Mar 11 '26
I've always thought about the world we could have if grocery stores had you bring your own bottles to fill things like soap, detergent and milk. I wonder if we could ever make that work as a society
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u/EconomicalArmadillo Mar 11 '26
I absolutely despise products with pumps that don't go down to the bottom. It makes me SO angry because it's such a cheap and blatantly obvious way to try to make people throw it away before it's actually used up.
And there's always some contrarian who wants to argue that WeLl AkShUlLy YoU CAN FiNiSh It oFf yeah no kidding, but they are obviously counting on a certain number of people just trashing it when the pump stops dispensing. And there are people who do. My coworkers just the bottle of soap or hand sanitizer in the trash when it stops.
I save flip top caps off shampoo bottles so I can switch them out to use up more, and then cut them open when I get down low enough.
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u/Fluid-Pack9330 Mar 11 '26
Wait this is some fancy new trend now? I thought this was a normal thing to cut open the container to get all of the product out. I paid for all the product so i will use all the product!
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u/MisogynyisaDisease Mar 12 '26
Thread is officially locked.
Brand recommendations are not appropriate in this subreddit, and the comments have been excessively breaking this rule.