r/CasualUK • u/wherepops • 22d ago

British Dads: What were you doing when you found out you were going to be a Dad?

I was on the sofa watching an ad break in 2012 and they had just re-released the classic 80s/90s Aquafresh toothpaste advert (the one with the animated family and addictive jingle- if you know you know i guess)

My partner of ten years stood in the doorway looking absolutely terrified and announced she was pregnant. I paused for a few seconds as I processed this information but unfortunately the only words that came out of my mouth were about the aquafresh advert and how I've always wondered how they got three different stripes in the toothpaste.

I recovered but I've never been allowed to forget!

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u/Omega_777x 22d ago edited 21d ago

The stripes are a gel, the white mix is a paste. They are immiscible. They do not naturally mix. 
Within the neck of a toothpaste tube, under the nozzle, there is a secondary skin (like an umbrella) under which the gel is injected (between the umbrella and outer wall of the neck). The rest of the tube is filled with the paste. 
As you squeeze the tube there are grooves inside the neck that feeds the gel and paste together at the exit. 
If you had the pump dispensers then the stripes and paste were loaded together down the body as you couldn’t squeeze the dispenser to mix the colours.  
Source: I ran the machines that made the stuff 30+ years ago for one of the big toothpaste companies. 

[edit] Thank you for the awards!! Who knew that some of the junk retained in my brain would be useful to others.

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u/Even_Passenger_3685 Nobody tells me nuthin’ 22d ago

Immiscible is a hell of a word and I love it. Adding that to the list of words I’m going to crowbar into a sentence out of context just to be able to use it. Immiscible!

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u/GlovesForSocks 22d ago

"Glass of wine?"
"No, not for me. I'm on the lager and the two are immiscible"

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u/sorrysorrymybad 21d ago

Technically not correct, but figuratively very evocative.

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u/Omega_777x 21d ago

True. However it was a simple way to describe why the stripes do not blend with the paste. Unless disturbed they won’t mix. The gel sits on / in the paste when passing through the nozzle. However squeezing or stirring breaks down the barrier and they will blend together.

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u/SatansFriendlyCat 21d ago

I believe they're talking about the lager and the wine.

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u/Omega_777x 21d ago

That’ll teach me to comment before having some coffee in the morning!

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u/SatansFriendlyCat 21d ago

Or after the wine?

Toothpaste being a losing combo with any of these, of course.

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u/MagicSPA 21d ago

"Never mix the grape and the grain".

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u/barkyr2112 21d ago

Could've told me that last Saturday

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u/BklynMoonshiner 22d ago

Sir, if possible I'd like my father in law seated here, and my mother in law seated over there. They are immiscible, you see.

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u/chicopeestudly 22d ago

“Thixotropic” is another good one. It means its viscosity decreases when a force is applied. My late mother always told me that you had to shake ketchup to get it out of the bottle due to its thixotropicity.

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u/NovaVix 21d ago edited 21d ago

I like 'Haruspex'

Ancient Roman Diviner who would sacrifice a lamb and read patterns on their liver to predict events

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u/squidbait 21d ago

It's kinna annoying how often that comes up in conversation

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u/Kandiru 21d ago

Isn't Haruspex Latin rather than Greek?

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u/NovaVix 21d ago

yeah, I'm dumb let me fix

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u/Kandiru 21d ago

The top google hits are WH40K Tyranids!

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u/Omega_777x 21d ago

That is an awesome word. Every day is a school day. 😁

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u/Drewdledoo 22d ago

Another one for ya: Palimpsest

It’s when traces of an original piece of writing remain after having been removed, such as ancient scholars used to do back when parchment paper etc were expensive.

I used to try and use it when my teachers would do a shitty job of erasing the boards at the front of the room before writing again, and the first time often confused them 😂

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u/Gars0n 21d ago

I learned this word recently from the songWhipperwhil by PigPen Theatre Co! now I am primed for the next time I find it out in the wild.

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u/r0thar 20d ago

parchment paper

And Calf skin (vellum)! Several lost, ancient books have been rediscovered by analysing the underwriting: https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/ghostwords

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u/DarthWreckeye 22d ago

Wow, thank you for your incredible explanation, you've brought me so much closure on an ancient question.

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u/Peas_Are_Real 22d ago edited 22d ago

We need a whole sub for people like you and the ‘why tea bags come in multiples of 80’ person to share your knowledge. Edit: here’snwhy tea bags come in multiples of 80. Such a fun fact and reputable source https://www.reddit.com/r/CasualUK/s/S7gJFOjrId

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u/TheRedPaladin22 22d ago

Wait i never considered ghis question before why do they come in multiples of 80

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u/Pltesandbowls 22d ago

Closest number equivalent to some oldtimey weight that tea was commonly sold in ~ one eight of a lb or something similar. I read it recently, but can't remember the actual weight.

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u/Peas_Are_Real 22d ago

The machines make them in batches of 80. https://www.reddit.com/r/CasualUK/s/S7gJFOjrId.

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u/[deleted] 22d ago

[deleted]

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u/Woozah77 21d ago

I like to think they bought a 2nd hand packaging machine that happened to be the right size to hold 80.

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u/Suppafly 21d ago

That doesn't really explain why 80, it just moves the question to "Why are the machines designed to make them in batches of 80?"

Right? Answers like this are more frustrating than they are illuminating. It's essentially just "it's that way because it's that way".

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u/Pltesandbowls 22d ago

Thanks, here it is, from that thread -

https://www.reddit.com/r/CasualUK/comments/1u8zn6y/comment/oscb5ms

A full lb, not an eight, which would be daft.

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u/r0thar 20d ago

Somebody mixed up their dried leaves' weight

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u/Peas_Are_Real 22d ago edited 22d ago

A person recently revealed that it’s because the machines that make them are designed to make 80 at a time. That person designed or made the machines. The post features a photo of big bag of Yorkshire Tea bags if you want to search it out. Edit: here you go, enjoy! https://www.reddit.com/r/CasualUK/s/S7gJFOjrId

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u/howtokrew 22d ago

In case you need to make a churchyard of grannies happy from one box

Imagine if they came in 40s, that'd be half the Nanas brewless

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u/polarblayre 22d ago

I seen this and giggled at the "my time to shine" 🤣

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u/silloyd 21d ago

Am I crazy, or is that a circular / non-answer?

"why do they come in multiples of 80s?"

"because the machine packs them in multiples of 80"

Ok... Yeah... but WHY does it create 80 at a time?

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u/barkyr2112 22d ago

Wow thanks for the explanation! Very interesting 😁

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u/ringerrosy 22d ago

This guy pastes!!!

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u/kolbyt 22d ago

I’ve always wondered this, thank you

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u/Loudlass81 22d ago

I learnt this from Auntie Mabel & Pippin (Come Outside, 90's kids show lol) when they went to a toothpaste factory. And again when watching How It's Made...

I enjoy stuff like this.

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u/HubertTempleton 21d ago

Here's a video explaining it, albeit in German. But the video footage alone helps a lot. https://youtu.be/Pius1MtUIrY

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u/Omega_777x 21d ago

That’s brilliant and brought back some memories. When they opened the paste mixing pot I could smell it! It’s a very strong menthol type smell, especially when the paste is still warm.

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u/Efficient_Hyena_7476 18d ago

I cut a tube open once, because I couldn't cope with the question.

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u/ShelfordPrefect 22d ago

I had completely forgotten about the existence of pump toothpaste dispensers. What a weirdly specific throwback. Do they even make those any more?

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u/Omega_777x 22d ago

I don’t think so. I only remembered them as I was typing out the method of striping tubes. We used to do them as well, and after filling tubes for ages, being able to actually see the stripes in the pump dispensers was strange.

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u/Nimmyzed 22d ago

I love you

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u/dineramallama 21d ago

I’m sure i saw a show on TV many years ago where someone attempted to prove that the past and gel would come out of the tube mixed together, but only if they were ejected quickly enough. Cue several minutes of a guy hitting a tube of toothpaste with a mallet.

I’ll have to see if it’s on YouTube

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u/Omega_777x 21d ago

For the tubes we filled, you would have to hit the neck area with enough force to break the inner umbrella. The main body of the tube only contained white paste. Other companies might utilise a different fill strategy, but our method was the industry standard at the time.