# How they now get stripes into toothpaste

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-they-now-get-stripes-into-toothpaste/510955
**Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports
**Created:** [September 21, 2009, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-they-now-get-stripes-into-toothpaste/510955 "2009-09-21T16:07:40Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Brainiac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8797f3/32.png) [@Brainiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2009, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-they-now-get-stripes-into-toothpaste/510955/1 "2009-09-21T16:07:40Z")

</div>

re: [How did they get the stripes in Stripe toothpaste?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/163/how-did-they-get-the-stripes-in-stripe-toothpaste)As a Classic, that was true enough in 1977, but readers should be told how it’s done today. The paste is injected into the tube with multiple nozzles with 2 or 3 different colors alternating. It’s shown on History Channel Modern Marvels from time to time. The stripes are less uniform, because of the squeezing, so by the time you reach the end of the tube the stripes get squiggly and blurred.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2009, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-they-now-get-stripes-into-toothpaste/510955/2 "2009-09-21T17:16:22Z")

</div>

I’ve seen those shows and knew that the method had changed because I remember disassembling Stripe tube to see how they worked.

The one’s I took apart were of course as Cecil described! No surprise.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)
#### Post date: [September 21, 2009, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-they-now-get-stripes-into-toothpaste/510955/3 "2009-09-21T21:31:57Z")

</div>

I’ll call this to Cecil’s attention, to see if he’d like to revise his old column. Thanks for pointing it out!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![Never\_Say\_Dice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee59a6/32.png) [@Never\_Say\_Dice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Never_Say_Dice)
#### Post date: [September 24, 2009, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-they-now-get-stripes-into-toothpaste/510955/4 "2009-09-24T22:42:02Z")

</div>

[A little historical background](http://i33.tinypic.com/2d1sqdl.gif)