Years ago, I used to joke to my mother that someday in the future there would be a different gadget for cutting or peeling each different kind of fruit or vegetable. I think that day has actually arrived. You can buy garlic presses, mango peelers, avocado slicers, strawberry hullers, orange presses, apple corers…the list goes on. The same is true for the cleaning industry. There are tools for cleaning each area of the home and tools that even help clean our cleaning tools. Here are some of the funkier ones.
The Angry Mama Microwave Cleaner is what happens when someone marries their Playmobil childhood to wanting to clean their microwave without using elbow grease in their adulthood. How does she work? You add vinegar and water to her and then place her in the microwave on high for seven minutes. The steam that escapes from her head loosens the food and grease particles on the interior walls of the microwave for easy cleaning. She’s even dishwasher safe when you need to clean her after she helps with your microwave cleaning.
Ribbed fridge liners and nonstick oven liners are cousins of the same idea: line the bottom of your appliance to catch food particles, drips, spills, grease, grime, and crumbs, and then all you have to do is take the liners out (carefully so as not to dump all the trapped particles onto the refrigerator shelves or oven bottom thus nullifying the purpose of the liners to begin with) and clean them. If the liners get past the point of no return, then you can always swap them out for new ones, but this prevents heavy lifting in terms of cleaning and wear and tear on the refrigerator and oven themselves.
Cyber cleaning slime is just that—a water, ethanol, and guar gum compound that you can mush and push around the keys of your laptop or remote control to get all the dust and bacteria hiding in the crevasses of your electronic devices. It’s kind of like play doh with a membrane system and biocides. It can also be used, according to their promotional materials, “on hairdryers and shavers, ventilators, radiators – in fact any item or surface with difficult to reach gaps and crevices.”
Uproot makes a slew of products to remove pet hair and lint. A much more environmental option than a lint-roller since it doesn’t require refills of sticky sheets, the Uproot devices work on any non-knitted fabric and will pull up clumps of fur you didn’t even know you were sitting on or wearing.
The Tubshroom drain hair catcher (which is a relative of the sinkshroom, the showershroom, the kitchensinkshroom, and the toiletshroom hair catchers) is a plug you put in the drain that traps hair and prevents clogging of your pipes. The hair can easily be wiped away with a paper towel or microfiber cloth when removed from the drain.
PopUP CleanUP is a full service event and commercial cleaning company with add-on services including electrostatic disinfection, first floor window washing, power washing and trash hauling.
