It all happenned during an Open University Course in Innovation Design and Technology T302

A visit to the hairdresser's revealed the delays and nuisance (not to mention direct and indirect costs) of a blocked sink (Backwash). I was the one delayed!

Thus the Dossil^® was developed for the extreme conditions of hairdresser’s backwash. The hairdresser has probably more need for a reliable sink strainer than most people, with all that hair being washed and shed every day.  The salon- hair-wash- basins often have the plughole next to the wall of the sink, so it had to be flexible to fit.  Many hairdressers' strainers have teeth ;  we heard of a hairdressers strainer being knocked out of position with someone’s long hair, then getting tangled in that object.

 The search for the perfect answer commenced:

1. It had to work,
2. It had to stay in place, not lift up or float in use,
3. It had to bend to fit the most awkward places, such as the back-wash sinks of the hairdressing salon.
4. No teeth, so there would be no risk at all of getting caught in hair.
5. It had to be durable, not a throw-away item:
6. so therefore it had to be easily cleaned, by either dishwasher or washing machine.
7. It had to be of use not just in the hairdressers' salon, but wherever there is a sink.
8. It had to have a proper name, not just a "thingy", or a "what-do-you-call-it"

"From cut-outs in the kitchen through to development with the help of Brunel University, we eventually reached the perfect design."

Then began the search to find the right material?  Many materials have been researched and tried over the years, some were too hard to bend, and some had too much chlorine used in production, natural rubber was great, but could perish with ordinary household chemicals after time. Silicone was found to be the best, it is durable, bends, lasts well, takes lovely colours, and is virtually impervious to household chemicals.

The Dossil^® was designed to bend to fit those awkward corners, making it useful in not only hairdresser sinks, but in the minuscule wash-hand-basins in some boats, caravans and cloakrooms.

People like their sinks to look stylish so the lovely colours can be very appealing to the fashion conscious.

Margaret received help and support from Business Link, Slough who encouraged her to develop the product further and introduced her to the technology department at Brunel University to test the Dossil^® by physical modelling.

Don't try this at home

To the right: ancient historic photograph, taken in the days of Magic Carpets, and Flying Dossils!

Margaret's colleagues in the development of the Dossil^® are Tony, OU fellow alumni who now handles the annual accounts and investment for initial tooling, and Bruce and Alasdair who run their own successful design company and are responsible for CAD and CAM design. See their site at www.designedge.co.uk

The Dossil^® is now being manufactured from a naturally produced silicone, in the Commonwealth country of Malaysia, from where over 80% of the world's rubber comes.

Those  Versatile Dossils really keep plug-holes clear of wasteI