Colourful, simple and well-shaped.With its unique design, the CURAPROX toothbrush is already an icon, and – although hard to believe–this modern classic has just turned over 40!Forthisremarkable anniversary, we were invited to joinCuraden’s Managing Director and CEO ofCuraplast, Marco Zavalloni, at the company’s factory in Flawil, to witness howthetoothbrushes are produced,with – needless to say – the renowned, flawless Swissprecision.
Machines run at high pace beyond the protective glass walls and attentive employees in blue-hued overalls check the monitorsto ensure everything is under control, while hundreds of coloured toothbrushes move all around– from one robot to another– onalmost silent conveyor belts.
We smile – colours are always meaningful, even inside a modern factory. Outside, there’s agreen andhilly landscape, which turns to flat and blueat the banks of Lake Constance, around 30 km north-east from here. We are in Degersheim, Switzerland, the place where the CURAPROX toothbrushes are produced– in just the same way that they were over 40 years ago…
“Not exactly likethey wereover 40 years ago…”interjectsMarco Zavalloni,promptly interrupting our train of thought. He is Managing Director at Curaden, and today has offered to be our guidearound the factory. “Yet, it is true that the toothbrush’s design hasn’t changed for over 40 years,” he continued, “It was the successful outcome ofsome long-term research by the designer Noldi Braun, back in 1979. Braun wanted to create something practical and simple, and he managed to design a toothbrush thathas nowsold more than 400 million pieces.
“But whathas changed in all these years is the manufacturing process – before, alot of things were done by hand;now everything is automated. This also influenced the number of people involved in the manufacturing and their skills.”
“In 2021, we produced 18 million toothbrushes. In 2023, we plan to produce 24 million.”
27 people are now working in the factory: qualified and trained employees that can carefully operate all the machines and run the factory, split acrosstwo shifts. In 2021, the factory produced 18 million toothbrushes. That means 80,000 toothbrushes per day or over 55 toothbrushes per minute. Next year, 2023, the plan is to produce 24 million toothbrushes. So, Curaden is looking around for competent workers willing to join the factory’s staff.
As we continue our tour, we notice that – given the fact that we are in a factory –it is not very noisy around here. We soon discover that this is true only until you arriveat the moulding pit. Here, the clattering is loud and incessant as the granulate and dye are heated up to 240 degrees and, withinjusta few seconds, are pressed into the shape of a CURAPROX toothbrush.
“The secrets of our toothbrush? Simple design and special materials.”
While we observe the line of coloured handles cooling down– the cooling process has to be extremely slow so that the plastic can crystallise cleanly and thus the body becomes true to size– we ask the question thathas been in our head for a while.
Marco smiles. “The secret of our toothbrush? I think there are two: simple design and special materials. The toothbrush has an ergonomic handle and brush head and the bristle ends are cleanly rounded, so they feel really soft. Traditional brushes usually only have about 500 bristles, whereas our ultrasoft CURAPROX CS5460 toothbrush has 5,460, what makes itso gentleon the gums.
“The bristles are made from a special material we own a patent for – Curen. Most of the toothbrush filaments of other brands are produced from polyamide, which changes the softness because it absorbs water. Our filaments have the same softness all the time – in and out of water.”
Gentle bristles, timeless design & delicate colours.
Try the special retro edition of the iconic CS5460 toothbrush.
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All raw materials used for the toothbrushes are certified and approved worldwide.
Curaden decided to set up its own production in 2013. The start took place in 2015 after a one-year build-up. In 2021, for reasons of space, the location was moved to Flawil, where we have 6,600 square metres of production space at our disposal. There we produce CURAPROX toothbrushes CS1560,CS3960, CS5460,Curakid and heads of Hydrosonictoothbrushes and also interdental toothbrushes.
“We think that a big part of our success is also a result of the fact that we produce here, and not somewhere abroad,” concludes Marco with a proud expression on his face, “As they say, Swiss production is famous for being precise and high quality, isn’t it?”
1. Mould and colour
Two hoses lead from the ceiling of the thermoplastic moulding section into the abyss of a machine as large as a van. Here, granulate and dye are heated up to 240 degrees, liquefied and pressed into the colourful shape of the toothbrush. It’s all done in a matter of seconds!
After the cooling down and the embossing, the brushes are ready to move to the next floor.
The plastic granulate is fed directly to the injection moulding machine from two silo tanks. The dye and additives are mixed in the right proportions and heated to 240 degrees Celsius so that they liquefy, and then pressed into the injection mould. The entire manufacturing process is controlled automatically using state-of-the-art technology.
2. Bristles on
One floor up: here come the bristles. Human eyes can barelykeep up with the movements of robots anchoring the bundles of bristles into the 39 tiny holes of the toothbrush head. It takesjust2.5 seconds to fit a single toothbrush head with up to 5,460 bristles.
Thematerial used for thebristles is very special. It’s called Curen, is super gentle to the gums, and Curaden owns a patent for it.
3. Cut and round
It takes three cutting processes to adjust the bristles to the same length.This leaves thebristles’ ends angular however, so the grinding machines thenround them so that they won’t injure teeth and gums.
4. …thentime for a quality check
Every single toothbrush is checked twice during the manufacturing process. The first control is performed by automatic cameras just after the embossing. If there is any problem,such as a missing colour, the toothbrush is quickly removed from the load.
The second check comes after the cutting and rounding process: cameras and workers check the final toothbrushes and in case there isany bristle coming out, the workers cut the bristle manually.
5. Pack it and done!
Just a little packaging, and the toothbrush is ready to go. The toothbrush is matched with a transparent protection head which is produced by a nearby factory.It is then placed inside a so-called blister, a plastic foil-formed shape, and then finally the carton lid is added to close it, and…it’sready to brush and clean!
Celebrate 40 years of Swiss precision in oral care with the special retro edition of the CURAPROX toothbrush.
Order now
Photography by Piotr Gaska & Jana Gombiková
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