30+ Products That Were Accidentally Invented or Started Off as Something Different

This article appeared in thefashionball.com and has been published here with permission.

So many items in our lives are well known for serving a very specific purpose, like Kleenex being the go-to runny nose solution. Yet it turns out that many of them weren’t always supposed to be used in that way. From Coca-Cola to Bubble Wrap, these amazing products were originally created for a completely different purpose than what we use them for today, or sometimes even completely by accident!

Kotex for Treating Wounds

The 1910s were a time riddled with strife, and certain world events led to a lot of injuries needing to be treated. That's why Kimberly-Clark started using a new material, Cellucotton, to treat wounds.

The female nurses in the field, though, realized that its super absorbency was super useful for their own monthly personal hygiene, so when the world calmed down, Kotex found a new purpose in female "sanitary napkins." Ladies everywhere are thankful for this one.

Kleenex for Applying Cold Creams

The items we use day to day weren't always so disposable, and people didn't really like the idea of any items for women being thrown away. But, Kimberly-Clark was determined to find more uses for their materials.

They created Kleenex and marketed it towards people using "cold cream towels," but in the 1930s they finally hit the mark by selling it as your one-stop-shop for runny noses, which is how the world uses Kleenex now.

Bubble Wrap as Wallpaper

Anyone who has ever moved or bought something fragile knows the joys of playing with bubble wrap, that packaging plastic we see everywhere. But surprisingly, that's not what bubble wrap was made for.

They actually made it as a textured wallpaper, but people weren't really down for that idea, so they fumbled with what to do with it until they eventually convinced IBM to use it to protect fragile computer parts.

Nalgene for Lab Supplies

Nalgene is a super popular brand of thick plastic water bottles. One could even say that the look is iconic. But before water bottles became their thing, Nalgene was producing something else.

They originally produced plastic laboratory products for science experiments, like Petri dishes, test tubes, and other items, but ask any hiker around the world and they'll probably tell you how glad they are that the brand shifted to water bottles!