One inventor brought his own sink with running water.

Another his own toilet.

Yet another had in tow a clothes dryer that tumbled brightly colored sponges all morning long.

The finals of Dial Corp.'s first "Quest for the Best" were in full swing at the company's Scottsdale headquarters Tuesday.

Curious employees seeking to spark their own creativity swarmed through the hall as 10 inventors from around the country demonstrated their products.

Would the contest's top prize go to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor who designed a massaging bar of soap?

Or to the Tempe man picked for his four inventions, three of them based on adding fiber optics to candles?

Maybe it would go to the Ohio engineer who developed an automatically closing cap after toothpaste leaked inside his wife's suitcase.

John Penney, of Sun Lakes, the inventor who brought along the clothes dryer, has been peddling his reusable fabric softener sponges at a Mesa swap meet and even had a stint on home-shopping channel QVC.

Penney invented the Static-Out/Softness In Spongettes, which last six to eight months, after his wife complained about traditional dryer sheets.

But when the countdown to the winner came down, Penney figured there were too many other good products.

He was shocked when contest organizers called his name and Dial Chief Executive Officer Herb Baum handed him the top prize worth $4,000.

Wait paid off

"After seven years of selling, it's paid off," Penney marveled.

Second place and $2,000 went to Shawn Meine of Phoenix for his Sani-Grip, an air freshener and anti-bacterial device that fits over toilet handles.

Third place and $1,000 went to Sean and Jan Goodwin of Pensacola, Fla., inventors of the Bubble Head faucet cover that doubles as a soap dispenser.

Everyone went home a winner, though, because Dial will talk to all the finalists about pursuing their products, said Shari Brickin, vice president of innovations for Dial.

The next step is for Dial-brand teams to evaluate the products for business fit and market potential.

The company would work on confidentiality agreements with the inventors, then start with consumer testing and product development.

Products that make it all the way through Dial's process could be on store shelves in 2005, said Debra Park, director of technology acquisitions.

Getting a new product to store shelves is very expensive for the little guy, Penney said. He and the other inventors are hoping Dial, with its consumer-product marketing muscle, will pick up their inventions and run with them.

"If I say, 'This is Jan Goodwin,' who cares?" Bubble Head Inc.'s Goodwin said. "If I say 'Jan Goodwin from Dial,' they'll talk to you."

Candle inventor Edward Clapper of Tempe, a mechanical engineer for Intel Corp., said he, too, was hopeful for a licensing deal but just glad to get the exposure.

Dial and two inventors' associations launched the contest in January to find new products that Dial could bring to market.

The contest drew 1,000 entries, 300 of which fit Dial's criteria. Judges from Dial and the inventors groups narrowed it to the 13 final entries, seven of them from Arizonans.

Inventors had to have patents, patents pending or copyrights on their submissions. Products had to fall into categories Dial specializes in, ranging from personal care and laundry products to air fresheners and household cleaners.

5 years in making

Penney said he worked on his Spongettes for five years, giving samples to customers of his carpet-cleaning business and tweaking the product until they were satisfied. Sometimes his home clothes dryer ran 24 hours a day.

"I had to get the formulation right," he said. "When you're working on something, you have to make the loose ends fit."

Product fits business

Dial's Park said Spongettes stood out to judges because it is well beyond the prototype stage and would fit well with Dial's laundry business.

Dial plans to keep the invention effort going year-round.

In June it will add a feature to its Web site allowing inventors to submit their products to the company for consideration.

Just making it to the finals was an accomplishment for most of the inventors.

"You work so hard, and your friends say it's good," said Andrea Brody, of Ohio, who was demonstrating Robert Lehmkuhl's AutoCap dispenser.

"But it's nice when somebody outside says it's a good product."



Reach the reporter at jane.larson@arizonarepublic.com.