How COLGATE TOOTH PASTE is MADE🦷 | Inside COLGATE Factory

Summary

The video explores the fascinating process of how Colgate toothpaste is made, from mixing abrasive materials like silica and calcium carbonate to the creation of the iconic striped design. The production process involves advanced machinery that mixes and heats the ingredients, ensuring precise consistency. Flavorings and colorants are added, with meticulous attention given to inserting the stripes. The factory produces millions of toothpaste tubes daily, with rigorous quality control ensuring each product's effectiveness in preventing cavities and maintaining oral health. This process has helped Colgate become a global leader in oral care.

Takeaways

• 🪥 Toothpaste production requires a large amount of abrasive materials, including rocks and minerals, which help clean teeth mechanically.
• 🌍 Colgate is a global brand sold in over 150 countries, with its roots tracing back to 1806 when William Colgate founded a soap and candle business in New York.
• 🧪 Colgate pioneered innovations in dental care, launching the first toothpaste in a tube in 1873 and introducing fluoride toothpaste in the 20th century to fight cavities.
• 🏭 Modern toothpaste manufacturing is a highly technical process involving the mixing of ingredients like silica, sodium fluoride, and flavorings in large factories such as the one in London.
• ⚙️ The process includes precise measurement and mixing of ingredients, using industrial machinery that can handle tons of materials to produce a smooth paste with the right texture and consistency.
• 🎨 Stripes in toothpaste are created by adding colored paste to the base mixture using a separate dispenser system, without mixing the colors thanks to the viscosity of the materials.
• 🌿 Mint and other flavors are added to the toothpaste through essential oils, and Colgate's dedicated testing department ensures that flavors meet consumer preferences.
• 👩‍🔬 Rigorous checks are conducted at various stages to test viscosity and ensure product consistency, as any variation could compromise the quality of the toothpaste.
• 🚚 Once the toothpaste is ready, it is packaged into tubes at high speed, with machines filling up to 1,000 tubes per minute and sealing them to preserve freshness.
• 📦 After packaging, the tubes are grouped into boxes, which are weighed to ensure completeness before being sealed and prepared for distribution and sale globally.

Q & A

What are the primary ingredients used to make toothpaste?

The primary ingredients used to make toothpaste include abrasives like silica, calcium carbonate, or sodium bicarbonate for mechanical cleaning, sodium fluoride to prevent cavities, water as a solvent, flavorings for taste and smell, colorants for aesthetics, foaming agents, binders for consistency, pH regulators, moisturizers to prevent drying out, and preservatives to extend shelf life.

How does toothpaste combine hard minerals into a soft paste?

The hard minerals are combined into a soft paste by using powerful industrial mixers. These mixers are capable of breaking down the rough ingredients and blending them into a smooth consistency, aided by gel-like substances to homogenize the mixture.

What historical significance does Colgate hold in the toothpaste industry?

Colgate holds historical significance as one of the oldest toothpaste brands. Founded by William Colgate in 1806, it launched the first toothpaste in a tube in 1873, revolutionizing dental hygiene by making it more convenient and accessible.

How does the Colgate factory ensure toothpaste stripes are created without mixing colors?

The toothpaste stripes are created by using separate dispensers that inject different colored pastes into the tube through different pipelines. Due to the specific viscosity of the pastes, the colors stay separate and form stripes when squeezed out.

What role do abrasive substances play in toothpaste?

Abrasive substances like silica, calcium carbonate, and sodium bicarbonate play a mechanical cleaning role in toothpaste. They help scrub the teeth, removing plaque and debris as part of the brushing process.

Why is viscosity important in the toothpaste manufacturing process?

Viscosity is important because it ensures the proper flow and consistency of the toothpaste. It affects how well the paste is mixed, how it maintains its structure in the tube, and how smoothly it dispenses without mixing the stripes.

How does Colgate test the consistency of its toothpaste?

Colgate tests the consistency of its toothpaste by conducting viscosity tests in a dedicated laboratory. These tests ensure that the toothpaste flows properly and that the stripes remain intact during dispensing.

What mechanical process is used to fill toothpaste tubes?

Toothpaste tubes are filled using a machine that doses and distributes the toothpaste into each tube. It can fill up to 100 tubes per minute, injecting the different colored pastes side by side without physical separation.

Why do buyers prefer striped toothpaste over single-colored varieties?

Research shows that buyers prefer striped toothpaste because it is visually appealing and often perceived as more effective or higher quality, even though the stripes do not contribute to the toothpaste's cleaning effectiveness.

What benefits does modern toothpaste offer?

Modern toothpaste offers several benefits, including keeping teeth white, protecting against gum disease, preventing painful cavities, and freshening breath. It also contains fluoride, which strengthens tooth enamel and helps prevent dental decay.