An inventor who hails from Hope has come up with a hand-sanitizing solution that he believes is going to “go viral.”
Michael Watson and SanitizeFirst Global Solutions Company have created the Clean Clip, a personal portable automated hand sanitizer dispenser. The device is built like a pager, with a clip to attach to a person’s belt/purse/clothing. At 3.7 inches tall and 2.5 inches wide, it’s not a burden to carry around, and when it’s filled with a sanitizer cartridge, it’s a simple matter of pushing a button on top to get a squirt.
The pump is powered by an integrated lithium-ion battery than can be recharged with a USB charging cable.
Introducing the Clean Clip from SanitizeFirst Global Solutions on Vimeo.
Watson has been busy showing a prototype to first responders, health care professionals and any other groups that might be able to use it.
“It’s modeled after a pager, which has been used by first responders for decades,” Watson explained. “I adapted that model, and the reception to this product has been off the charts. There hasn’t been one group or person I’ve talked to who hasn’t wanted it, from police officers to pipeline workers to nurses and care aids. We anticipate this is going to go big.”
Watson said he already has 9,500 purchase orders.
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“It’s something you can give to your family,” he enthused. “You can give it to your 14-year-old and he can be rough with it, but you know he’s going to have his sanitizer.”
While the pump component will be coming from a company in the United States, the Clean Clip’s injector mould is being manufactured in Langley and the gel sanitizer will be coming from Burnaby.
“Our sanitizer is Health Canada approved and it’s Aloe Vera and Vitamin E infused,” Watson said. “It’s actually a very pleasant experience to be sanitizing with this day in and day out, where with some of these communal ones it’s like, ‘What did I just put on my hands?'”
The timing for the Clean Clip may seem a little off, with signs pointing to a gradual end to the pandemic. COVID case counts are starting to drop and more and more people are getting vaccinated.
Watson believes there will still be a long-term need for the Clean Clip?
“A verbatim quote I get from RCMP officers is ‘never mind the pandemic. We need this on a daily basis,'” he said. “Any first responder will say the same thing, and I think we are in a new paradigm here. I think it’s a new normal for all of us. Within the next four to six months, gloves might be going by the wayside, and then maybe masks follow, but sanitizer isn’t going anywhere.”
It costs money to get something like this off the ground, and Watson is launching a Kickstarter campaign to cover startup costs.
He expects that to go online later this week. In the meantime, for more info on the Clean Clip, click online to cleanclipsolutions.com/about/
