With flu season in full swing, an eastern Iowa inventor is launching a product soon which he says may help people in a variety of professions keep their hands clean. Mike Barber, a 52-year-old from Coralville, says he’s marketing the small item called “Trip Personal” to a nationwide audience. It’s a one-point-two ounce bottle that contains any of three different types of liquid — a hand sanitizing gel, a sunscreen or an insect repellent with the chemical DEET. He says the bottle attaches to a 23-inch long retractable belt clip, so you can clip the bottle onto your belt, backpack, beach bag, diaper bag or golf bag. This time of year, Barber says, many people are concerned about keeping their hands clean to avoid the flu or a cold. He says the trouble with hand sanitizing is the product is not usually where you want it to be. He says his product stays right with you. Barber says just having a bottle of hand sanitizer isn’t convenient enough for some people, since they’d have to lug it along. This product is small enough, he says, for it to be carried right on their person. He hopes it’ll be a hit for people who work in hospitals, daycares, nursing homes and in food service.Barber hopes to have the three versions of Trip Personal available in stores across Iowa and in several other states by mid-January. Prices will vary from around three-dollars for the hand sanitizer to 4-75 for the insect repellent. They’re available now via “www.trippersonal.com”.
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