Friday, August 03, 2007

Research and Development gone lazy...

If you have seen any commercials for cleaning products these days, you know the buzz word is "Disposable". Everything is disposable and everything makes cleaning "Easier". Which is all well and good for me. However, we still live in the dark ages in my home. We have an up-right vacuum, a broom, and a dust pan. We took a huge leap and recently bought a dust mop.

Waste and environmental concerns aside, this is fine and good with me, but I saw one product on TV today that absolutely blew my mind...

Endust disposable dust cloths. Or, as I like to call them "Paper towels". I could understand if there was, like, Endust built into it, but there isn't. The commercial instructs you to "Spray on Endust, wipe with the disposable cloth, then, just throw it away!"... just like I do with paper towels.

Here is the claim:

For $5 you get 10 12x12 cloths that the company doesn't even pretend to claim are reusable... How many rolls of paper towels can you buy for $5? The marketing campaign is to "Hold on to your favorite tee shirt" assuming people dust with a tee shirt. I can;t tell you how many times I was found curled in the fetal position of my closet by my wife, hugging my favorite shirt, hoping that there would be someone to invent a way that I could dust without this shirt. And God forbid that we had to (gasp) throw the shirt in the washing machine after we were done! "Endust Dust Cloths eliminate the need to store and wash dirty rags for dusting" And we all know how much room a dust rag takes up, what with how contractors are making homes SO much smaller.

I mean, am I missing something? Do they do something that I am not aware of? Are paper towels damaging my bed side table? Is it no longer fashionable to dust with a washable rag, much less keep washable rags in the house at all?

I mean, how dumb can we get, people? If anyone has bought these, they must make themselves known.

9 comments:

mullinz8 said...

As of this moment we haven’t bought such a thing but if my wife sees them on the grocery shelf there is no doubt she’s find a way to get them in the buggy.

Jules is a consumer test marketers dream because she thinks she needs anything. If this supposed to make our life easier in any way she’s all over it.

lilsip said...

I have a giant ostrich feather duster I got from FlyLady.net. It is wonderful. I hate the commercials that show someone "dusting" with a feather duster that sends dust flying everywhere. It's just not so! Why oh why buy something you have to throw away? I love shaking out the dust from my FlyDuster outside and seeing how much I've gotten rid of!

One thing I did give in on and buy at the grocery store was a bunch of microfiber cleaning stuff. It really does work. I used this fluffy mitt thing (that looks like a stuffed animal you'd want to hug) to clean off my bathroom mirror. No cleanser, not even water, and the mirror was spotless and shining. I went around trying to find stuff to scrub for days. I did have to add a little water for really nasty stuff like the range hood. Very cool products, made by a company called "Clean Future".

JS said...

Mullins... your wifes wewaknesses aside, we are not huge fans of the Magic Eraser thanks to your wife demonstrating it for us in your house one day when we visited.

lilsip said...

Now huge fans maybe? I don't see how anyone could not be a huge fan. Magic Erasers are magic. And they erase.

CL said...

Although I have not tried this product, I often fall prey to the marketing schemes. I love the Magic Eraser and the Pledge Wipes work great!

Mat Brewster said...

We're very low tech in my house when it comes to gadgets. Amy has disdain for most of these type products. We're into rags and soap.

I've been reading a lot of articles about bottled water lately. Apparently sales are huge which makes some people laugh as you're basically paying for something you get at home for free.

Yes I know there are arguments against that piece, and you don't have to use them against me. Truth is I use bottled water frequently, but am trying to cut back as the environmental impact is rather large.

Diana said...

My two fave make cleaning easier products: Mr. Clean erasers and Swiffer Wet Jet. Rachel has some lovely robots, though, from what I understand.

lilsip said...

Ack! I've been outed! :) I luv robots.

mullinz8 said...

Brew; thank Heavens you're moving to China that's all you're going to have around soap and rags that'll also be for dinner and bath time too.

Magic Eraser, they are indeed magic. They make about $3 disappear each time we go to the store.