About

Progress and what's next

Hello! My name is Kam Mistry and I’m the inventor of the shiffter… and currently the world’s poorest philanthropist. Throughout the website I use the word ‘we’, however it’s just me – it sounds a little big-headed saying ‘I this’ and ‘I that’ hence the wording.

Anyway, where am I with the shiffter? It isn’t available yet as I need to raise the funding to tweak the design and then go into production. The great news is that I’ve been granted a patent so it should be all cisterns go (sorry) from now on! I’ve also had great feedback on the product, with 98% of those responding stating that they would buy one if it was available now and thousands of visits to the website from people searching for a product that doesn’t yet exist! That’s just the type of information that investors want to hear, so soon I’ll get the product out there to raise money for good causes and also earn a living from it.

Thanks for your support. If you have any comments or want to get in touch, please complete the contact form.

If you like listening to podcasts, you can find out more about shiffter’s charitable aims on the Get Flushed podcast where you can hear about how we intend to donate profits to help good causes.

How the idea came about

The 'back story' and why the shiffter is much more than just a squeezable bottle.

The shiffter came about by accident after I visited the toilet one day. With the flush not cleaning the bowl properly I decided, as many of us would, to grab the bleach bottle to see if I could clean it up by squirting bleach onto the bowl.

Kam Mistry

As you probably know, squirting bleach (like panic flushing) is a desperate measure and isn’t remotely effective as the bleach is really thick and therefore doesn’t come out of the bottle fast. On this occasion the bleach bottle was just about empty, so I took the lid off and filled it with water. However, having filled it with water, I noticed that the low viscosity of the water (compared to the thick bleach) meant that squeezing the bottle allowed the water to jet out under high pressure and effectively jet-wash the remnants from the toilet bowl much more effectively than bleach…and much less disgustingly than having to use a toilet brush. Eureka!

Of course, it’s easy to get carried away and think ‘What a great idea for a product,’ but I initially talked myself out of it. Why? Because, if it can be done with an empty bleach or toilet cleaning fluid bottle then why would anyone pay for something that does the same?

But then, after a bit of thought and discussions with a friend, it became apparent that it would indeed make a great product. Here’s why:

SAFETY – using an old bottle which previously held bleach or chemicals could be very dangerous when cleaning it out for use as a Shiffter and also a danger to young children who may inadvertently pick up the wrong bottle by mistake.

DESIGN – many of us really care about interior design and how our homes, including our bathrooms, look – a stylish product looks much nicer than a tatty bleach bottle left next to the toilet. An old bleach bottle won’t look too good in your bathroom especially when the label peels off leaving sticky glue stains on it… and it’s considerably cleaner than a dirty toilet brush!

PRACTICALITY

aside from the aesthetics and safety concerns bleach and toilet cleaning liquid bottles aren’t designed to last for years with daily squeezing – as they will crack and leak.
you’ll also notice that the shiffter has a tilted filling spout on the flat side. This allows it to fit under the taps in most bathrooms and cloakrooms; a standard bottle would be too tall.
when you squeeze a bottle, it squashes and loses its shape as the liquid and air have to make their way through the same aperture. Aside from not looking very nice, this poses a big problem – it makes it harder to squeeze. The shiffter has an air valve at the top which allows air to flow in immediately after you squeeze it. This maintains pressure, making it easy for most people to use ie you don’t need big, powerful hands.

So, I decided that making a product was indeed a good idea and there was a market for it.