This Little Gadget Has Changed My Daily Routine—and It’s Not What You Think It Is

So when Quip (yes, that same company that makes those sleek AF toothbrushes, which I obviously have because, like I said, I'm marketer's dream) told me it was launching its second product years after it launched that first toothbrush, I thought, Yeah, okay, you probably put some thought behind this. I thought maybe it was a whitening kit. Or a teeth straightening program. But then—THEN—they hit me with a back-to-basics product with a sleek upgrade. (I see your branding, Quip.) Enter: quip Refillable Floss ($20). Yes, dental floss.

Skeptical would be one way of explaining my reaction. Bored would be another. Not only am I among the many, many of us who don't floss regularly (sorry, I'm gross), but c'mon. Who cares about floss? Are you Vivian Ward? (If you didn't get that Pretty Woman reference you can kindly exit left on the stage that is my life.)

But they sent it to me. And being the good investigative journalist that I am, I tried it. First, the metallic tube opens with a satisfying click when you push the top, and out pops... floss. (Obviously.) That was cool. The string is pre-marked, so you pull it until you see the color change, and that shows you how much floss you should be using. That was cooler.

I found myself clicking it quite a bit, so I kept it around. First, I used it at my desk, just to see how it works. Then I threw it into my purse (bonus: the packaging means it doesn't run the risk of opening up like other dental flosses). Later, I used it at the restaurant I was frequenting with a nice enough gentleman who I realized I didn't want to stick around. (Same for the stuff in my teeth.) At night, yep—I whipped it out again. For the first week, I used it every single day. This was more than I have probably ever flossed in a week. (Sorry to all the dentists.)

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But the coolest part has nothing to do with packaging. The coolest part is that refills are automatically sent to you door every three months (for $5), so you know that you'll always have floss even before your next dentist appointment (no? just me?) and whether you're theoretically flossing enough. Because if you haven't used enough to warrant a refill, well, you might want to floss more often. (This is officially a note to myself.) Try it or not, but trust me—I'm calling it a game-changer.

Brushing or flossing? Here's what to do first. And this is why you should be flossing every day.