Things: Make Your Own Dental Floss

Mum is a frugal woman. She comes from a family where she often had to scrap the bottom of the rice cooker to get the scorched layer of rice, dipped with soy sauce, as her dinner. When she was younger (1960s) she saved enough five cents (MYR) to buy a gold bracelet worth RM50.

Once she saw me using dental floss (1995) and she was curious what it does. I told her it's for removing those food bits that toothbrush missed. I gave her my dental floss dispenser and asked her to try it out. When I returned to Penang during my next semester break I saw this thin nylon string hawkers used to tie takeaway food packets hanging on a hook next to her toothbrush.

Apparently she's finished using the dental floss I gave her and found it rather expensive to buy.

Note: I have since stopped her from being so environmental-conscious.