Friday, November 9, 2007

Clearly, I Was Raised Wrong


You know, my parents tried. They attempted to rear me with a sense of right from wrong, good from bad, left from right, and clean from dirty. But they kind of fell down on the whole dirty thing.

Now, I can pick up my clutter with the best of them. I always put my dirty dishes in the sink AND THEN RINSE THEM. And I'm a bit obsessive-compulsive about vacuuming. But I hate hate HATE dusting. I would rather wallow in my dusty filth than pick up a dust cloth and have at it.

Then, about two years ago, I got a call from my friend Lou, who was beside herself with glee about the Swiffer Duster stick-thingy. 'It expands to reach high places!' ‘It traps dust!' 'Holy crap, were my ceiling fans GROSS. Did you know they weren't frosted glass after all?' Her joy knew no bounds. And I thought to myself; why not just use a dust rag? It was good enough for our mamas! How high-falutin' can you get? Slacker.

Boy howdy, was I wrong. This summer, I finally broke down and bought the Swiffer Duster - though not the one with the expandable stick thingy, just the regular one. I got it to clean my blinds before my parents descended upon my home for the Fourth of July. I couldn't let them see how they had failed me in the dusting department.

You get five duster things in a box with the stick thing, and I only used two of them for my blinds. So then I thought, how do they work on bookshelves?

It was a revelation, y'all. Wow. I dusted my entire living room, floor-to-ceiling bookshelves covered in dustable items and all, in ten minutes. Do you know how long it would take me using a dust rag? TEN DAYS. Okay, maybe not, but it took a freaking' long time.

So now, before I have guests over, I whip out my Swiffer Duster and go to town. It's actually fun to dust now. Probably because it only takes me 20 minutes to do the whole house - leaving more time for the pre-party drinking.

Product Of The Day: The Swiffer Duster. The kit with the stick will set you back $7.99 plus tax, and the big box of 16 refills (see photo above) costs $10.99 plus tax. Prices depend on the store. Target will be cheaper, of course.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey...easy on who you are calling a slacker! I gave you the idea for this website and the swifter duster too. Where is my 'thank you'???

Angela said...

Oh. My. Gosh. I cannot even adequately put into words how much I love my Swiffer Duster. I had wanted one forever, and my hubby kept saying what a ripp off they probably were. My friend SNUCK me one a few months ago... and I couldn't believe how truly amazing this gift was. You're right when you say it's FUN to dust! I used to dread getting out the wet rag, dealing with the dust streaks left behind... now it's just so easy. How did I ever live without one? And how did I ever live without my multi-purpose wet wipes, either?

The Cheap Chick said...

Thank you Lou!!!

And you are not a slacker, but you KNOW our moms think we are for using Swiffers instead of dust rags.

Angela - one of the greatest joys of the Swiffer is the lack of dust streaks (good name for them by the way). And I, too, have a deep and unnatural love for wet wipes.