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A Simple Object That Makes Plugs Easier to Remove from Sockets
Industrial designer Michael Omotosho's Plugull
Michael Omotosho's grandmother has arthritis, which makes it difficult for her to pull plugs out of wall sockets. Luckily for her, her grandson is an industrial designer.
Michael Omotosho
Learning of her trouble—and finding that even the non-arthritic struggle "with pulling out stiff and fiddly plugs from sockets due to weak hands, sweaty palms, and long nails"—Omotosho designed Plugull, a simple piece of plastic that makes it easy to remove plugs:
The product has been a hit; right now Omotosho's biggest problem is keeping them in stock.
"This is especially useful," writes one reviewer, "for removing badly designed plugs like the Apple phone charger that are difficult to grip."
As you can tell by the plug cutouts, Omotosho is based in the UK. I do hope he comes out with a U.S. version; I believe it would sell like hotcakes.
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Comments
I designed this printed accessory "Pluggo" back in 2012, ensuring the pull force is inline with the centre of the pins. Admittedly the front plate is much thicker than necessary - we were worried the printed material may have snapped if thinner. Wish we'd had this patented now...
I'd be interested in knowing why he didn't design it to pull along the centerline of the plug so the pins aren't torqued as the loop is pulled. Possibly because there are so many ways the cable could exit and the offset pull is Good Enough.
Nice concept - although the direction of force application may make things tricky unless accessibility to the socket is perfect.
I love the apple design language - most of the time - but I feel that they prioritised compactness too heavily with this charger block, without putting enough emphasis on the usability when it comes to removal.
Another image when the pull tab has been folded up. You can check out more here:
I lived in the UK, admittedly for *only* a year, but I did my share of plugging and unplugging. Never had this issue, even once. True, maybe there's an aspect of living in an older home where you're reaching behind couches and whatnot, but I just don't get it. The small finger dents on either side of the plug head are plenty to get a hold of it and pull off.
That logo design thou, would never have been able to tell it was called plugull.