TBK tells - The cultural significance of the toothbrush in Philippine society

 

                         A selection of toothbrushes from the internet

How many do you have?

We have 5-  

• One for cleaning our teeth ( of course, Pinoys are very health and image conscious)

                        My electric toothbrush and my inter - dental brushes

Every day as I sit at my desk in the window and watch the Pinoys walk by I notice how they look in the windows of my car to check their appearance. The smaller kids use the wing mirrors. Others use their mobiles to check their hair, spots and teeth as they walk down the road. On the high street they use shop windows and my houseboy , Jovan, is constantly checking his appearance in the mirrors in my house. 

                                  Jovan , checking his appearance

• One for cleaning the silver- for those hard-to-reach corners and around the handle and rim

A beautiful miniature Arabic coffee set, a gift from Katheen Croes when I arrived in Bahrain in 2010- and my toothbrush for cleaning silver

• One for cleaning food- like clam shells for Paella or Mud crabs

• One for our guests ( well 2 for them actually as I get a lot of couples, and brothers and sisters or mothers and daughters staying). It is now so long since I stayed in a posh hotel that I have run out of my Heritage Hotel Manila and my Microtel Puerto Princesa brushes! However, I still have a lot of their cheap toothpaste left!

                              My guest toothbrushes and toothpaste

• One for cleaning my shoes- a technique I learnt from Patrick, an OFW who was my houseboy back in Bahrain- his white trainers always looked like new and when I asked how he kept them so clean he showed me! He used a toothbrush to clean them and made them look like new. Since then, Corleen, Julios, Leo, Jake and many others have been keeping my shoes, tsinellas etc. like new with my "Blue is for shoe" toothbrush!

                      Cleaning my shoes with a Toothbrush in Adagio Dubai

   My Tsinellas hanging out to dry in Awali, Bahrain after Patrick cleaned them

I even checked if there was any official advice online on how to clean your shoes with a Toothbrush and found this piece:

"Hold each shoe above the bucket and scrub the outside, including the soles, with a toothbrush or cleaning sponge. Gently dip the shoes in the water to wash off the dirt and continue scrubbing – avoid submerging the shoes entirely"

Source: https://www.cleanipedia.com/ph/laundry/how-to-clean-canvas-shoes.html (accessed 20.08.22)

I love people watching and outside my window I see lots of Pinoys passing by each day. Mostly they wear Tsinellas (Flip flops for the English, Thongs for the Aussies, Sandals for the Germans and Slippers for everyone else). If they are going to a Basketball or volleyball game they will carry, or have in a bag, their trainers, so they do not get dirty before the game. 

                                           Boys in their Tsinellas

  Sparkling clean converse for school, a date, work or something else special

                             Basketball shoes, all sparkling clean. 

Basketball and Volleyball shoes are prized possessions here ( Frythy told me he was working for me so he could buy new shoes for Volleyball). They are never worn on the street and always carried to the court where they put them on.

Toothbrush etiquette

1. The key thing with having so many toothbrushes are not to mix them up (think about that one!) so label or colour code them (e.g., Blue for shoe!).

 

2. When you stay in a posh hotel and then give you free toothbrushes hide them each day (in your suitcase, for example) and then they will give you more. On one of my long international trips in 2016 I bought back so many toothbrushes and toiletries home I had to pay excess baggage!

3. Change your toothbrushes regularly (every 3 months for you, after each person for your guests, and dependent on usage for silver, food and shoes)

You can also use toothbrushes for cleaning around the house (especially if, like me, you have OCD). They can reach all those hard-to-reach places like around the bottom of the taps and plug holes and overflow outlets in sinks, basins and showers. 

If you want to read more about my journey to becoming Phillipino try these blogs:

50 ways - part one

50 ways - part two

50 ways -Part three

50 ways -part four

50 ways- part Five

Happy reading and happy cleaning

Remember a clean home is a happy home

              Grecil, Jhoanna, Noel, Jovan, Jullymar, Frythy and Julios

Special thanks to Grecil, Jhoanna, Julios, Jullymar,  Jovan, Frythy and Noel for keeping the blue house so clean in spite of the 4-month-old puppy!

      Chester the 4-month-old Puppy- maybe we need a puppy toothbrush too?

I also want to thank all my friends who work in the Hotel Industry for keeping me supplied with Tsinellas- Joshua when he was in Bahrain and worked at Swiss Bel Residences in Juffair, Erickson when he was at Melia Hotel in Dubai ( I still have the Tsinellas you got me 6 months later po!) and all the Room Attendants at the heritage Hotel in Manila, Microtel in Puerto Princesa and Huni and Balai Adlao at Lio Beach!

Ingat Palagi