I thought it would be fun to share a product with you I am getting ready to launch.  As you know, in addition to my other businesses, I like to develop products.  Even though this one is not yet on the market, I wanted to share the idea and some behind the scenes "going ons" with my friends.  I have also attached a pic of a prototype. 

The product is called WashDoggy and it is a portable on demand hot water heater.  Basically, you connect it to a garden hose and when you turn on the sprayer, the water heats up (adjustable temperature from warm to ouch) instantaneously and never runs out.  It runs off of propane (using a standard 20# tank like you use on a gas grill) and two D cell batteries that run the little computer that makes it all work.

The reason I invented this thing is because we have a four legged child named Maggie.  Maggie is a Golden Retriever (well, she retrieves when she feels like it) that absolutely loves to chase cats and play in pluff mud.  When she engages in the latter, she needs to be washed.  I am not much into cold showers and neither is Maggie. So the WashDoggy makes this much more tolerable for me and for her.  The hot water is comfortable for both of us and it helps to get her cleaner.  The shampoo lathers better and is easier to wash out too.  I figure that there are probably a few other folks out there that could use this thing so I decided to make it into a salable product.  We'll see.

I will start selling the WashDoggy in a few weeks on a website called, um, WashDoggy.com (not functional yet...just a logo).  To start, I am building these at our James Island shop.  The cart is made from aluminum pipe (it won't rust!) and is TIG (tungsten inert gas) welded.  I chose TIG over MIG (metal inert gas) because the welds are stronger and look much better.  TIG is slower though.  I also looked at using steel tubing (much cheaper) and having it powder coated.  But the aluminum won because it doesn't rust which is important for a cart that gets wet and it eliminates an extra step in manufacturing (powder coating and oven baking) which is one less bottleneck to have to manage around. 

The website is being developed by my web designers in India. One cool feature is that it will let pets upload their pictures and testimonials.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Social Media is going to the dogs. A video that will be on the site to demo the product is being shot in Los Angeles by a cool company called Cable Commercials. The unit will retail for $199.

There are probably some other uses for this thing too.  Folks have mentioned rinsing off their children after a swim in the pool, lake or ocean.  Camping was another idea.  Folks that have horses would probably get some use out if it.  I think it would be cool to have a sink attachment for it for use at an oyster roast.  If you have any other ideas for it, please let me know. 

And of course, I love to partner or help folks with fun and interesting ideas...so if you have one that you want to explore, please contact me.

Loading mentions Retweet