My Hot Water “Invention”

All of us are inventors.

by Mike Marks

Every day we figure out clever solutions to common problems - like opening a door while holding a laptop in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. The solutions we find can be personal eureka moments. It doesn’t matter that others figured out the same solution before us. It doesn’t matter that we can’t patent or profit from the idea. On our own, maybe with divine inspiration, serendipity, or simple luck, we found a great solution to a personal problem that actually works. Hurray for us!

It is in that spirit that I share my Hot Water Invention with you.

The drain in my kitchen sink had been regularly clogging for years. I suspect the long pipe that runs from the kitchen to the main sewer line isn’t inclined enough. Whatever the cause, every six months or so I’d have to pull out the snake and spend an annoying half an hour cleaning it out. I’d tried Drano, Liquid-Plumr, and other pour-it-down-the-drain solutions. None of them worked. The snake became my go-to.

Then one day, when the drain started to slow - well before it was completely clogged - I decided to just run hot water down it for five minutes, followed by a large pot of boiling water.

I haven’t pulled out the snake in two years.

And that’s my Hot Water Invention. Simple. Obvious, in hindsight. Almost certainly something most of you already knew. But it was new to me, and it works, and I’m genuinely proud of it in the small, satisfying way you can only be proud of something you figured out yourself.

That’s really the point of this post - not the hot water trick, but the feeling that comes with it. The little “aha” that happens when you stop fighting a problem and start thinking about it differently. When the solution turns out to be right there in front of you, hiding in plain sight.

We tend to think of inventors as people in labs with whiteboards and patents and venture capital. But invention at its most human is just noticing something, trying something, and discovering that it works. It happens in kitchens, garages, job sites and parking lots every single day.

Most people stop there - with a fix that works, a small win, and the quiet satisfaction of figuring something out.

The next step is a little less fun, but just as important: finding out if you’re actually the first to figure it out… or just the latest.

Because a lot of “inventions” turn out to be rediscoveries. Someone else had the same idea, solved the same problem, maybe even built a business around it. That doesn’t make your moment any less real - it just means the opportunity might look different than you first imagined.

But every once in a while, you check… and it’s not out there. Or it is, but poorly done. Or overlooked. And that’s where things get interesting.

The gap between a personal fix and a real opportunity is smaller than most people think - but it runs right through that moment of truth.

So here’s to your next small invention - whatever it is. May it save you an hour with a snake. And if it holds up when you take that next step, we’re here to help you figure out what comes next.

At Invention City, we believe the instinct to solve problems is universal - and that the gap between a personal “aha” moment and a real commercial opportunity is smaller than most people think.

Got an idea worth more than a household fix? Find out what we do at inventioncity.com/company.