Solutions for dripping umbrellas

Umbrella inventions are not a new concept. Such a common object as an umbrella has been re-imagined countless times ever since its creation. No matter how many different designs are out there for some reason we always come back to the classic straight umbrella. There’s one aspect of an umbrella that does not seem to receive much inventors attention - dripping. Walking around with a dripping umbrella is a nuisance especially if you’re indoors. Not only its annoying for the person holding it as they can’t put it away but it's also a problem for the people around as the dripping water can cause them to slip and hurt themselves. It doesn't help that most of the places do not have a container or umbrella holder to put your umbrella in whilst indoors. We recommend yellow wet floor signs in doors to make people more aware of the possible puddles. There have been few attempts of creating a non-dripping umbrella. An umbrella with a frame that turns its canopy inside out, keeping water droplets inside is one of them. Another one has a retractable plastic cover at the tip of an umbrella that covers it to stop dripping. There’s also a non-dripping umbrella that features a hard plastic drain on the bottom. When you sheathe your umbrella after going out in the rain, the water drips down to the bottom of the case; to drain it, you just twist the mechanism over a sink. Sounds good, doesn't it? There are also folding umbrella cases available with microfiber inside to soak up the rain. Most advanced nation in a matter of umbrella dripping is etiquette conscious Japan. They have three options: a machine that wraps your umbrella in a foil sleeve - sleek, a quick umbrella dryer and a swipe through machine that looks like a carpet on wheels and wipes your umbrella off water. These machines are pretty common in Japan but never seen anywhere in the world. Maybe England is not as wet as Japan or maybe we’re not as bothered about rain as they are. Machines like that would be an investment for the UK shop owners and if no one reports a dripping umbrella problem the owners wont go out of their way to install them. For everyday, we recommend carrying a microfibre cloth to wipe the umbrella down when wet and if you’re planning a trip to Japan, remember about their umbrella etiquette and enjoy all the inventions the country has to offer!