Toothbrush / toothpaste aid

thingiverse

I have been asked to take on an extremely simple project in my family, designing a toothbrush holder for my mother-in-law. The idea was sparked when she reached out about upcoming hand surgery that would leave her without use of one hand. This was early in the year, and with just 1 hour from receiving the request, I came up with the solution. My simple design could hold a toothbrush steady enough so that toothpaste wouldn't spill. Using my 3D printer at home proved it would make all the difference. The idea for using flexible plastic came to mind later when testing the product using both ABS and Taulman PCTPE materials, after which I settled on printing one with the latter for its better grip on a toothbrush. When installing this simple device onto our countertop we relied upon 3M Command strips that provided firm hold allowing users easily add or remove toothbrushes without worrying about falling over.