Bottle Brushes and Divergent Design

Bottles need cleaning. Until you’ve experienced the unique circle of parenthood hell that is bottle-cleaning, the deep beauty of this product will be lost on you. Also, in this context, “hell” can be interchanged with “mundane repetitive task”, “meditative activity”, or even “reproductive labor”.

In my experience, bottles and sippy cups are marvels of engineering that seem predicated on the incorporation of as many nooks and crannies as possible. I think this feature of their design has something to do with physics; for bottles, the nooks and crannies help prevent babies from getting colic. For sippy cups, the nooks and crannies enable a cup’s “spill-proof” bragging rights. These nooks and crannies ensure that no part of the bottle/cup is shaped like- or reachable with- a regular sponge.

Hence, bottle brushes. If you’ve never seen one before, just picture a toilet bowl wand, but petite and in cuter colors. Sometimes they have a secret second brush hidden in the base, for cleaning the nipples of bottles.

Especially when the baby is brand new, there is a lot of urgency around sanitation. The bottle brush cannot mix with any regular family dishes or substances. It should encounter milk- and formula-related messes only (think bottles, pump parts, and teether toys). Apparently regular dish soap is no match for breastmilk, and so the bottle brush is best used only with special unfragranced castille soaps. Did I mention that all of the baby’s items need to be sanitized after being washed, but before being used? Maintaining the cleanliness of baby’s feeding equipment- especially in the beginning- is a lot of pressure.

The ethos of special cleanliness that surrounds baby bottle does not ease up just because the family is going on vacation. Such travel was exactly the reason I purchased a bottle brush kit that has become so much more than that in my life.

First, what is it? It’s everything we need to clean the bottles when on the go. It’s a carrying case, a brush, a nipple brush, a tiny nooks and crannies brush, a soap dispenser, AND a drying rack. It’s more than the sum of its parts though. It’s been a great tool that allows me to succeed at this important parenting task without having to stress too much about whether I have the right tools for the job.

A few of the praises I would like to sing for it:

1. This little guy is durable. It has accompanied us on multiple domestic trips and one international trip.
2. It’s all food-grade silicone. Unlike regular sponges and brushes, these ones don’t get funky or mildewy from being damp all the time. They air-dry perfectly and always smell like nothing at all.
3. The drying rack is built-in. This means that the clean bottles can air-dry too.
4. Soap dispenser is refillable. This means that as long as you have your kit, you can clean your bottles. Consider: in airport and restaurant bathrooms, at the airBnB when the hosts forgets to leave cleaning supplies, those days when a quick errand becomes a full day in the car with baby….all times when a little bit of preparation goes a long way for peace of mind and health of baby.
5. Soap dispenser is small enough to be allowed in carry-on bag.
6. The tiny nooks-and-crannies brush, which is literally bristles and a few wires twisted together, has an oversized base so that it can’t slip down the drain or blend in as easily with the surroundings. Keeps it from getting lost.
7. The set is aesthetic, and each piece has a dedicated slot within the case. This means that for me, the product sparks joy every time I open the case. Colors match, everything is in its place, and the long brush snaps together like a little pastel-colored transformer. I can see that I have everything I need, and the whole scenario gives serious vibes of abundance. Once I’m done, each tool goes back in its dedicated place, fitting perfectly together. They get to rest until they are called to serve once again.
8. The whole thing is just way cuter than I ever feel when I need to wash a dish (even a baby dish).

The cuteness and convenience factor cannot be overstated. If you know me IRL, you know that domestic duties and I have a bit of an uneasy relationship. Sometimes we coexist in harmony, and sometimes I don’t know who they are and what they’re doing in my house. And that, especially when it comes to dishes and prepping a bottle for baby, can trigger a lot of shame. My kitchen sink often runneth over with dishes and cutlery and other unhygienic odds and ends. There isn’t always space to fit the bottle under the faucet, and there isn’t always a bottle brush on hand. (Often the bottle brush is entombed on the bottom-most layer of this unholy collection of crusty kitchen home goods).

I’m going to shout-out a concept I have encountered on the internet, and that’s the concept of divergent design. My understanding is as follows: design your physical spaces for the way you actually live in them, not how you think you should.

The most inspiring example I came across was of a circular chair whose backrest had an extra tier and was designed like a lazy Susan. Essentially, the user could keep a cache of clothes draped on the hidden tier, out of sight until rotated into view. This gave a discreet home to those items who had been worn enough that they would contaminate the clean clothes if stored, but which could be worn again before needing to be washed. (Contrast this with my solution: piles of clothes on the floor, on chairs, on the dresser, on the couch…you get the idea). This demonstrates the principle of divergent design because it supports a behavior that already works, rather than incentivize or promote a change in habit.

(I’m not anti-habit-changing, but I’m also leaning into the idea of making my prepared environment be ready for me as I am, rather than feel the stress of needing to be and do something other than whatever feels authentic and achievable for me in the moment. It’s part of the ethos of “unmasking”. Of figuring out the fullness of who you are with at least the same effort you dedicate to “self-improvement”.)

That’s the goal, anyways. Anyways, when it comes to cleaning bottles and feeding my child, I have stumbled across an example of divergent design in my own life (and I’m delighted!)

When the kitchen sink is a hostile cleaning environment, the bottle brush kit is available to transform the bathroom sink into a safe haven where bottles and sippy cups can count on a hot bath with the right tools to get them cleaned and prepped for another day on the job with my baby.

The kit is portable and fully equipped. The bathroom sink becomes elevated and an all-star in the saga that is getting ready to leave the house.

Please hold all judgement of the fact that it’s adjacent to a toilet- if it’s clean enough to wash the hands that scrub the bottle, then it’s clean enough for the bottle too. I see this as unintentionally divergent design. There is no denying that I live my life with an unruly kitchen sink, and this tool helps me succeed while still getting to be 100% me.

I hope that we can all continue to find little reminders to accept ourselves as we are, and celebrate with gratitude the adaptation and tools that are the unsung heroes of us making it through our days. Do you have anything like this in your life?

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References:

• https://www.divergentdesignstudios.com/
• https://www.fastcompany.com/91249145/bedroom-chair-laundy-rack
• https://momcozy.com/products/momcozy-bottle-brush-set-classic-style?_pos=6&_sid=c4fc8dad8&_ss=r