Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Boo hiss on the automatic shower cleaner



I wait all year for the chance to post this doggie trick-or-treat picture!
A few months ago I raved about the automatic shower cleaner--I saw it advertised in one of those magazines that travels on every flight, so I ordered one and hung it up.
As soon as we go through our last bottle, I'm tossing it out. First--I just read in Consumer Reports that they did an official test. Not only does it not clean well by itself, in some cases it left a shower in worse condition than before. It does leave the walls sticky. It puts little bumpy dots on glass that I can see, and it leaves the tile streaked.
That's strikes one and two. Strike three is the fact that one of my friends was changing the bottle and splashed the stuff onto her skin, suffering serious burns. To be fair, I've splashed myself, too, but my skin must be like saddle leather, because it didn't hurt me. Still, if you have sensitive skin . . .
So, you read it here. Save your money and stick to the old fashioned scrubbing of the shower. It's not as much fun as watching the little thingamajig whirl around, but it's more effective. And cheaper.
(Come to think of it, I can't think of anything I've ever ordered from the Skymall catalog that actually worked. The bra baby? No. The water leak detector? Not good. The shower cleaner? No.)
Next time I'm on a plane, I should read a book instead.
~~Angie

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I use a 99 center plastic gardening bottle and a solution of half bleach and half water to spray on shower walls and it kills any mildew. The smell is strong but it works well.

Anonymous said...

Hmmm...I've had mine since the week after you raved about it (be careful what you advertise, because impressionable people are listening!!) and I'm still pretty stinkin' happy with it. I do scrub down the shower walls and glass doors once every 6 weeks or so with Dawn dish soap (the original blue kind...works GREAT) but other than that, I just hit the button once a day and the shower stays looking and smelling really clean. I had to replace the batteries for the first time the other day. I thought they lasted pretty well--several months

Anonymous said...

That's great if it's working! It's working *okay* for me, but the little bumps on the glass door prevent it from ever looking clean. (That, and the nose prints from two mastiffs). :-)

And it is awfully fun to watch it spin around . . .

Angie

Kristy Dykes said...

Skymall mag? I had luck with one item. I ordered the Turtle stool and love it. It folds up and fits between my washing machine and the wall. I whisk it out and can reach things. Well, most things. I'm short and my cabinets are tall, tall, tall.

Anonymous said...

eI bought one after asking you about it, but I would have bought one anyways. I used it for only a month as it wasn't doing a good job, though I liked the smell. It left spots on the chrome fixtures and shower doors. I still have not been able to remove all the spots. There are other products that I would like to try, but I guess I should wait to see what Comsumer Reports recommends.