Get lucky in the bathroom with the Clorox BathWand!
Written: May 26 '05 (Updated May 26 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Convenient, disposable, makes cleaning the shower walls & tub much easier
Cons: Refill pads more expensive than typical bathroom cleaner, little hard to hold for smaller hands
The Bottom Line: Loves being The Bottom Line, but really wants to direct.
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| pnutmom's Full Review: Clorox BathWand |
"Wow, it's longer than I thought it would be! And hard enough to please me over and over!"
Okay, you have two choices. This is either A: the first two lines of the insanely bad romance novel I am writing, or B: my reaction to the new Clorox BathWand. If you said A...well, then, you probably have way too much of something on your hands (and I bet it's not time). This review is, sadly, not about a lusty bathroom tryst, but rather the Clorox BathWand that I have recently tried!
I had seen the tv commercials for the Clorox BathWand a few times, but wasn't sure it was a product I needed, or would even really use for that matter. However, seeing as I'm not even 5' tall, in order for me to clean the shower in our guest bathroom I have to balance on the edge of the tub and stretch to reach the very top of the shower walls. Not to mention that our master bathroom has one of those huge garden tubs, and I have to balance on the edge of that tub also in order to clean the other side. (I've actually slipped and fallen a few times - not fun!) The Clorox BathWand has a 23" handle, which means if I had one of those gadgets, cleaning the bathrooms would be a lot easier! I was still undecided on whether to purchase one, when I got the opportunity to try it out. Free cleaning products? Sure, sign me up!
What exactly IS the Clorox BathWand "Cleaning System"?
According to the packaging, the Clorox BathWand is an "all-in-one system for easy tub & shower cleaning". The BathWand itself is three individual parts: two rounded white plastic handle sections (each about 11" long) along with a thin plastic triangular head that has what looks like Velcro on the bottom. The cleaning system also comes with two disposable pads that already contain Clorox cleaner in them.
To assemble the BathWand, you simply screw the handle sections together until they lock into place. The packaging notes that assembly is permanent. I haven't tried to unscrew the BathWand, so I'm assuming this is true. Once the handles are screwed together, you just snap the head onto the handle, making sure the Clorox logo is pointing up. That's all you have to do to assemble the BathWand! The disposable cleaning pads come individually packaged, so when you're ready to clean, just unwrap one and press the fluffy side of the pad on to the head of the BathWand.
Now, when you said "get lucky in the bathroom", you meant...?
Well let's just say, hopefully you will have a better chance of getting lucky in the bathroom than I did this time! When I opened the BathWand, my husband seemed pretty interested. It's a new gadget after all...men love gadgets! I really thought for a minute that he was going to run off to a bathroom to try this out (which would make me lucky in the sense that it’s one less place for me to clean!) Unfortunately for me, whatever he was watching on the Sci-Fi channel came back on and he was completely engrossed again. One day, those Sci-Fi people are gonna pay, I'm tellin' ya... Anyway, I left him to his show, and went to the bathroom to see how well this works. (A side note to any men reading this: If you take this BathWand and clean the bathroom for your significant other, she/he would be so happy that you made some kind of effort, that you may very well get truly lucky in that nice clean bathroom later!)*
Is it an oxymoron if a dirty-looking wand gets things clean?
Alright, I've only read a couple of other reviews on this BathWand, and those authors haven't mentioned this, so...either they are more mature than I am and did not feel the need to point this out OR I am simply dirty-minded. I'll admit I was a little surprised when I first opened the box and removed the handles. They are, well, somewhat phallic-looking. I suppose Clorox designed them to be ergonomically correct, which explains the roundness, but still. If you get one of these, and your husband is anything like mine, better prepare yourself for the inevitable (bad) jokes.
At any rate, armed with the Clorox BathWand and one of the disposable pads, I got ready to clean the shower. It took a minute to figure out exactly which side was the fluffy side that Clorox refers to, but once I did, the pad just sticks right to the Velcro on the head. To activate the cleaner, just run the head of the BathWand under running water for a few seconds. Since the pad was already wet, I didn’t bother wetting the shower walls before I started. I’m happy to say it was a breeze to glide the Clorox BathWand over the shower walls. The head of the BathWand swivels, which make it easy to clean the corners of the shower. There were a couple of times where the head swiveled all the way up, ending up parallel to the BathWand itself, so I had to push it back down. Not a big deal, just mildly annoying when it happened a few times in a row. I did have to re-wet the pad to activate more cleaner a couple of times while cleaning the shower walls. The bathtub was just as easy to clean; there was some residual face scrub from when my husband took a shower the night before, and the BathWand had no trouble cleaning it right up! Once I rinsed the shower walls off though, I noticed that there was still some soap scum near the bottom of one wall. The cleaner rinsed easily off the walls (even though there was a LOT of it) without leaving any film, so I know it was soap scum. While the rest of the walls looked nice and shiny, I was a little disappointed that the cleaner didn’t do a better job of removing that soap scum. (Just a note: our guest bathroom has one of those fiberglass shower/tub combos, and I would say the Clorox BathWand did a good job at cleaning. However, if your shower has actual tile and grout, I don’t know if this would be “scrubby” enough to really clean the grout).
Since the disposable pad still had plenty of cleaner in it, I went to our master bathroom to clean the shower and garden tub. I had pretty much the same results with the shower; however the BathWand did a pretty good job removing soap scum from the glass door, even if I did have to use a little more elbow grease than I did with the shower. It was when I started cleaning that garden tub though that I knew I’d be buying refills for the BathWand! I love having that large tub, but it’s such a pain in the butt to clean, that I don’t use it very often. The Clorox BathWand made cleaning that tub SO much easier! I didn’t have to stretch all the way across while balancing on the edge of the tub, didn’t have to worry about falling in and busting my head open…that extra 23” the BathWand has really makes a big difference when you’re short like me. Now that I know how easy cleaning the tub will be in the future, I can bathe in it more often. Yay for Clorox!
Two minor things I’m not crazy about:
Number 1: even though it seems the handle is ergonomically correct, I did have to keep switching hands every few minutes while I was cleaning because my hands kept getting sore. I don’t know if it’s just because I have small hands, or if I should have held the wand differently. Who knows?
Number 2: while the smell of this cleaner isn’t bad, it IS very strong. It’s kind of a fresh, slightly bleach-y smell (definitely not as strong as using Clorox CleanUp or a similar bleach product however). If you have a window or fan in your bathroom, I definitely recommend using it while cleaning with this product!
S to the T to the O….oh whatever, it’s just Storage:
The Clorox BathWand comes with this hook thingy that you can use to hand the wand up with when you’re done cleaning. Honestly, I have no idea how it’s supposed to work; I didn’t get any directions for it in my packaging. It looks like it would hang over the shower curtain rod, and the BathWand hangs on the bottom hook? I just threw out the disposable pad once I finished cleaning, and stored the BathWand under the sink.
Overall impression:
I have to say, even though I was a little “iffy” on the Clorox BathWand at first, I would buy the refill pads – even if I only use them for the garden tub! I was able to clean a shower/tub combo, a shower, and a garden tub, all with one pad (and in about half the time!) Lorace mentioned in her review that she still has cleaner left in the pad after she’s done, so she just lets the pad dry and re-uses it next time. If you only have one bathroom, then take her advice and let the pad dry so you can re-use it…it’s cost-efficient!
Miscellaneous:
There are the typical "eye irritant, avoid prolonged skin contact, keep out of reach of children and pets" warnings on the box. You can find out more and get coupons at www.bathwand.com. As far as where to buy it, you should be able to find these in any grocery or mass retail store like Target. Just look for the rectangular blue box with the Clorox logo and a drawing of the BathWand. I believe the Clorox BathWand is selling here (Dallas) for about $9.00 for the starter set, I'm unsure of how much the refills are.
Regarding my “ * ” way up there in the “getting lucky” paragraph: I am not implying that us women are so shallow that we will immediately drop whatever else we’re doing, and engage in any activities that may be more fun. I am just simply pointing out that if you HELP with some of the housework, we wouldn’t be so tired all the time, and would have more energy for said activities. That’s all.
Thanks for reading!
© MH 2005
Disclaimer: I received the Clorox BathWand as part of a pre-launch promotion with the agreement that I would review it. The product was sent free of charge, and that in no way, shape, or form influenced my review.
Recommended:
Yes
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pnutmom
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There is no evolution. Only a list of creatures Chuck Norris allows to live!
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