Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower Cleaner: Does it Live Up to the Hype?
Like Sisyphus of Greek Myth, sweating and bleeding to roll his huge boulder up a hill each day, we scrub and we scrub, choking on cleaning fumes, only to have to do the whole thing all over again in a few weeks.
Building on the concept that cleaning is most effective when done in regular, small steps, ingenious salespeople have made the job a little easier by providing us with daily spraying solutions that we’re supposed to use on your shower each day. These sprays do a reasonable job of keeping down the buildup of mold and soap scum, and allow us to spray the shower where it is the dirtiest.
But there are disadvantages to these shower cleaners too.
First, you have to be close to the chemicals while you’re spraying them-exposed to the noxious fumes. Second, when you’re dripping wet, having just exited the shower, you’re thinking about getting dried off and into your clothes; it’s easy to forget to retrieve your spray bottle and spray your shower. Third, if you keep your spray bottle in the shower, you have to find a place to store it along with all your other shower accessories, and you’re likely to get the chemicals on your skin while you spray from the inside.
To eliminate these frustrations, the makers of Scrubbing Bubbles have come out with an automatic shower cleaner. Sold complete with batteries, a dispenser, and two bottles of cleaning solution, the Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower Cleaner boasts that it’s as easy as having a maid.
Can the Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower Cleaner possibly live up to the hype? The answer is, almost.
Easily installed by use of a hook that slips over your shower nozzle, the dispenser holds a small tank of fluid in an inverted position. When you’re done showering, you press the blue button. It will start beeping, warning you that it’s about to spray, and giving you ample time to exit the shower. Then the nozzle rotates 360 degrees, while pumping the cleaning solution onto the walls of your shower. Definitely easier than writing a check to Merry Maids.
Unfortunately, Merry Maids does a much better job.
Because it doesn’t have the spot-flexibility of a hand spray, it misses crevices around the shower door, or under the seal. You’ll still have to clean those areas by hand. And because of the way the Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower Cleaner mounts over the shower head, the spray ends up mostly on your shower walls. The floor of your shower remains neglected. Waiting for the spray to eventually drip down onto the shower floor is a race against mold-and the mold usually wins.
The nice part about the hook mounting system, however, is that you can hang the Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower Cleaner from anything-from a low mounted towel or security bar, for example, if you need more attention on the lower parts of your shower where the dirt really builds up.
Currently selling on Amazon for $49.50, the Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower Cleaner can be had for half that at retail stores like Target. Check online for promotional coupons too, and you can get a better deal. The refills are a bit pricey, but if you carefully remove the cap to the old bottles, you can refill them with any cleaner you like, including the home-made variety.
The final word? Scrubbing Bubbles automatic shower cleaner isn’t going to make it so that you never have to clean your shower again, but you won’t have to do it as often, and when you do, the job won’t be as difficult.
For that alone, it’s worth it.
