“Why is a Q-tip called a Q-tip?” my daughter asked yesterday. And I had no idea how Q-tips got their name, so we looked it up. Part of this blog is sharing random facts so that you can answer all your kids’ questions, and this seems to fit firmly in the random fact category, so here’s the answer.
The “Q” in Q-tip stands for “quality,” according to qtips.com. The word “tips” describes the cotton swab at the end of the stick, which today are 100% pure cotton.
Creator Leo Gerstenzang, the original founder of the Q-tips® Company, started making them after he saw his wife putting gauze on toothpicks, and he thought a ready-to-use cotton swab would be better. He first named them Baby Gays when he started making them in 1923 but changed the name to Q-tips in 1926 and clearly, that stuck.
As for the stick part of the Q-tip, they are not wood. Today Q-tips® cotton swabs are available in paper sticks only. They are biodegradable when composted, according to the Q-Tip FAQs.
The company, now owned by Unilever, says the product will last many years if stored properly in a cool, dry place away from dampness and humidity. Hmmm, does that mean I should take them out of the bathroom? Probably. Will I? Probably not.
The Q-tip website has a fun section called the Tip Jar (I know, I’m a sucker for suck puns) and they have fun suggestionsfor using the items as painting tools for little ones and for applying facepaint. You can also use them for the crafts themselves. With the snow that keeps falling this winter, it’s the perfect time to make cute snowflakes out of them, like these from BusyBeeKidsCrafts.com.
You can find more Q-tip craft ideas here.
Happy swabbing!
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