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Skip Hop Splash

44 Ratings: 1.6

An Infant Bottle Drying Rack from Skip Hop

The Skip Hop Splash is a rack designed for drying recently-washed baby bottles. The 10" (w) x 11" (h; including brush) x 10" (d) rack was designed by Scott Henderson and features the following elements: Space saving design keeps … see full wiki

Tags: Parenting, Baby, Skip Hop, Baby Bottle, Baby Bottle Drying Rack, Bottle Rack, see all

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As Good As Washing Bottles for Screaming Infants Gets

Apr 19, 2009

by DesignDude

Rating:

I foremost love the Skip Hop Splash because it turns a product that is almost annoyingly mundane into something as sexy as you feel comfortable associating with infant gear. Traditionally, there is nothing cool or terribly interesting about a device designed to simply hold bottles you wash half a dozen times a day upside down for quick, sanitary drying. It's no more than a tool of the thankless trade of day-to-day infant-rearing. But good design rethinks the boundaries of what you expect in a product, and the Splash has defined a giant leap forward in baby/parenting goods.

I think it was probably the late '90s that first saw a significant pool of industrial designers beginning to imagine "baby products" as "parenting products", a distinction that takes the emphasis off of what is solely good for the child and puts at least half of the focus on the people getting the most conscious use out of the products. (What else could as adequately explain the emergence of Bugaboo?) A kid young enough to be pulling off a bottle has very little interest in the visual appeal of tools designed for clean and efficient feeding. But add a couple yuppie parents to the mix and you've got an emerging market.

To say the Splash revolutionized the baby bottle drying rack and totally changed the way parents--and, really, anyone interested in compelling product design--looked at the product category is hardly an overstatement. Any Google search of the combined terms "bottle rack" and "design" will yield dozens of articulate wine racks--and the Splash. It exists as an island of good design amidst a sea of baby bottle drying racks that simply, boringly work.

So, on to the functionality, which stakes a memorable claim here, even against the Splash's striking form. So helpfully, a brush is integrated directly into the design, resting within a holder at its center for easy 3:00am identification. The two-tiered rack uniquely accommodates both bottles and nipples. The bottom drip tray is removable to dispose of excess water. And it all comes in a pretty tiny form factor that rotates for easy access.

The Splash is an inspired tool for the hip young parent. (It's also a winning baby shower gift.) But, impressively, it checks in at around $25, which makes it reasonable for anyone interested in an evolved bottle drying rack. Ease of use, a smart and functional design, and a really cool look all come together smoothly. Not that you'll care all that much on three hours of sleep, but still.