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posted by cmn32480 on Tuesday November 14 2017, @11:47AM   Printer-friendly
from the for-your-wine-not-your-weiner dept.

Submitted via IRC for OneLitreIn

Not all conversations with your mom about condoms have to end in mortification. For example: One mother and son turned a quip about rubbers into an industrious new way to save wine.

The Wine Condom, which is literally a condom stretched over the top of a wine bottle, was conceived by Laura Bartlett and her clearly well-adjusted son, Mitch Strahan.

The Dallas duo came up with the idea in 2014 after Bartlett sealed off a bottle of wine with plastic wrap secured with a rubber band. They realized it looked like a condom and their dream was born.

Their original contraption first launched that late spring/early summer. Recently, the two announced a new design for their invention, which works for different sizes of wine bottles. (Expect to see a few floating around at White Elephant Gift Exchange this holiday season.)

The device, made from food-grade silicone and sold online for $10 per six-pack, works much as you'd expect: After opening a bottle of wine, the Wine Condom can be rolled over the opening, creating a seal that prevents air from escaping.

Source: http://nypost.com/2017/11/10/forget-bottle-stoppers-wine-condoms-will-save-your-booze/


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  • (Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 14 2017, @12:17PM (6 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 14 2017, @12:17PM (#596758)

    I've never understood, why don't we have normal silicone condoms? You'd be able to boil them for reuse and they're far less likely to break. If they wouldn't be able to hold onto the penis very well, there's always the female styled condoms. No worry about slippage on those.

    • (Score: 4, Funny) by c0lo on Tuesday November 14 2017, @12:23PM (2 children)

      by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday November 14 2017, @12:23PM (#596760) Journal

      I've never understood, why don't we have normal silicone condoms? You'd be able to boil them for reuse and they're far less likely to break.

      If you are after durability and reuse, I suggest the use of rubber tyres. For added security, choose the monster-truck ones.

      (grin)

      --
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
      • (Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Wednesday November 15 2017, @02:33AM (1 child)

        by realDonaldTrump (6614) on Wednesday November 15 2017, @02:33AM (#597108) Homepage Journal

        I own 25% of Goodyear Tire and Rubber.

        • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday November 15 2017, @02:41AM

          by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday November 15 2017, @02:41AM (#597112) Journal

          I own 25% of Goodyear Tire and Rubber.

          Bad choice. At least for tyre condoms.

          Michelin is... so frenchy so chic.

          --
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
    • (Score: 2) by looorg on Tuesday November 14 2017, @03:26PM (2 children)

      by looorg (578) on Tuesday November 14 2017, @03:26PM (#596821)

      Shouldn't be a problem. Reusable once was once the norm as far as condoms went, they where mostly made from animal intestine then but I guess as a principle it works the same. As far as holding onto the penis I seem to recall from the memoir written by Casanova that he used to tie a little bow at the end to hold it in place, he also used to blow it up like a balloon to check for holes and to entertain the ladies. That said they probably wasn't that great since he probably had more STD:s then one can imagine.

      The question for today is would you really want to stand around and wash it out after each usage? The prepare it for the next encounter. Or pay a buck or whatever they cost where you are and get a one time use item. Is the effort worth the cost?

      • (Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 14 2017, @03:36PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 14 2017, @03:36PM (#596826)

        Or pay a buck or whatever they cost where you are and get a one time use item. Is the effort worth the cost?

        Now that is just wasteful. Just like underwear, it can be used twice before washing -- just turn it inside out after the first use!

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 14 2017, @08:58PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 14 2017, @08:58PM (#596977)

        I'd just run it through the dishwasher.

  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Tuesday November 14 2017, @12:18PM

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday November 14 2017, @12:18PM (#596759) Journal

    Is SEXTA [soylentnews.org] a law already?
    Cause "Mother and son conceive a wine condom" would have been so much more click-baity.

    The Wine Condom, ..., was conceived by Laura Bartlett and her clearly well-adjusted son, Mitch Strahan.

    Wishing them happiness with their new one!

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
  • (Score: 1, Redundant) by bradley13 on Tuesday November 14 2017, @12:39PM (6 children)

    by bradley13 (3053) on Tuesday November 14 2017, @12:39PM (#596766) Homepage Journal

    The website is one of those horrible, mobile-oriented, content-free sites. Zero information, not even whether we are talking about latex, or some other substance.

    Assuming that these are latex, latex holds up well against ethanol, but...are there any additives in the latex? I'm not a chemist, but I know that many rubbers and plastics are formed with the help of additional chemicals, many of which are soluble in ethanol. While the "wine condom" may not leak, will it leach interesting chemicals into the wine? Given the lack of information on the website, there's an excellent chance that they haven't even thought about this...

    Anyway, why not just push the cork halfway back into the bottle? You already have the cork - why make life more complicated than it needs to be?

    --
    Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
    • (Score: 2) by bradley13 on Tuesday November 14 2017, @12:41PM

      by bradley13 (3053) on Tuesday November 14 2017, @12:41PM (#596767) Homepage Journal

      Silly me, I went straight to the website, and didn't even read TFS, much less TFA. I see that they are "food grade silicone". But seriously, who reads TFA?

      --
      Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
    • (Score: 5, Informative) by Nuke on Tuesday November 14 2017, @01:22PM (4 children)

      by Nuke (3162) on Tuesday November 14 2017, @01:22PM (#596778)

      why not just push the cork halfway back into the bottle?

      That would be just as effective as this condom idea. Anyway, what deteriorates wine is exposure to non-sterile air, and once you uncork it you have exposed it. There are gadgets that allow you to vacuum-pump as much air out as possible through a special cork; you won't get a perfect vacuum but it makes the uncorked wine last longer.

      Most "everyday" wine I buy now has a screw cap anyway, a much better idea although I don't suppose the wine snobs like it.

      • (Score: 3, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 14 2017, @05:02PM (1 child)

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 14 2017, @05:02PM (#596862)

        Box wine with plastic bladder bag is actually pretty good idea. Wine comes out, but very little air if any goes in.

        • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday November 15 2017, @03:46AM

          by JoeMerchant (3937) on Wednesday November 15 2017, @03:46AM (#597129)

          All depends on the plastic the bag is made of... even if you can't taste it it's likely leaching nasties into your drink. BPA isn't as bad as lead or other "traditional" wine contaminants, but it's bad enough to try to avoid if you can.

          --
          🌻🌻 [google.com]
      • (Score: 2) by letssee on Tuesday November 14 2017, @06:35PM

        by letssee (2537) on Tuesday November 14 2017, @06:35PM (#596900)

        Those 'vacuvin' corks are mostly humbug as well. First, their pumping power is rather low, so you might maybe pull out half the air (unlikely, but let's be generous) leaving half the bacteria in, which is not a significant reduction. Second, when you expose wine to a true vacuüm all sorts of flavour will evaporate even faster, so the flavour will change as well (disclaimer: this second 'fact' is from random reddit posts or somesuch, so I'm not sure how correct it is, but it sonds believable.)

        The only thing that works is flush the bottle with sterile air in some way and recorking/sealing it.

        I don't really see what the advantage of this 'condom' would be over a cork though.

      • (Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 14 2017, @07:52PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 14 2017, @07:52PM (#596946)

        It's likely that oxygen, not bacteria, is what causes wine to deteriorate most for the first few days. Backfill with nitrogen and/or argon, seal and chill.

  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Bot on Tuesday November 14 2017, @12:45PM (4 children)

    by Bot (3902) on Tuesday November 14 2017, @12:45PM (#596769) Journal

    1. open bottle
    2. serve wine
    3. if bottle not empty goto 2

    --
    Account abandoned.
    • (Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 14 2017, @04:24PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 14 2017, @04:24PM (#596848)

      If you repeat your loop enough times, then the condom comes in handy for another purpose. It's a multi-tasker!

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 14 2017, @07:51PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 14 2017, @07:51PM (#596944)

      1. open bottle
      2. serve wine
      3. goto 1

    • (Score: 2) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday November 15 2017, @03:50AM

      by JoeMerchant (3937) on Wednesday November 15 2017, @03:50AM (#597130)

      Decades ago in Miami there was a restaurant called the Gourmet Diner - looked like a '50s aluminum bodied diner, served snobby food to those who appreciated it. The thing that struck me when going there was how the regulars all came with their 375ml wine bottles, just enough to share for a dinner for 2, not too much to drive home on. It's damn hard to find any decent selection in those half sized bottles (except Ports, and these were not Ports they were drinking) but that crowd was wired into a good supplier.

      --
      🌻🌻 [google.com]
  • (Score: 2) by RamiK on Tuesday November 14 2017, @01:01PM (3 children)

    by RamiK (1813) on Tuesday November 14 2017, @01:01PM (#596772)

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/3Pcs-Reusable-Vacuum-Pump-Bottle-Cap-Stopper-Airtight-Wine-Beer-Soda-Cork-K-I7C5/292296531713 [ebay.com]

    Not to detract from your that mother & son personal angle story, but I prefer something cheaper and reusable. Also, if you'll look it up you'll find all sorts of designs (stainless steel handles \ body... decorated...) though I only tried these plain ones.

    --
    compiling...
    • (Score: 5, Informative) by TheRaven on Tuesday November 14 2017, @01:24PM (1 child)

      by TheRaven (270) on Tuesday November 14 2017, @01:24PM (#596779) Journal
      I prefer the Vacu Vin ones [vacuvin.com]. The stoppers are cheap and durable (cheaper than these wine condoms and reuseable) and the pump is easy to use and lets you extract enough air that the wine lasts for days. I got a set with a pump and three stoppers (I rarely have more than two unfinished bottles of wine open at once) about 15 years ago, and they still work fine, for about the same price as a pack of three of these disposable things.
      --
      sudo mod me up
      • (Score: 2) by aclarke on Tuesday November 14 2017, @05:39PM

        by aclarke (2049) on Tuesday November 14 2017, @05:39PM (#596875) Homepage

        Yeah, use this. Pump the air out of the bottle and your wine will be fit to drink for a few days, possibly up to a couple weeks.

        The "wine condom" is a sensationalistic, and stupid, idea. Worse than almost every other existing solution, except for the "hur de hur condom" angle.

    • (Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Tuesday November 14 2017, @02:21PM

      by Grishnakh (2831) on Tuesday November 14 2017, @02:21PM (#596794)

      Yeah, I was about to point to something like that. I got a set of 4 stoppers plus a vacuum pump on Amazon for $14 I think, which will pump out all the air the bottle so the wine will last a lot longer. Why waste time and money on these stupid "wine condoms" that don't even pump the air out?

  • (Score: 3, Informative) by splenolymph on Tuesday November 14 2017, @02:06PM (1 child)

    by splenolymph (5495) on Tuesday November 14 2017, @02:06PM (#596786)

    Just use an old whisky, port or sherry bottle cork. They are free with those bottles and perfectly reusable with a plastic top that is easy to grip. I've got some that are decades old. I always keep mine.

    Here's a nice photo of what I'm talking about: http://whiskey-reviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/whiskey-cork-011.png [whiskey-reviews.com]

    • (Score: 2) by Nerdfest on Tuesday November 14 2017, @02:56PM

      by Nerdfest (80) on Tuesday November 14 2017, @02:56PM (#596810)

      I use the original screw top (yes, *many* exceptional wines use them these days), or a silicone stopper to keep the wine in the bottle. The original corks are prone to pop out when the bottle's on its side. To actually keep a wine 'fresh', I'll use a heavier tan air inert gas. There's stuff specifically for doing this, but I've used "finish preserver" for woodworking product before as well in a pinch.

  • (Score: 2) by vux984 on Tuesday November 14 2017, @03:56PM

    by vux984 (5045) on Tuesday November 14 2017, @03:56PM (#596837)

    This may work fine, but I'm guessing is single use and disposable?

    Why would I forget bottle stoppers. They work fine, they're washable and reusable and last for years. They aren't expensive and most people only need a couple. What is one reason anyone would switch to these?

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 14 2017, @04:22PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 14 2017, @04:22PM (#596846)

    (Expect to see a few floating around at White Elephant Gift Exchange this holiday season.)

    This didn't even occur to me, but BINGO! I'm now set. Hopefully nobody else I know have seen this article yet. I really enjoy our gift exchange because it is a very fun social event, but pretty much everyone brings a nice bottle of some sort of alcohol and there is never a "joke" present that everyone is trying to avoid (except for mine, of course).

  • (Score: 2) by Kilo110 on Tuesday November 14 2017, @04:32PM (1 child)

    by Kilo110 (2853) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday November 14 2017, @04:32PM (#596850)

    Pros:
    Boxed wine lasts weeks after opened.
    No "condoms", air pumps, or whatever needed.
    It's much more economical and eco friendly to produce and ship.

    Cons:
    finding good boxed wine is more difficult
    can't age a boxed wine

    • (Score: 2) by Snospar on Tuesday November 14 2017, @04:43PM

      by Snospar (5366) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday November 14 2017, @04:43PM (#596853)

      Not sure how eco friendly those wine bags are. Foil lined plastic is normally not recyclable, especially when another type of plastic is used for the "neck" of the bag. Glass on the other hand is recycled just about everywhere (well, everywhere near me)/

      Can you box an aged wine?

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  • (Score: 2) by goodie on Tuesday November 14 2017, @04:55PM

    by goodie (1877) on Tuesday November 14 2017, @04:55PM (#596858) Journal

    Putting the cork back on works just fine (except for bubbly wines where the swelling of the cork may make it too tight to go back in there, that's right I wrote that with a straight face).

    And if you are going to drink it within 24 hours, you may also leave the bottle without anything on it, unless you are drinking some really fancy wine it won't make _that_ much of a difference.

    There's a dumb solution looking for a (non) problem. Reminds me of the caps for coke cans in the 1990s...

  • (Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Tuesday November 14 2017, @08:26PM

    by fustakrakich (6150) on Tuesday November 14 2017, @08:26PM (#596965) Journal

    What happens if the air escapes? Is this like the smoke escaping from your computer?

    --
    La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
  • (Score: 2) by istartedi on Tuesday November 14 2017, @09:01PM

    by istartedi (123) on Tuesday November 14 2017, @09:01PM (#596982) Journal

    Vacuvin. Got one and never looked back. This is a problem that
    has been solved for decades. I've heard many satisfying hisses as
    the vacuum is released the next day, and the wine is still good.
    I have no connection with Vacuvin. It's just a good product that I use.

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  • (Score: 2) by MostCynical on Tuesday November 14 2017, @10:21PM

    by MostCynical (2589) on Tuesday November 14 2017, @10:21PM (#597017) Journal

    it is only the third or fourth bottle that *might* have something left at the end of the night.

    only the *very* 'upmarket-ed' (yes, good, but more hype over substance at $200-$1000 a bottle or more) still have 'cork', more as a by-product of the age of the buyers.. and their perception of 'romance' of cork (ie, what they grew up knowing was a good bottle)

    there was some talk of glass seals, but that came to nought: http://chrisshanahan.com/articles/2007/a-new-seal-for-penfolds-grange/ [chrisshanahan.com]

    face it, screw cap on its own will keep well enough til the next night, or night three, when it goes in the bolognese.

    Maybe, what the world really needs is a mechanical, internet-connected 'smart' resealer, that can tell you how many hours your bottle has been in the fridge, and what temperature it is.. Quick, someone call a venture capitalist!!
     

    --
    "I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
  • (Score: 2) by realDonaldTrump on Wednesday November 15 2017, @05:31PM

    by realDonaldTrump (6614) on Wednesday November 15 2017, @05:31PM (#597368) Homepage Journal

    Folks, when you visit Virginia, you should make a stop in Charlottesville. And see the big, beautiful vineyards along the Monticello Wine Trail. The biggest and best of which is Trump Winery. Where they follow in Thomas Jefferson's footsteps. www.trumpwinery.com [trumpwinery.com]

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