YouTuber Ruth Amos secures spot in GWR 2027 with another supersized household item
Do you wish it took less time to dry your hair? Well, British engineer Ruth Amos may have found the solution…
The 36-year-old runs the Kids Invent Stuff YouTube channel, alongside co-host Shawn Brown, where they bring their followers’ wild and wonderful ideas to life.
In partnership with Guinness World Records, the creators held a contest to find the next record-breaking item they should make.
Over 5,000 kids between the ages of four and 11 sent in their entries, which ranged from a giant lion that shoots out chicken nuggets to the world’s longest car!
The YouTubers landed on the largest hairdryer, which measured 1.755 m long and 1.6 m tall (5 ft 9 in x 5 ft 3 in) on 22 April.
This makes it about eight times bigger than a normal blowdryer!
Alternatively, it could be compared to the average adult height.
Ruth told GWR: “There's something really special about taking an everyday object that everyone recognizes and turning it into something that makes people stop in their tracks.
“Hair dryers look quite simple, but they're actually a really interesting engineering challenge.”
The invention contest was supported by the engineering firm Accu and the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851.
Built in the Kids Invent Stuff workshop in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, UK, the behemoth blowdryer took three weeks to complete.
Metal ventilation ducts and aluminium straps were used to form the shape of the hairdryer.
The gaps were then filled with 14 cans of expanding foam and 12 litres (3.1 US gallons) of car body-filler.
Once this had set, the team added layers of resin and fibreglass matting before sanding and painting the exterior.
The hairdryer is so large, it takes four people – or an engine hoist – to move it!
“It was a challenge to make something that big that would usually be moulded out of plastic.”
And now for the real question… does it work?
“It can dry your hair very quickly and effectively,” Ruth revealed. “It has an industrial fan and two big oven heater elements.”
It’s hardly a surprise when you think the contraption has 5,000 watts!
For context, normal hairdryers have a wattage of 1,800–2,000 watts.
Read more stories about record-breaking engineers in our Science and Technology section.
The idea for the largest hairdryer came from Kiki and Thea, who respectively hoped it would be powerful enough to topple over a chair and also double up as a leaf blower.
With Kids Invent Stuff, Ruth hopes to inspire kids, especially young girls, to get into STEM.
“Representation really matters,” she shared. “If young people can see someone who looks like them building exciting things, it helps them picture themselves doing it too.
“I'd love more girls to realize that engineering is incredibly creative and that their ideas deserve to be built.”
Ruth has become quite the expert at constructing supersized household items over the last few years.
In 2023, she made the largest electric toothbrush, together with co-host Shawn.
It measured 2.008 m (6 ft 7 in), akin to a large horse!
The idea for the build came from 11-year-old subscriber George, and it was only after the creative process that they discovered it would claim a spot in the record books.
Comparing the hairdryer with the toothbrush, the YouTuber explained: “This felt like more pressure. When we were building the toothbrush, we didn’t realize it was record-breaking.
“It’s very different building something knowing that you want to break a specific record.”
In 2025, Ruth secured two more world records:
- Tallest supported 3D-printed interlocking plastic brick Christmas tree (with Ellis Ware): 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)
- Most people making popcorn cannons simultaneously: 157.
With these GWR titles, Ruth wants to prove that engineering can be fun.
“I hope [these records] show that engineering isn't just about equations and textbooks.
“It's about imagination, problem solving and bringing ideas to life.
“Some of the best engineering projects begin with someone asking, ‘I wonder if we could…’”
The four-time GWR titleholder described her feature in Guinness World Records 2027 as “a real honour”.
“Guinness World Records is something so many of us grew up reading, so to be part of that history is incredibly special.
“Hopefully someone flicking through the book will see the giant hairdryer and think, ‘Maybe I could build something amazing one day too.’”