DuPont Plastics - Brushing both sides of your brain.

It's easy to forget that Nylon is a trademarked name owned by the DuPont corporation, but it is. It's also weird to imagine that, before there was Nylon, toothbrushes were made with natural bristle, which means "pig hair". Bleah.

In this ad, DuPont would like you to believe that the very best paint brushes are nylon, but that's not necessarily true. Nylon brushes are more durable than natural hair, because the fibers don't have tiny pores in them, which trap paint, making them harder to get really clean. Plus, nylon tolerates the caustic chemicals used to clean out oil-based paints better than natural brushes do. But for the smoothest brush stroke, and sheer softness, you can't beat a real bristle brush, like sable. They're just harder to take care of.

Anyhoo, I never had a toothbrush made from natural bristle. I'm sure if I grew up with one, I would think nothing of it. But, since the stuff I clean my teeth with has always been a space-age polymer, I can say that rubbing pig hairs all over my teeth sounds weird. Just like someone in the future will think that meat not grown in a lab, that used to be a living animal, sounds freaky as hell. Of course, there are people all over the place now that think all meat is grody, but you know what I mean.

Did DuPont expect us to each have two hair brushes, one for the left and one for the right? Couldn't you just flip the brush over and have it fit your other hand? of course, from a marketing standpoint, there could be nothing better than making everyone buy two of something they only need one of. And when you're DuPont, the idea of every American running out to buy two hairbrushes must have made their accountants' pants tight.

Dream on, guys. Nobody's in that big a hurry to brush their hair, even if they had the dexterity to do a passable job with both hands simultaneously.

Click for big.