Normally I use a scratchy sponge (about the size of a dish sponge) with a plastic handle to clean the shower and tub. I spray Scrubbing Bubbles Extend-A-Clean Mega Shower Foamer (which I love and highly recommend) and scrub til it's clean, then rinse with water.
I have shower doors (which I hate) instead of a shower curtain, so some places seem to be hard to reach. Kneeling in the floor, leaning over the side of the tub to scrub the inside is also extremely uncomfortable where the track pokes into me. Those doors are fun to clean, too... especially where the mildew tends to stick in all the little holes. This leads to me cleaning the shower less often, and therefore causing it to be even dirtier when I DO get around to cleaning it. Add all of the hair, soap scum, shaving cream, and gritty facial scrub that flies around in there, and I end up with a half-hour of spraying, scrubbing, sweating, grumbling, and wishing there was a better way.
The other day, I was shopping at (yep, you guessed it) Wal-Mart and I came across an intriguing little tool that I decided to splurge and spend the $7 or so on: The Scotch Brite Shower Scrubber.
The name makes it sound rather unexciting. I think it should be called something more dramatic. Anyway, I used it for the first time today and was, for the most part, pretty impressed.
Basically, this tool is a teardrop-shaped, rough but no-scratch sponge attached to the end of a metal handle. The handle twists open to allow you to extend its length to 2 feet. The sponge is disposable and you can buy refills for it.
It really cut down on the time it took me to clean my shower. I was able to scrub down all of the surfaces pretty quickly between the larger sponge and the long handle. I was also happy with the cleaning power of the sponge. It's nice and rough, so it cuts through the soap scum pretty well. I hate when I think a spot is clean, only to rinse it off and realize that there's still a layer of scuz there. I really didn't have that problem with the Shower Scrubber.
It's not a perfect product. I did have a few issues with it.
1 - The sponge head popped off of the handle two or three times while I was cleaning. I realize that it has to be easy for people to remove (press a button and the sponge head slides off), but this was a little bit annoying. I had to be careful.
2 - I wish the handle, which bends up and down to the sponge, would also bend side to side. Do you know what I mean? It would be nice if it could pivot in all directions. It would be easier to clean certain places.
3 - I wish there was a way to squeeze the water out of it when you're done. It tends to drip all over the place, and you can only squeeze it so much.
4 - This isn't really a problem with the product, but what would have been really nice was if they would have also made a tool for the small spaces, like where the grout is. You can't really clean in there with this tool.
I am super happy I bought this. I'm not sure how much the refills cost at Wal-Mart, but there appears to be a regular AND a large size on Amazon, selling for $2.49 and $4.79. Definitely worth it. I'll continue to use this as long as I can get refills for it!
