S14.E13: FryAway; Anytongs; Copy Keyboard; Slick Barrier

[JTMacc99]

Quote

First into the Tank is an entrepreneur from New Orleans who presents her solution to a serious problem in the kitchen with her nontoxic product that magically helps dispose of cooking oils safely. An entrepreneur from Clifton, New Jersey, pitches his versatile tool that instantly transforms eating utensils into a common kitchen accessory; while an entrepreneur from Fresno, California, doesn't want to take any shortcuts in the Tank and introduces his viral device designed to help save time and lessen fatigue. Last into the Tank are entrepreneurs from Gilbert, Arizona, who share their product designed to prevent creepy crawlers from intruding your home.

  

Quote

The Sharks in this episode are Mark Cuban, Robert Herjavec, Kevin O'Leary, Lori Greiner and Daymond John.

 

[CrazyInAlabama]

Sharks-Mark, Robert, Lori, Kevin, Daymond

1-Fryaway Cooking Oil Treatment- Nontoxic product to dispose of cooking oils safely.  Didn’t they have something like this on a few seasons ago? Works with any vegetable oil. Doesn’t need a container, just goes right into the trash. Decomposes in about 30 days. Great sales.   Margins are good, Amazon fees suck. Launching with Kroger in a few months.

Mark and Lori make the deal,

2- Anytongs-Change eating utensils in a kitchen accessory.  Turns any spoons or forks into tongs.   Looks very useful.   Good margins,

Deal with Daymond, it will be wonderful for both of them.

3- Copy Keyboard – copy and paste computer keyboard, save time and lessen fatigue.  Sounds impressive.

No deal.

4- Slick Barrier Pest Control-Device to keep critters out, If this works as advertised, I know tons of people who will buy this. Scorpions aren’t just in the Southwest.   It goes on the bottom edge around your home, scorpions, roaches, rats, bed bugs, can’t climb them. Product can go on cement, wood, and just about any material.  You paint it all around the bottom of the house, and anywhere else the critters get in.   They simply can’t climb.  

Lori makes the deal.

Scrub Daddy update, it’s wonderfully successful.  They manufacture only in the U.S, and are very ecologically conscious.   They have a deal with Unilever. (My hint, on those cold nights when you keep the kitchen tap dripping, stack three of them, turn them so the top two have a channel to the bottom one and water drips through, it stops annoying spashing, and muffles the noise. )

Edited January 28, 2023 by CrazyInAlabama

[DEL901]

I liked how Kevin almost seemed to play facilitator so the first woman got a deal. 

I’m on a computer all day and I really didn’t see that much benefit from the copy/delete device.  

[EtheltoTillie]

Just now, DEL901 said:

I liked how Kevin almost seemed to play facilitator so the first woman got a deal. 

I’m on a computer all day and I really didn’t see that much benefit from the copy/delete device.  

Agree. I use the mouse to highlight what I want to copy. 

Amazing how scrub daddy may be the most successful product ever on ST. 

[tired and hungry]

I'm shocked to know that people just use a pan full of oil to fry their food and then dump the oil down the drain. That's so much wastage!

In my country (or in our home atleast), we reuse the oil atleast a few times. We even put it back in a glass jar once we are done frying stuff etc. Oil in general is expensive & we make sure to use it fully before buying a new bottle. Never had we the time or money to literally throw good oil down the drain or even in the trash!!! Madness!!

The tongs guy seemed like he would say anything to get a deal.. Mark was right it's his business, he's making all the decisions himself. No one was forcing him to make such drastic changes.. He was a bit all over the place tbh.

Copy Paste guy was too over the top. It's too much of a novelty item to be successful.. Maybe he can market to older gen people who have trouble understanding/using combination key presses..

Sheesh, Scrub Daddy went from 1 product to 100+. Didn't think they need that many SKU's when you already have a star product... I wonder how well the other products sell..

[Welshman in Ca]

2 hours ago, tired and hungry said:

Sheesh, Scrub Daddy went from 1 product to 100+. Didn't think they need that many SKU's when you already have a star product... I wonder how well the other products sell..

They haven't gone from 1 product to 100+ just because they have 100+ sku's, each iteration has many different colours, pack sizes etc.

 

[EXEAL]

I didn't know that anyone poured oil down the drain anymore. Especially after maybe finding out the hard way that it will clog your drain. I actually like the idea of Fryaway. It looks like it's semi-solid and they show it being tossed into the regular trash. My question is, does it start to "melt" after sitting in the trash for a while and possibly leak?

I love the Anytongs. The website shows 2 for $19.99. I'm thinking about it.
 

[DEL901]

24 minutes ago, EXEAL said:

I didn't know that anyone poured oil down the drain anymore. Especially after maybe finding out the hard way that it will clog your drain. I actually like the idea of Fryaway. It looks like it's semi-solid and they show it being tossed into the regular trash. My question is, does it start to "melt" after sitting in the trash for a while and possibly leak?

I love the Anytongs. The website shows 2 for $19.99. I'm thinking about it.
 

They also said it could go in with other organic waste, but the Sharks seemed to have missed that.  

[CrazyInAlabama]

How many cities recycle organics?   

The worst for pouring oil and grease down drains are the local renters, between grease clogged plumbing, and flushing stuff that isn't supposed to be flushed, the local plumbers here are busy. 

I ordered a couple of the Fry Away bags, they already shipped (off of Amazon). 

A friend had an accident, and now has one hand.   The tong device would be life changing for him. 

Edited January 29, 2023 by CrazyInAlabama

[Shellie]

9 hours ago, tired and hungry said:

Copy Paste guy was too over the top. It's too much of a novelty item to be successful.. Maybe he can market to older gen people who have trouble understanding/using combination key presses..

 

I liked that product although I'm not sure it's any better than what I can come up with on my own. The thing is, it's because I'm older gen that I am so fixated on using combination key presses. I spent years using WordPerfect as a full-time word processing worker, so having to move my hand ALL THE WAY over to the mouse makes me crazy. LOL.  I do so much ctrl-C ctrl-V that sometimes my hand cramps up.  But I can avoid that by using my two index fingers instead of using just one hand. That doesn't come as naturally, though.

Edited January 28, 2023 by Shellie
typo

[jcbrown]

I've been using FryAway for a while and prefer it to my previous method of putting used oil into a container and into the trash. First time I've ever seen a product I already use on Shark Tank.

[theatremouse]

I loved the moment Mark said something to the effect of if you know what you're doing you can assign a function key to copy or paste. Like, yeah, if the two-key aspect is that big a problem for someone, google it and give yourself one key. Don't need a 2-button usb thing that costs as much as a whole standard keyboard (more than the cheapies).

[eel21788]

14 hours ago, DEL901 said:

 I’m on a computer all day and I really didn’t see that much benefit from the copy/delete device.

14 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

Agree. I use the mouse to highlight what I want to copy. 

I've always used the mouse. I had no idea that you could do it with the keyboard. However, is it just done with keyboard, or do you still need the mouse to highlight what you want to copy first? If you have to use the mouse to highlight it anyway, why not just use the mouse for the whole procedure? Did he also have a way to cut and paste, or is it only for copying then you have to go back and delete what you wanted to cut?

It was yet another solution looking for a problem. Having sold only 21,000 units from 2 million youtube views, it pretty much looks as though most consumers feel the same way.

Edited January 29, 2023 by eel21788

[Msample]

You can highlight, click/drag and then copy/paste w/o using a mouse, just your keyboard.

[eel21788]

14 hours ago, tired and hungry said:

I'm shocked to know that people just use a pan full of oil to fry their food and then dump the oil down the drain. That's so much wastage!

Again, I had no idea that there was anyone who didn't know that you're not supposed to pour oil down a drain. I'm sure I heard that in 7th grade home ec, but I'm also pretty sure that I already knew that before home ec class.

14 hours ago, tired and hungry said:

we reuse the oil atleast a few times. We even put it back in a glass jar once we are done frying stuff etc. Oil in general is expensive & we make sure to use it fully before buying a new bottle. Never had we the time or money to literally throw good oil down the drain or even in the trash!!! Madness!!

Ditto. The oil is always reused until it goes rancid, and then I pour it into my kitty litter at the same time I'm changing the litter box. It can go in the trash as safely as hers does.

On 1/27/2023 at 7:04 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

Fryaway Cooking Oil Treatment- Nontoxic product to dispose of cooking oils safely. Works with any vegetable oil. Doesn’t need a container, just goes right into the trash. Decomposes in about 30 days.

She didn't specify if it only works with vegetable oil. What about people down south who swear by cooking with lard or shortenings that contain tallow? What about bacon grease or hamburger fat?

I thought it looked gross, and I wouldn't want it in my frying pan even if it is vegetable based. Even if it is all organic, oil is still going to attract rodents to the trash cans, but I guess that is why we need the guys from the final presentation.

With around 50,000 units sold and not enough money to fulfill her Kroger's deal without an investment from the snarks, I wouldn't say that her sales have been all that impressive, either.

Edited January 29, 2023 by eel21788

[eel21788]

12 minutes ago, Msample said:

You can highlight, click/drag and then copy/paste w/o using a mouse, just your keyboard.

No wonder his fingers hurt.

I'm not going to ask how because it sounds as though it is much simpler just using the mouse, so I'll stick to that. I'm okay with being called a dinosaur.

[eel21788]

13 hours ago, tired and hungry said:

The tongs guy seemed like he would say anything to get a deal.. Mark was right it's his business, he's making all the decisions himself. No one was forcing him to make such drastic changes.. He was a bit all over the place tbh.

He was groveling for a deal with Mark. I hope he's happy with Daymond because that was clearly not who he wanted.

Does he know that you can hold a fork in each hand instead of using tongs? Does he know that using his device with 5 different sets of silverware for 5 different dishes isn't any more convenient than using 1 set of actual tongs in all 5 dishes?

He's sold all of 350 units since his kickstarter campaign ended. Consumers don't seem to be any more impressed than the snarks were.

[eel21788]

On 1/27/2023 at 7:04 PM, CrazyInAlabama said:

Slick Barrier Pest Control-Device to keep critters out, If this works as advertised, I know tons of people who will buy this. Scorpions aren’t just in the Southwest.   It goes on the bottom edge around your home, scorpions, roaches, rats, bed bugs, can’t climb them. Product can go on cement, wood, and just about any material.  You paint it all around the bottom of the house, and anywhere else the critters get in.   They simply can’t climb.  

For $150 per application, it would definitely be worth a try; however, I don't see it as being a "one size fits all" solution.

I don't know about the others, but bed bugs travel into your house in your suitcase on your clothes when you get back from vacation, and ants and rodents come in under the door thresholds. A mouse can get in through a hole the size of a dime. Painting the foundation line isn't going to change that.

If you paint their stuff on wood surfaces, will it keep the rats from chewing through it? Is one application permanent or do you need to reapply it periodically?

I think it was Daymond who said, "If they want to get in, they'll get in," which is definitely true; however, if you make your house harder to access than your neighbors' then they will take the easy route first.

I rarely like anything Lori has to say, but she did come up with a creative way to bring their valuation down to something reasonable without taking too much of their equity. It will be interesting to see if the deal works.

Edited January 29, 2023 by eel21788

[DrSpaceman73]

I think the cooking oil treatment us a good idea. 

The tong thing I dint get the point unless it's cheaper than tongs. It would have to be like $5.  

Copy paste yeah dont care pointless. 

The slick barrier I wonder how long it lasts. Nobody asked. Do you reapply yearly?  10 years?  It seems cheap so I'm wondering if you have to do it often or if they are underpricing it if it's infrequent. 

[EtheltoTillie]

I really have to weigh in to clarify how pointless I found the copy/paste device.  As I said upthread, I use the mouse, not because I am a dinosaur but because it makes the most sense for my work, which is not accounting or data entry, but rather writing (letters and legal briefs).  You still have to move the cursor to highlight what you want to copy or cut and then move it again to where you want to paste it.  There are keyboard shortcuts for that but I just find the mouse easier.  You can do keyboard shortcuts for highlighting one word, one sentence or one paragraph, but when like me you have to highlight just a part of something, the mouse (or touchpad if that's what you're using) is easier and more accurate.  YMMV. 

Edited January 29, 2023 by EtheltoTillie

[Shellie]

3 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

I really have to weigh in to clarify how pointless I found the copy/paste device.  As I said upthread, I use the mouse, not because I am a dinosaur but because it makes the most sense for my work, which is not accounting or data entry, but rather writing (letters and legal briefs).  You still have to move the cursor to highlight what you want to copy or cut and then move it again to where you want to paste it.  There are keyboard shortcuts for that but I just find the mouse easier.  You can do keyboard shortcuts for highlighting one word, one sentence or one paragraph, but when like me you have to highlight just a part of something, the mouse (or touchpad if that's what you're using) is easier and more accurate.  YMMV. 

It really is the dinosaurs not wanting to use the mouse, I would think. We didn't even have mouses for non-Apple computers back in the day. I was thinking about keyboard shortcuts last night when I was doing all this copy-pasting. It's because I'm highlighting a template document (ctrl-A), copying (ctrl-C) and pasting it into Scribens (ctrl-V), Grammarly (ctrl-V) and Copyscape (ctrl-V). Sometimes I'm doing this with Copyscape several times in 5 or 10 minutes. It's a lot faster than using the mouse.

[TM101]

Meh, another episode with lame products. None of these products seemed like investable companies. 

[seacliffsal]

I didn't care for the tongs presenter as he was arguing against "points" none of the Sharks made, and even Mark responded back "nobody is telling you to take your family to the brink of financial ruin."  He also was making a promise nobody asked for which was to quit his job and go full-time.  I also don't remember the last time they had to bleep the language of a presenter, but congrats tongs presenter, they had to bleep you.  I don't really have an opinion on the product, but if I was a Shark I would not want to work with him.  

I don't fry food (try not to eat much fried food) but thought the fry away was a good idea.  Interestingly Lori (and I think a couple of others) mentioned how people are moving away from fried foods, but I think that is only in certain demographic/economic groups.  Mark was more interested once the presenter commented on the international market.  Oh, and I think a lot of people still dump their oil down drains; especially, as noted by a previous posters, renters who don't have a long-term interest/investment in the property.  Also, many people choose the path of least resistance and so will choose to dump oil down the drain.

If the bug barrier works (or at least reduces the number of insects) this will be a huge product.  I'm surprised that Lori was the only one interested in the product.  And, she basically got 15% for $100,000-so it was a bargain for her.

[EtheltoTillie]

2 hours ago, Shellie said:

It really is the dinosaurs not wanting to use the mouse, I would think. We didn't even have mouses for non-Apple computers back in the day. I was thinking about keyboard shortcuts last night when I was doing all this copy-pasting. It's because I'm highlighting a template document (ctrl-A), copying (ctrl-C) and pasting it into Scribens (ctrl-V), Grammarly (ctrl-V) and Copyscape (ctrl-V). Sometimes I'm doing this with Copyscape several times in 5 or 10 minutes. It's a lot faster than using the mouse.

Yes, control/A for select all is speedy!

[eel21788]

19 hours ago, eel21788 said:

I'm okay with being called a dinosaur.

7 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

 I use the mouse, not because I am a dinosaur. . . 

3 hours ago, Shellie said:

It really is the dinosaurs not wanting to use the mouse, I would think. 

 

 

I've been saved from extinction! What a relief.

[aemom]

In our house, we don't fry anything in a big batch of oil.  We add a tablespoon here and there to fry stuff in.  The only time that we have oil to dispose of is when we make bacon, which is about once a month.  Does FryAway work on that? I looked them up on Amazon, and it says "any cooking oil."  Sometime we cook ground beef and there is more fat than expected and we use paper towels to absorb it.  I liked the pitcher a lot.

Ctrl-C/Ctrl-V.  I am a dinosaur as well, and I select text with the mouse and then Ctrl-C/Ctrl-V using my left hand.  That has always been very fast for me to do.  I don't need special buttons for that.

I thought that the tongs thing was cool.  I would consider buying them.

The plastic coating for the creepy crawlies.  I can't believe that they aren't getting a percentage of the installer stuff.  Their best bet is to sell it in stores and online to consumers - like paint.  Clearly I can never move to an always-warm climate because having to deal with scorpions, etc would end me.  It's bad enough when the spiders start coming into the house in the fall, but at least my hubby and grown sons have no qualms about disposing them for me.

[Tango64]

So the tongs thing is just tongs without the actual tongs part? You know, the part you need? What's next, a spoon without the spoon part? A fork without the fork part? Just insert any fork into this and now you have a fork!

I envision using that thing to cook a meal and then when it's time to eat, whoops, I used all the spoons or forks. Now I have to wash some silverware so we can eat.

[KaveDweller]

On 1/28/2023 at 9:01 PM, eel21788 said:

I've always used the mouse. I had no idea that you could do it with the keyboard. However, is it just done with keyboard, or do you still need the mouse to highlight what you want to copy first? If you have to use the mouse to highlight it anyway, why not just use the mouse for the whole procedure? Did he also have a way to cut and paste, or is it only for copying then you have to go back and delete what you wanted to cut?

With most programs you can select with your keyboard, but you have to do a lot of keyboard navigation to really do it.

I do tons of copying and pasting for work and personally do find it much faster to use the mouse to select and then the keyboard to actual copy/paste, but have never had my hand cramp up from it. And I've done more than the 50 times a day the guy on the show mentioned. Maybe because I am on a Mac and the "command" key is much closer to the C and a V than "control" is on a windows keyboard? His little device seemed like it would be harder to use because it is a separate thing attached to your computer and not by the rest of the keys.

I also like to use "shift+cmd+V" which will paste values only when you don't want to copy the formatting. The guy didn't mention options like that.

On 1/28/2023 at 9:19 PM, eel21788 said:

Again, I had no idea that there was anyone who didn't know that you're not supposed to pour oil down a drain. I'm sure I heard that in 7th grade home ec, but I'm also pretty sure that I already knew that before home ec class.

Ditto. The oil is always reused until it goes rancid, and then I pour it into my kitty litter at the same time I'm changing the litter box. It can go in the trash as safely as hers does.

I didn't know you couldn't pour oil down a drain, but I've also never done it because I don't cook with that much oil. I'll put a few drops in the pan so stuff doesn't stick but then the food soaks it all up by the time I'm done. I had no idea leftover oil was a problem to solve.

Guess I am not in her demographic. 

 

 

[Shellie]

15 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

With most programs you can select with your keyboard, but you have to do a lot of keyboard navigation to really do it.

I do tons of copying and pasting for work and personally do find it much faster to use the mouse to select and then the keyboard to actual copy/paste, but have never had my hand cramp up from it. And I've done more than the 50 times a day the guy on the show mentioned. Maybe because I am on a Mac and the "command" key is much closer to the C and a V than "control" is on a windows keyboard? His little device seemed like it would be harder to use because it is a separate thing attached to your computer and not by the rest of the keys.

That may be it exactly. My little finger and index finger are four inches apart on Ctrl-V. Doing that repeatedly in a short time frame causes hand strain for me. But if I would get into the habit of using both index fingers instead, that solves the problem.

[eel21788]

15 hours ago, KaveDweller said:

I'll put a few drops in the pan so stuff doesn't stick but then the food soaks it all up by the time I'm done. I had no idea leftover oil was a problem to solve.

If you're cooking in that manner, then you want a small amount of the oil to stay in the pan to help season it especially if the pan is cast iron.

[eel21788]

On 1/30/2023 at 10:32 AM, Tango64 said:

 Just insert any fork into this and now you have a fork!

That actually exists for disabled people. If for some reason you aren't capable of making a fist (arthritis, nerve damage, etc.), you have a dowel the size of a flashlight (or even bigger if necessary) and insert whatever utensil you need into it. Then you can hold a fork or spoon or whatever without having to grip it tightly in your hand.

[eel21788]

On 1/30/2023 at 10:32 AM, Tango64 said:

I envision using that thing to cook a meal and then when it's time to eat, whoops, I used all the spoons or forks. Now I have to wash some silverware so we can eat.

If I had just used it for food prep, I wouldn't have any problem wiping it off and using it to eat with. Then again, I'm the one who doesn't see anything wrong with using the same set of tongs for each dish you're prepping/serving. 

[DanaK]

For cooking oil waste I use little bags (I don’t know the material, maybe cardboard) from Amazon that can be closed so it doesn’t leak and then throw the bag away when it’s full. Even with turning the cooking waste into biodegradable, I don’t think I want to throw it in the garbage without putting it in some sort of container first

The tong thing seems pointless and maybe a novelty item as there are plenty of cheap tong utensils you can buy