Yet another redundant gadget
Written: Mar 22 '06 (Updated Mar 24 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Lightweight, easy to assemble, no water or electricity needed.
Cons: Can only clean one small area; needs refills after one use.
The Bottom Line: The Swiffer is but an ersatz mop and is not worth the space or expense.
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| bkalafut's Full Review: Swiffer Sweeper - New and Improved |
The Swiffer is a mop-shaped cleaning tool, with an three part snap-together aluminum handle--something even a dextrous chimp could assemble on a good day--terminated at the top by a slightly soft oblong spheroidal (I will not say "ergonomic") grip, sized to fit the average hand, and at the business end with a ball joint.
To the ball joint is attached the key part of the instrument--the part that could be said to "swiff" were such a verb to exist--a thin foam rubber head with a hard plastic frame, about the size of a sponge mop, over which a wet or dry cleaning cloth is wrapped and tucked in to cutouts that hold its corners in place.
It's a well-proportioned and well-designed instrument; the ball joint keeps the bottom from snapping backwards like the head of the Clorox BathWand, and the foam rubber bottom allows even pressure to be applied. Small raised bumps in the foam rubber keep the cloths from shifting or bunching up on the head. The Swiffer even does what it's supposed to do--clean up small messes--but doesn't do it better enough or more conveniently enough than a mop and thus doesn't justify the space it takes up in the closet.
The dry cloth is merely a dust rag. It's a good dust rag; I tried substituting a standard shop towel, and it beat it soundly, but it's a dust rag nonetheless. Chances are that if the dry Swiffer cloth will clean your floor, your floor doesn't actually need cleaning. When my floors get dirty here in gritty Arizona, they're far too dirty for this; I went through one rag in cleaning twelve square feet, having pushed the dirt around more than picked it up, in more time than it takes to vacuum-clean the same area. I had to vacuum the dirt that didn't get picked up from around the edges, making the Swiffer less a sweeper than an awkward pushbroom. I have tile floors; those with wood floors will want to steer clear of this as its tendency would be to grind the dirt into the floor.
The wet cloth works a little better; I was able to clean a thick layer of driveway dust out of my bathroom, or at least nearly so, leaving a space where one could walk without getting feet covered with oily dust. This too pushed the dirt around more than it picked it up. It also added a strong, floral, Febreze NOTICEables-esque scent to the air that I could've done without. As advertised, with the wet cloth the Swiffer was good for a quick cleanup, or rather, it did a fair job in a pinch.
Fair, though, isn't good enough to justify keeping another bulky gadget in my small apartment, nor paying for a refill at every use. I already own a mop and a vacuum; the Swiffer does what they do, except it does it poorly.
For promotional purposes, Hass MS&L sent me a Swiffer in exchange for my fair and honest review.
Recommended:
No
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Epinions.com ID:
bkalafut
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 in Restaurants & Gourmet |
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Member: Bennett Kalafut
Location: Tucson, AZ, USA
Reviews written: 258
Trusted by: 42 members
About Me:
Stretching single molecules for fun and profit.
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