Having a full fridge is actually a good problem to have, right? It probably means we aren’t going hungry. But not having enough space in your fridge can be a bit frustrating at times. Brian Conti, creator of the successfully funded Strong Like Bull Magnets Kickstarter projects, is back with a new crowdfunded—and of course, magnetically-powered—product. The bottleLoft is “the world’s first magnetic bottle hanger for your refrigerator.” The patent-pending design consists of a set of three strong nyodymium magnets encased in matching steel cups to direct the magnetic force. Each cup is enclosed in a custom plastic rail which is attached to the ceiling of your fridge via a strip of 3M VHB (Very High Bond) tape. Each bottleLoft is designed to securely suspend three typical steel-capped beverage bottles above while other items can be placed beneath them, giving you a bit of extra storage space for those leftover containers. Or install several bottleLofts and save even more space. Available in any color you want, as long as it’s white. Rewards start at $20 for a single, three-magnet bottleLoft. Head over to the bottleLoft Kickstarter page for details. The campaign ends November 9, 2014.
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I haven’t seen a “typical steel-capped beverage bottle” in 40+ years. Where do these people live? In 1954?
@Sandee Cohen – Seriously?
Here’s a little hint. BEvERages. Virtually every bottle of beer, from mass-produced to micro-brews (as well as wine coolers, ciders, and other bottled adult drinks) have steel caps. Pop off, twist off, they’re nearly all steel. Same for basically any type of cap on any glass bottle from fancy bottled waters to coffee drinks to gourmet soda pop. Where do you live? In a cave? Go ahead, try it. Place a magnet near the cap of any beer bottle or any of the other type I mentioned. If it sticks at all, even a little bit, it is made from a ferrous-based alloy, also known as metal, and is capable of being acted upon by a magnet.
Andy’s right. Beer bottles are steel capped. I just tried using a magnet on a beer bottle and it stuck. My main issue with this idea is that magnets in general easily lose their “grip” if anyone “tips” the bottle accidentally when reaching for something beside or under the bottles.
Since the bottle is tall, just brushing against it may provide enough force (with the bottle cap as the fulcrum) to tip and dislodge the bottle, causing it come crashing down on the glass shelf below it. Perhaps a simpler and more practical idea is to use a small cage instead of magnets to hold the beers, but it won’t be half as cool.
@Chris Z – Not having tried one, I can’t confirm or deny, but you make a valid point. I’ve been impressed with the well-considered designs of all of Brian’s previous products and I suspect that he is using magnets strong enough to overcome what you are describing, but I can’t say for sure.
This is a very interesting idea. Kickstarter always has lots of practical but genius idea. Thank you sharing it.
@Chris Z & Andy –
If you check out the “updates” tab of the project’s Kickstarter page, Brian (not me) posted a few videos that address these concerns.
@Brian – Thanks for sharing that. Just about the time you were posting this, I had been checking out the videos that Brian posted to his Kickstarter updates. They appear to fairly convincingly address the concerns that Chris Z raised.