POCATELLO — A former Bannock County clerk who gave up public office to market a self-cleaning toilet seat that he invented has rolled out a new product that should be in strong demand amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Robert Poleki — who opted against running for re-election in 2018 to focus on his invention, called the Washie — is now selling his own brand of lavender-scented hand sanitizer.
Washie on the Go! sanitizer comes in 100 milliliter spray bottles and sells for $8.99 per bottle. The solution is manufactured in Utah and is carried in several local locations, such as Gold’s Gym, Sunsations Pocatello, Nouveau Medspa and the Center Street Sinclair gas station. The sanitizer is also sold online at washieproducts.com.
Poleki has already sold close to 10,000 bottles, including about 500 bottles to Idaho State University, which will give a bottle to every student athlete. Poleki is an ISU alumni who played for the 2002 Big Sky Championship Bengal football team.
“ISU wanted to show support for alums and local businesses in Pocatello. Most importantly, the athletics department has gone above and beyond to protect student athletes during the COVID epidemic by providing each student with their own personal Washie hand sanitizer,” Poleki said.
Poleki has also donated about 600 bottles to Ellis Elementary School in Chubbuck and White Pines Charter School in Ammon. Poleki hosted an online challenge, asking parents of area school children to tag their school and post a comment about their school’s need for sanitizer. Every student, teacher and administrator of the chosen schools will receive two bottles.
“We knew that schools would be desperate for good sanitizer,” Poleki said.
Poleki became interested in making sanitizer when an official with the company that formulates the sanitizing foam used in his Washies told him she’d been selling 20,000 units of hand sanitizer per day due to COVID-19. Poleki worked with the company to develop a sanitizer brand that contains 80 percent alcohol and dries quickly. Most importantly to Poleki, the product smells like lavender rather than rubbing alcohol.
It took about three months for Poleki to get the sanitizer refined and approved. He launched it in June.
Poleki is optimistic that the sanitizer will also help raise awareness about his primary product. The Washie includes a cartridge that squirts a dab of cleaning solution, which the user wipes on the toilet seat with toilet paper.
“We wanted customers to visit our website and see our innovative toilet seat,” Poleki said. “It was a way to get our branding out.”
Poleki competed with his invention on the ABC television show Shark Tank. He expected to have shipments of Washies from his supplier months ago, but the orders have been delayed by COVID-19.
Poleki got the idea for a “cleaner toilet seat” that eliminates the need for paper seat coverings while at the Salt Lake City International Airport, where he encountered a gross toilet seat, which he had to clean with soap before using. He devised the seat in 2015 and spent the next four years pursuing a patent.
ISU has also received an $83,000 Idaho Global Entrepreneurial Mission grant to test and improve the Washie. The product’s life expectancy and cleaning effectiveness were tested by ISU’s engineering and chemistry departments.
Poleki said he’s reached agreements with several airports to carry the Washie, and he also envisions it could be used at stadiums, hospitals, gas stations and other public places. He’ll derive a significant income stream by selling replacement cartridges to customers who buy his Washies.