thermoleum
Winter. Cold. Great.
Underfloor heating solves one of the minor problems of life, but can also take away one of its great joys. Cold bathroom floors in the morning with no socks on - heaven - wakes you up quicker than a double espresso and a slap in the face.
But underfloor heating exists precisely because sometimes the thought of that cold floor is enough to keep you in bed until Thursday. We’re doing up the bathroom, and I want to partially heat the floor - but only partially. For fun, I want to tile the hot bits red, and the cold bits blue. My better half has better taste than me, so I’m not allowed to. But it triggered an idea:
Introducing thermoleum, the heat reactive floor vinyl / lino / tile. Works exactly the same as those stick on refrigerator thermometers, only on your floor. Just imagine the fun! I’d be tempted to heat very small hotspots in front of the sink, the loo etc… where you would expect to stand most often - but leave the rest cold. Just because it would look cool.
For larger bathrooms, heated ’stepping stones’ could make the long hike from the shower to the basin a pleasure.
One additional challenge is of course to make it react quickly enough to show where you were standing a minute ago - like ‘heat cam’ on ‘police stop criminal’ or whatever it’s called.
Popularity: 16% [?]
Cycla nanotech fabric
This nanotech umbrella sheds water like a ducks back. The nanoscale surface repels water absolutely, so a single shake dries the brolly. Hurrah!
If I had gone down the road of materials research, and currently lived in a little lab in the basement of some university, surrounded by white coats and Apple ][s, Nano would be my thing.
For one simple purpose.
Cycling gloves / mitts usually have a multicoloured patchwork back. This is not for style or fashion. This is not for an ergonomic comfort fit. This is simply so that you know which part of your glove you just wiped your nose on. So that you don’t then wipe your eye with it when a beastie gets lodged there.
So my nanofabric would have a simple use.
Grip tightly to wet stuff, but as it dries, shed it cleanly and immediately. I should be able to dip that thing in tomato soup and it should hang on to that soup like mad. It should be an orange ball! The bowl should be empty. But as soon as the drying power of the wind gets its way, the mitt is sparkly clean again. Bingo.
Cycla is probably sueably close to Lycra as a fabric name. But who cares. I’m not a materials scientist. Sadly.
Popularity: 23% [?]
bubblewrap socks
It struck me when unwrapping my latest bike purchases while standing barefooted in the kitchen, that standing on bubblewrap should be quite insulating and warm. And it was.
In my book that counts as product development research! So…
Introducing bubblewrap house-socks (you know, those oversized socks you wear like slippers, with grippy soles). Some tougher, yet softer, material would be required, but the basic principle would be the same. Just lots of little air bubbles trapped within a waterproof layer.
Think of the advantages over standard house-socks:
- Insulated
- Bouncy
- Bubbly looking (i.e. cool)
- Transparent
- Squeaky
- Waterproof for running out to the garden for herbs
Cool Toes. Taking the idea a little further, for comfort they could have different liquid cores to the individual bubbles - shoes could be bought slightly too big – and the liquid interior could be released through the day to lessen overheated swollen feet syndrome. Christmas or Ikea are the only times I suffer from this.
I don’t think overheated swollen feet syndrome is ever fatal, but if they can sell cans of cold to spray on your feet, I bet they could sell bubblewrap socks you can feed cold water into.
They would be great for use in wellingtons. The double squeak of welly rubber and plastic sock would sound terrifying.
Warm toes. For cycling they could be attached to a pump / heater which cycles warm liquid around your frozen toes on frosty November mornings. This would be an environmentally friendly option, extending the season where cycling to work is a reasonable option. The reservoir of hot water / battery / heating element could be strapped to your leg for a cool robocop look.
Popularity: 24% [?]
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About Steve
Steve invents things while travelling to work on the train. He sketches them in his moleskine notebooks. Instead of actually making them (and becoming a billionaire overnight) he posts them here for the good of mankind.
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