Swiffer takes sweat out of housecleaning
What it is: The Swiffer line of housekeeping products includes gadgets for sweeping, mopping and dusting. They’re cheap, easy to use and – best of all – feature disposable cleaning surfaces.
What it’s all about: The Swiffer Sweeper was the first product to debut – picture a broom with a flat, foot-long swivel head rather than bristles. Swiffer cloths (electro-
statically charged dry sheets or wet cloths infused with a non-streaking cleaning solution) are attached to the sweeper head, which is then run over the floor to pick up dirt, pet hair and grime.
But it’s the other products – the Swiffer WetJet, Swiffer Dusters and the new Swiffer Sweep+Vac – that have me leaping on the (impressively dust-free) Swiffer bandwagon.
Why we like it: Like most people of a certain age, having a clean, tidy home is important to me. But like most of us with lives (read: job, partner, pets, addictive TV habit), keep-
ing said home clean and tidy can be kind of a drag (on a good day) or impossible (on every other day).
Enter my arsenal of Swiffer products. With three sloppy cats and a husband who never met a cup of coffee he couldn’t promptly slosh on the kitchen floor, I owe my sanity to the WetJet. The battery- operated gadget squirts cleaning solution on the floor then mops it up with a thick, disposable pad that easily attaches to the base via Velcro strips. Does it leave my floors so clean I could eat off them? Probably not, but it makes quick work of spills and is more convenient than hauling out my mop and bucket.
I’m also a fan of the Swiffer Duster, a fluffy, electrostatic version of the feather duster, though I am emphatically less enamored of its obnoxious TV commercial, which shows a Ritalin-addled housewife frantically dusting everything in sight to the tune of Devo’s “Whip It.”
My newest can’t-live-without is the Sweep+Vac, which combines a dry sweeper with a rechargeable, low-suction stick vac. The sweeper head picks up dust and pet hair, while the vacuum sucks up the errant kitty kibble that pokes into the sensitive soles of my feet – not
a bad trick for a gizmo that set me back less than $30.