Okay, Colgate, Explain this one…

March 28, 2010 · 0 comments

Back in November, you may recall a little Ant Problem we had. ie, they wanted to eat Rish’s toothbrush…

That was explained away by Colgate as them perhaps after the residue of toothpaste…

But that won’t explain this:

WTF? More ants this time on NEW toothbrushes

Yes, you see right, the ants have found their way into to NEW pack, as if seeking it out… weird ants with a craving for rubber. (yes the pack was opened with a couple of brushes out, but really, ants?)

I will let you know what Colgate have to say on this one!

{ 25 comments… read them below or add one }

Katherine March 28, 2010 at 7:52 pm

OMG Fiona I have never seen that happen before. We get ants on occasion too but never on Brand New Toothbrushes. Cant wait to hear what happens with this.

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Leigh March 28, 2010 at 9:02 pm

That is creepy! You should buy one of each brand and do an experiment…maybe with a live streaming webcam!
.-= Leigh´s last blog ..Happy Birthday Katelyn =-.

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Eva March 28, 2010 at 10:27 pm

This. Is. Ridiculous.
.-= Eva´s last blog ..Now run along, and don’t get into mischief =-.

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Simon Food Favourites March 28, 2010 at 11:33 pm

oh dear. noice spotting. perhaps they were trapped in there from the start :-)
.-= Simon Food Favourites´s last blog ..Baroque Bistro Patisserie: Free Macarons, The Rocks, Sydney (25 Mar 2010) =-.

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Amy @ cookbookmaniac.com March 29, 2010 at 12:13 am

one non-word… ewwwww!
.-= Amy @ cookbookmaniac.com´s last blog ..Hot Cross Buns by Nigella Lawson – Happy Easter! =-.

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Fiona March 29, 2010 at 7:17 am

I wonder about then eating rubber…

@Simon – I doubt it. Unless they were returning to their home? ;) Planet Colgate. Kinda like Planet Spoonoid…

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Lisa March 29, 2010 at 8:43 am

oh my – that is SCARY!!!!!!
.-= Lisa´s last blog ..Photo Marathon =-.

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Kelkel March 29, 2010 at 9:02 am

Glue addicts.

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Moja Izba March 29, 2010 at 11:07 am

In fact I’ve seen ants like this at home on our toothbrushes too! First I thought it was the paste attracting them, but then I realized it was muggy outside for weeks, they climbed up, however the ants also hanged around the brushes. But we use the Oral-B’s.
.-= Moja Izba´s last blog ..Cornflour Maize amount converter =-.

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Helen (grabyourfork) March 29, 2010 at 1:27 pm

argh! argh! i had a recent attack by ants but luckily they never made it into the bathroom. it’s odd because you know ants don’t eat much, and they’re not holding any poison but a plague of them swarming over your precious belongings — like your TOOTHBRUSHES — always makes me scream like a girl.

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yewenyi March 29, 2010 at 7:56 pm

ha ha, maybe ants are like those cleaner fish that eat the bugs and algae off bigger fish. You just train up some ants to do the cleaning. It would save a fortune in tooth brushes and tooth paste and you could just keep a little ant farm in the bath room.

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Lorraine @NotQuiteNigella March 29, 2010 at 8:03 pm

LOL how truly bizarre! :o

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mademoiselle délicieuse March 29, 2010 at 8:32 pm

Again?! But much more interesting this time with the pack being SEALED…do u get many ants elsewhere in the home?
.-= mademoiselle délicieuse´s last blog ..New Shanghai Chatswood (???), 31 Dec 2009 =-.

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Fiona March 29, 2010 at 8:36 pm

The pack was opened, not sure if they could get into sealed…

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Eva March 29, 2010 at 10:04 pm

Blogged this on Nature Network, on the off chance that someone actually knows the answer! There are lots of biologists there, but don’t know if anyone knows ants well enough to figure this out…
.-= Eva´s last blog ..Now run along, and don’t get into mischief =-.

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Fiona March 30, 2010 at 7:21 am

Thanks Eva!

As pings and trackbacks don’t seem to like this blog layout, here’s Eva’s post and the scientists giving it a go http://blogs.nature.com/eva/2010/03/29/ant-traction

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Iron Chef Shellie March 30, 2010 at 2:14 pm

ewwww…. that’s gross!
.-= Iron Chef Shellie´s last blog ..Breakfast BLT =-.

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Fiona March 30, 2010 at 5:50 pm

Received a reply

Dear Ms Moore

Thank you for taking the time to contact our company.

The question you raised requires us to make further enquiries with our
Technical Department. Please advise which Colgate Toothbrushes you have
in your possession. Once we receive your reply we will be in touch with
you soon with the information you need.

Thank you for taking the time to contact us again.

This lot are Zig Zag brushes from the 6 pack sold through Woolworths.

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Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella March 30, 2010 at 8:42 pm

hehe well good that they replied. It can’t be the first email they’ve received surely?
.-= Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella´s last blog ..Quesadilla Cake – Ugly but Delicious =-.

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Fiona March 30, 2010 at 9:26 pm

@Lorraine – last time they phoned me…

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Shelley April 1, 2010 at 12:45 pm

Are they cutting bits out to take away? i.e. are they seeing it as a food source or maybe giving some kind of congregation signal? What are they doing on the actual brush, hanging out, running around, acting weird? Also have you noticed any kind smell yourself?

These are questions from my entomologist friend who will now ask her entomologist friends too. (She thinks this is totally cool)

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Fiona April 1, 2010 at 6:00 pm

Okay, they just seemed to be crowding around, running around a little nuttily on the rubbery bits, staying on the colour…. I can’t smell anything strange about the toothbrushes. There’s no bits out of the rubber.

Oh and latest update:

Dear Ms Moore

Thank you for contacting us about your experience with our Colgate Zig
Zag Plus Toothbrush. We appreciate you taking the time to contact us
with your feedback.

There is nothing in the materials used to manufacture our toothbrushes
to cause ants to be attracted to it.

We would like to investigate this matter further we ask that you please
send us the toothbrushes plus packaging. A postage-paid package will
organised for you to return your product to us. We appreciate your help
in providing us with this product.

Please advise whether you use a soft or medium brush.

We are sorry that you did not have the results you expected. Once we
receive your reply we will organise the postage-paid package and
replacement products to the address provided. It is provided as part of
our Consumer Satisfaction Policy that guarantees that each product
bought by our consumers meets their needs and expectations.

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Tab April 6, 2010 at 7:36 pm

They SAY there is nothing used in the manufacture that would attract ants, but it would really seem its not so. You don’t dip toothbrushes in honey after you buy them or something ridiculous like that? I’m so curious as to why this would happen!
.-= Tab´s last blog ..My Place & Yours – Most useful/used gadget =-.

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Fiona April 9, 2010 at 3:52 pm

They sent me toothbrushes and stuff pictured… and a reply-paid envelope the return the remaining ones from the packet. Unfortunately, I threw the box out, destroyed it when I washed the ants off

Offerings from Colgate

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Lyvvie May 3, 2010 at 11:44 am

I’m finding this entire story extremely interesting. You’ll update again soon?
.-= Lyvvie´s last blog ..I’m not Anti-Marshmallow =-.

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