Student Awards
In a league of
their own
The third part of a series examining the IED
Award Prize Winners’ projects.
Tom Davidson
BSc Product Design
Purity Toilet Brush
The Purity Toilet Brush is a new design aimed not only to sanitise a toilet but also to prevent
harmful and unsightly bacteria build up on the brush itself. This is achieved through the design of
the brush holder, which enables the brush to be cleaned in between uses.
The toilet brush is designed to be both a functional product and a desirable accessory that
would enhance the appearance of a bathroom.
How it works
Cleaning is achieved by the mechanical motion of the brush
oscillating in the bleach solution. The oscillation of the brush
creates surface tension on the bristles, removing waste matter,
whilst the bleach fi ghts to prevent bacteria build up.
It was important to minimise the strength of the bleach, so
numerous tests were held over several weeks recording the
effectiveness of different dilutions at killing bacteria.
Various test rigs were produced to test different cleaning
motions, judged over a number of categories, for example: the
ability to remove waste matter; the appeal and perception to
the user; and how it would be powered. Although initial tests
were carried out using an artifi cial substance to represent
waste matter, fi nal tests needed to be carried out on toilet
brushes in actual use… Not too pleasant!
Although there were certain challenges/obstacles to maintaining functionality and minimising user contact, allowing the
overcome with regards to the cleaning function, the main used bleach solution to be poured easily down the toilet.
challenges revolved around user interaction. For example, how Another challenge was how would the toilet brush be powered?
would the user dispose of and replace the bleach solution? It It was decided that the user wouldn’t want to manually ‘pump’
was vital that this didn’t appear to be a disgusting chore and clean, so electricity would be a better option. However, the use of
would be a relatively pleasant experience. The lid design for electricity is especially tricky when in the bathroom environment. A
the central removable container was the key to the solution. lot of consideration went into how the product could be designed
The lid enabled the bleach to be kept out of sight, whilst to be battery powered, bearing in mind that the battery life would
need to be substantial, as the need to charge or replace the batteries
frequently was unacceptable. This was achieved as the fi nal design
ran at such a low power that, theoretically, 2 ‘C’ cell batteries would
provide approximately 1000 cleaning cycles.
Since Tom graduated, the Purity Toilet Brush has featured in
‘The Daily Echo’ (a local newspaper in Bournemouth), as well as
‘The Designer Magazine’. There has also been interest from a few
companies, mostly bathroom suppliers, wondering if the brush was
being produced and whether they could stock it. Tom hasn’t taken
the project any further as he feels that he has had enough of thinking
about toilet brushes for a lifetime!
Engineering Designer July/August 2009
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