toothpaste

[cazzbazz25]

i asked yesterday if anyone knows how the stripes are put into toothpaste. the replies were having compartments, or seperaters at the the tip of the tube. after cutting open a tube along with family members cutting open thiers. we found no compartments/ seperaters. has anyone any logic answers to how the toothpaste comes out in stripes when being squeezed through the small hole.

[Pippa68]

This might help:

http://www.aquafresh.co.uk/aboutStripes.aspx

:o)

[caz21]

I'm guessing the stripes are seperate before they go in to the tube, they will be processed as three seperate colours and put together then packaged inside the tube

[~Wingnut~]

LOL Cazz you certainly are inquizative, cutting up your own toothpaste tubes!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toothpaste
Click link above and about half way down it says that there are compartments in the tubes, a few other sites I looked at too say the same. Did you cut near the nozzle end? Maybe the seperator is only needed near the tube end?

[caz21]

Wooohhhooooo !!!!! thats close enough for me! LOL!

[~Wingnut~]

aww your link is much better than mine Pippa! :o)

[drestie]

http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Science/Questio n163501.html

If you type " toothpaste stripes " into the search box on the left, you will find that this question has been asked many times, resulting in some very interesting dissections.

[Catso]

The Aquafresh link shows toothpaste being put into a real tube-shaped tube. With no separation or mixing device. This would work because as you push the plunger from the bottom, all that happens is that the paste & stripes are compressed to a smaller diameter 'stream'. IE they come out exactly as pre-loaded into the tube, but smaller. If you think about it, why would they mix? Shaking would do not good (the mix is too stiff), the plunger has no rotational movement and you can't squish the paste from the side or middle.

Whereas the collapsible, old fashioned tubes will (I think) need the colours physically separating, as there would be no way of knowing how the user would squeeze the tube. This is as shown on the Wikipedia link.

Which sort of tube was it you cut up cazzbazz?