TikTok drink bottle hack causes nationwide PVC pipe shortage

A usually low-selling line of plastic piping is now facing a shortage across the country thanks to a TikTok trend.

The trend has taken off thanks to Australian TikTok user Maddy Ryan who owned a 1 litre Frank Green drink bottle, which is too wide to fit in the cup holder of cars and found a bit of 100x65 millimetre PVC level invert taper can do the trick.

The polyvinyl chloride piping is usually used for drainage, but in this hack, the smaller end of the pipe sits in the car cup holder, while the larger end is the perfect size to hold the drink bottle in place.

“Work smarter, not harder,” the video caption read as it showed her slotting the pipe into the cup holder then putting her drink bottle in the piping.

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But now the hack, with 3.5 million views and more videos from Australians and Kiwis doing the same hack, has caused a “significant increase in demand” for the piping throughout the country.

Chris Peak, chief merchandise officer at Mitre 10, said it was usually a low-selling line.

“However sales have indeed spiked in January and some stores are temporarily out of stock.”

The good news for those wanting to try the hack was that the product was locally manufactured, so the supplier can quickly produce more.

People trying the hack had also been spray-painting the piping different colours to make it their own, and Peak said Mitre 10 was also investigating whether the piping could be produced in grey and black to give customers the option of colour-coordinating with their car interiors.

The price of the piping varies between $12 and $36 at Mitre 10 and Bunnings.

Bunnings national plumbing buyer Wayne Martin said stores had experienced a significant increase in demand for this product.

“Currently, we have limited stock available with additional product due to arrive in stores nationally in the coming weeks.

Bunnings Australia had got in on the trend by putting the piping in a large box labelled ‘cup holders’.