How COLGATE TOOTH PASTE is MADE🦷 | Inside COLGATE Factory

Every year, billions of tubes of toothpaste are produced worldwide. Toothpaste is made up of abrasive substances that scrub teeth clean. Surprisingly, making toothpaste requires a large amount of rock. But how do they mix these hard minerals? How do they turn them into a soft, mint-flavored paste? And how do they create those stripes? We visited the Colgate factory to find out how one of the world's most popular toothpastes is made. Colgate is a toothpaste brand that helps prevent issues like cavities and bad breath. Currently, this toothpaste is sold in supermarkets and some other small businesses in over 150 countries worldwide. Colgate's history dates back to the early 19th century. William Colgate, an English immigrant, founded what would become one of the most recognized oral care brands in the world. In 1806, he started a modest soap and candle business in New York. Colgate's dedication to quality and innovation soon led to the expansion of its product line. By the mid-19th century, the company began producing scented soaps and toothpaste, a product that would be key to its future success. The first toothpaste in a tube was launched in 1873, marking a milestone in personal dental hygiene. At that time, toothpaste was sold in jars and was not as accessible or convenient as in tube form. Colgate's focus on scientific research to improve its products led to the development of more effective and pleasant-tasting toothpastes. Throughout the 20th century, the brand continued to innovate, introducing products like fluoride toothpaste, which marked a significant advancement in the fight against dental cavities. Colgate's global expansion accelerated throughout the 20th century. The company became a global leader in the oral care market. Its presence spread to multiple countries, becoming a staple in millions of households worldwide. Modern toothpaste offers many positive benefits, such as keeping teeth white and protecting against gum diseases and painful cavities. The manufacturing of toothpaste is a fascinating chemical and mechanical process. It begins with the combination of abrasive substances like rock and sand. These surprising ingredients become the essence of dental cleaning. The production of our favorite fluoride-flavored protection starts in factories like this one. At the Colgate plant on the outskirts of London, an industrial choreography unfolds at the start of the day. This factory produces one million tubes of toothpaste daily. The toothpaste ingredients arrive at the factory in trucks like this one. The global demand for toothpaste is massive. That's why factories like this one have a lot of work. The factory receives the main components that will form the base of toothpaste. These ingredients often include sodium fluoride as an agent to prevent cavities, abrasives like silica and calcium carbonate, or sodium bicarbonate for mechanical cleaning. The transformation begins with the unloading of sacs that will soon become valuable toothpaste. The solvent, which is water, dissolves all these materials. Flavorings are also included to give it taste and smell, colorants for aesthetics, foaming agents, binders for consistency, pH regulators, moisturizers to prevent the paste from drying out, and preservatives to extend its shelf life. Together, these chemicals with complicated names work toward a simple goal, protecting teeth from cavities. Specific amounts of each chemical are measured in large containers. Measuring all these substances in the right amounts is not an easy task, as some are used in tons and others in kilograms. Once carefully weighed and dosed, the ingredients are combined in a high-capacity mixer. This mixer is specialized machinery designed to integrate the components evenly and uniformly. At this point, powerful mixers come into action, capable of mixing large quantities at an astonishing speed, moving five tons in just five minutes. These machines not only crush the rough ingredients but also mix them with millimeter precision, adding a gel to homogenize the mixture. The heart of the process houses giant agitators spinning at a dizzying speed of 2,500 revolutions per minute, equivalent to the force of a car traveling at 30 kilometers per hour in the tanks. The mixture has been combined to form a dough-like substance. Once the ingredients are fully combined, they are sent for cooking. The mixture must be heated in large aluminum pots to prevent any unwanted chemical reactions within the toothpaste mixture. Each batch produces enough toothpaste to fill around 30,000 tubes. Precision is crucial. The mixture must be exact to avoid lumps that affect the final quality. When a pot is opened, it looks like a large bowl filled with frosting inside. Spatulas are used to scrape off any excess sticking to the mixing blades. Once the desired consistency is achieved, the toothpaste embarks on a journey through intricate pipelines to a pressurized chamber ready to be packaged into tubes. However, a crucial detail is missing, the stripes. And now is the time to add some color. Although it doesn't contain active ingredients, this mixture will form the famous multicolored stripes. Inserting them without staining the rest of the white paste is quite a challenge. The answer lies in a laboratory where experts ensure consistency by conducting viscosity tests to ensure that the stripes remain intact and that the paste flows perfectly from the tube to the brush. Research shows that buyers prefer stripe varieties over simple products. So, the colored liquid is mixed with the plain toothpaste. Although its synthetic red and blue hue might seem unappealing, it is perfectly safe for humans. After combining with the basic mixture, the final blend becomes less noticeable and will be part of the stripe finish produced when squeezing the multicolored toothpaste tubes. Toothpastes come in a range of colors and flavors. Perhaps the most popular and familiar variety is mint. Chemists incorporate this and other flavors into the mixture using essential oils. By combining different amounts of various oils, chemists can recreate almost any desired flavor. A dedicated testing department spends hours each day testing new flavors. Each batch undergoes rigorous checks. Any variation in viscosity could be catastrophic, underscoring the importance of this phase of the process. The meticulous work culminates with the confirmation that the batch meets viscosity standards. But one last secret remains, inserting the stripes into the tubes. The mystery is solved with separate dispensers that ensure their placement without interference. Toothpaste is pumped through pipelines to the filling machine. This machine doses and distributes the toothpaste evenly into each tube. Each different color enters the system through a different pipeline. The machine can fill 180 tubes every minute. The machine injects the three-paste side by side without physical separation. But due to the viscosity of the paste, they do not mix. Exactly 70 grams of toothpaste are injected into each tube. Once each tube is filled with the appropriate amount of toothpaste, they are sealed tightly. This action ensures the product remains fresh and protected from external contamination. Once the batch is ready, a sample is taken for evaluation. But how does this clean your teeth? Toothpaste primarily performs two types of cleaning, chemical and mechanical. Some substances react with bacteria and dirt on the teeth, breaking them down. Additionally, they protect the mouth. The second method is mechanical. Tiny solid particles scrub the teeth as you brush. Tubes are placed on the conveyor belt in groups of 15 and the machine rotates each tube to correctly position the brand. This is crucial. Otherwise, the tubes will be sealed awkwardly after being filled, sealed and marked. Tubes are grouped into boxes ready to be packed and shipped for distribution and sale in the market. To ensure each box is filled, they are all weighed. 24 tubes should weigh just over 1350 grams. Any box that doesn't contain enough tubes won't reach that weight and will be immediately removed. Only full boxes are sealed for sale. If you like the video, give it a thumbs up and share it with someone else who might be interested. Also, subscribe to this channel by activating notifications to keep learning.