What is this? Found a load of these disposable sticks in a tube at the back of a bathroom drawer?

[PoliteHazelOP]

Hello, I found these weird sticks with blue loops at the end - they go clear when run under water. Can anyone shed any light on this?

It looks a bit like some of the old sterile sampling loops we used to use in the lab! Was it in a packet at all? 🤔

No - just a clear tube of about 100+ with no branding. Really weird as none of us work in a lab! I think they’re likely my son’s but he’s saying they’re not

Looks like something to apply a liquid medication with, there is a liquid treatment for warts which comes with applicators that look identical to the one in your picture

Look a bit like inoculating loops and the fact it changes colour makes me think it might be checking pH... does it go a different colour in acid (vinegar or lemon juice) or alkaline (baking soda)?

Yep, they look like inoculation loops. Have you ever had one of those science kits with Petri dishes or a kid’s microscope that could have come with them or been to a science day where they might have ended up in a pocket? 😂 Maybe a previous occupant left them and someone found them in the house and assumed they were bathroom related. If you have a teen, it wouldn’t be impossible to believe that they came home from a science class and the teen has no memory of it 😂

This from Google search (have you tried Google lens OP?)

Possible scenario…..someone had a wart (or something which requires a similar application method) and bought an online treatment which came with a massive pack of the applicators for no good reason (I ordered some eye drops which came in a bottle with its own dropper but they still included 50 pipettes (which have been surprisingly useful for other things over the years!)) So they got stuck in the back of a drawer and forgotten about? Could they have been there a while?

Thanks so much, helpful strangers!! Will ask the family and report back. Had never even heard of google lens (I am embarrassingly behind) but thank you so much for all your help!

If they are wart related, could they be for genital warts? Might explain no one claiming they own them.

I was thinking that! Though a trip to the doctor might be easier than using those things.

Why do you need to know the details?

You wanted to know what it is, now you know... interrogating people on medical treatments they have had is not acceptable regardless of if they are family or not.

If they didn't tell you in the first place then they don't want you to know and its not your business.

Very much this.

I had never heard of google lens. Every day is a school day.

Thanks peeps.

I'm not sure there's any need to ask the family which one of them had warts now you know what they are??

what if she has a teenager who has picked up and STD and tried to treat it themselves

Not sure there is any way to quiz the family "Which of you has had warts?" which will get a teenager to open up about their suspected STD.

Why do you need to know?

Just put them back and let the person use them.

If they wanted you to know they would have told you already.

Well if it was my husband who had warts I would need to know

If it was your husband then I assume you would already know.

Yeah it definitely looks like a wart treatment wand thing. If they've been there for ages, before your son was sexually active, then I'm guessing your husband/partner either current or ex.
The best way to get rid of warts is to get them frozen off. But I guess you can't just put up a wart treatment awareness poster in the bathroom?

If no one claims them my advice is to just bin them.

Why would you need to know?

Also the idea that its a genital wart (which everyone has locked onto) is vanishingly small... the majority of warts a person could get are not on the genitals.

Because he could transmit them to me and I don't want them. And, if he'd got them from someone else, I'd like to know as well!

I work in sexual health and we would never use these to treat genital warts (it’s usually a gel in a tube), but entirely possible someone just randomly googled and bought these, but I’d guess more for a wart on your toe.

HOW?

As mentioned these are nothing to do with STI's (you would also clearly bloody notice if you DH had warts on his bellend)

Most warts are harmless and the result of a weak spot of your immune system, they do not spread to other people.

The kind of ignorance on this thread is EXACTLY why people feel shame and hide having one though.

Almost everyone has had a wart, remember the bloody awful verruca baths old swimming pools had? Its not a big deal or anyone business.