Dutch bottle scraper spatula head closeup

The bottle scraper (known as both a flessenschraper (bottle scraper) and flessenlikker (bottle licker) in Dutch) is a DutchThe Netherlands (Dutch: , ) is the European part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands, the Netherlands Antilles, and Aruba. The Netherlands is a constitutional monarchy, located in Western Europe. It is bordered by the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium ...Dutch kitchen tool similar to a small spatulaA spatula, known as a fish slice in British English, is a kitchen utensil with a long handle and a broad flat edge, used for lifting fish and fried foods. Despite usage of the word spatula in British English, it refers solely to a mixing implement. In parts of Canada, spatulae are called flippers. They are used both in the preparation of food, as a flipping implement, and in the serving of food. The word spatula, known in English since 1525, is a diminutive ...spatula. It is specifically designed to scrape the contents of long bottlesA bottle is a small container with a neck that is narrower than the body and a "mouth." Bottles are often made of glass, plastic or aluminum, and typically used to store liquids. e.g. water, milk, soft drinks, beer, wine, cooking oil (for both cooking and as fuel), medicine, liquid soap, shampoo, ink, etc. For some ...bottles that would be impossible to reach with other kitchen tools.

The scraper is made of a long shaft, frequently around 30 cm (1 ft) in length. On one side is a small flexible rubberRubber is an elastic hydrocarbon polymer that naturally occurs as a milky colloidal suspension, or latex, in the sap of some plants. It can also be synthesized.rubber spatula head roughly 4 cm (2 in) in across set perpendicular to the shaft. The head is flexible and usually has a rounded half-circle shape one side useful for scraping round bottles and jars and a flat side with two right angles useful for scraping out cartons. The head is flexible so that it can be pushed into and pulled out of bottles whose mouth is smaller than the fully expanded head of the scraper but larger than the shaft.

It is a common tool in kitchens in the Netherlands and available in many kitchen stores and supermarkets — although this may vary by region. It is almost wholly unused and unknown outside of that country.

Historically, vla::For the astronomical observatory in New Mexico, see Very Large Array Vla is the name of two Dutch food products. One is a pie, called 'vla' in the South, whence it originates, but more commonly known as vlaai. The other is a type of custard. This dairy product made from fresh milk first appeared in the 1950s. It has the viscosity of yoghurt, but is sweet rather than sour. It is served cold and is available in several flavors. These include: * Plain * vanilla * Chocolate * ...vla (a popular dairy product with the consistency similar to pudding or yoghurt) was sold in long glass bottles. Vla was frequently delivered by milkmenA milkman is a person — traditionally male — who delivers milk in milk bottles or cartons. Milk deliveries frequently occur in the morning and it is not uncommon for milkmen to deliver dairy products other than milk like egg nog, cream and even yogurt or butter. The term "milkman" is used to refer to either a man or woman doing this work. Originally milk needed to be delivered to houses daily ...milkmen in milk bottlesMilk bottles are reusable glass bottles used mainly for doorstep delivery of fresh milk by milkmen. Customers are expected to rinse the empty bottles and leave on the doorstep for collection. The standard size of a bottle varies with location; common sizes are 1 litre, 1 pint or 1 quart, although cream may ...milk bottles similar to the long, tapered-neck milk bottles used in many places in the world. However, while the use of the milk bottle streamlined production and distribution practices, the shape of the container made extracting the complete amount of pudding extremely difficult with either spoons or with other kitchen tools or spatulas. The Dutch answer was the bottle scraper which was specifically designed to answer this problem.

Vla is now primarily sold in cartons which reduces the need for a bottle scraper or make the design less efficient (e.g., bottles have rounded walls while cartons frequently have square bases with 90 degree angles). Modern bottle scrapers include a spatula-side with right angles useful for scraping vla out of these containers as well. Additionally, the scraper has come to occupy an important role in Dutch kitchens in variety of other purposes being used for scraping the contents of many other bottles and jars (e.g., peanut butterPeanut butter (also known as peanut paste) is a food paste made primarily from ground roasted peanuts, with or without added oil. It is popular primarily in the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, and The Netherlands. It used to be very popular in Brazil, particularly ...peanut butter, NutellaNutella is the brand name of a hazelnut-based sweet spread created by the Italian company Ferrero.Nutella, etc). Much of the Dutch population is familiar with the bottle scraper and skilled in its use.

There is an element of the technical and engineering community that sees the bottle scraper as a monument to a wrong type of technical solution. This group argues that the best solution to the problem of remaining vla in bottles was to put vla in different containers preventing the problem from ever occurring, rather than inventing another tool and then educating a population in its use.