Dear Answer Angel El-len: I have not seen this topic in your column, but I thought of you for this reason: I dropped the eyeliner pencil — one that you suggested — down the "black hole of despair," in the crack between the seat of my car and the console. It took me a long time and much contortion and frustration to retrieve it. It occurred to me that there must be a solution to this problem in car design! What is it? — Elizabeth B.
Dear Elizabeth: Congratulations on actual success in a retrieval! I'm going to help you to (hopefully) never have this very common problem again. Obviously dropping anything, but especially a small item (eyeliner, AirPod, pocket comb), down that hole makes the job of getting it back a challenge. But it is a common plague, and there is a way to prevent future mishaps.
My advice is simple, but it took me awhile to figure out what you needed and to test the product out. You are looking for a "universal car seat gap filler (set of two)." This is a squishy, hot-dog-shaped roll covered in vinyl or fabric.
They are about 18 inches long and 1.5 inches wide. The set I bought on Amazon.
com was Awave Bloom brand for $13.90, but there are plenty of other options out there online and at auto-supply shops. You jam it in the space between the console and your seat.
It has a notch that accommodates the safety-belt hardware, so no problem using the belt. Read the fine print, because they don't work on certain cars. Yes, you could stuff a towel in the space, b.