The world of cleaning products is full of gimmicks that promise shinier this and germ free that and I try and avoid their clever marketing schemes, but sometimes I can’t help myself. It seems like there is a pre-moistened towelette for anything you could dream up, from toilet bowls to mirrors. There is that thingy you hang in the shower and it promises to clean your shower for you with the touch of a button. Consumer Reports says that it not only doesn’t work, but it will actually make your shower and tub harder to clean once you give up on the gizmo. The author of my favorite cleaning book, The House That Cleans Itself, recommends cleaning gizmos placed at strategic locations in your home so that you will actually use them when you think about it. The idea is good in theory and I have succumbed to a few of these products, like the Swiffer. I purchased the “max” size and have been unable to find refills. Now, (when I think about it and feel motivated to Swiffer, not mop or sweep), I wet a large rag and stuff it into the holes created for the “max” refills and swiffer it around my entirely hard surfaced house – I am not that motivated very often. I also went through a few packages of pre-moistened towlettes designed for the toilet when I was throwing up on a daily basis for 9 months. If you are going to do something so horrible, you might as well have a clean toilet to do it in. They worked great, but I can’t justify spending $2.79 at Wal-Mart just for someone else to put the cleaning products on a rag for me. My Mennonite ancestors are rolling over in their graves to think that anyone would be so frivolous! Have you seen the duster with the spray right in the handle!! That is the height of laziness.
So I was at Bi-Mart today with a list that included contact solution, red paint (for my kitchen table), a shovel (Jeff broke mine yesterday while trying to get out a bush and the half-shovel remains as a lawn ornament), and a broom (Jeff broke mine while chasing a mouse – neither the mouse or the broom lived). I came up to a large display of brooms; it was just my luck that they were having a sale on all brooms! I looked at the standard brooms ranging in price from $7.99 – 12.99 and couldn’t see much difference. Then I saw a broom for only $4.99 that had a gimmick built right in. It has an air freshener on the head of the broom!! Well, you can already guess which one I bought. I hurried home with my completed list and was excited to try my new broom. It was so refreshing as I swept the entire house, whooshing around a lovely clean sent. I was actually smiling as I swept. For this one time, the cleaning gimmick/gizmo got me. Hopefully the wonder and excitement will hold on for a few more days. What is your favorite cleaning aid?
4 comments:
My favorite is the hoover floor mate. It is for sealed hard wood floors. Modes: dry pick up, solution scrub, wet pick up. It sure saves the back and leaves you with a sterilized, sparkling floor.
ooohhh...sounds like a cool broom!
I am a sucker for the household wipes. I buy them in the three pack at Costco with a coupon and that's how I justify it!
Being responsible for 104+ toilets, most of them paired with a shower makes me somewhat of an expert, someday I'll write a book. I would love to use those handy dandy wipes, but only if the makers supplied them free or the camp would have to raise its prices. I think mom's of little boys are justified however if they can fit it in their budget!
Oh, and for 4.99 I'll take a dozen of those brooms if they sweep well!! I'd sure love to have my helpers happily cleaning more than they had to for the smell of it!
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