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There are household
chores that everyone despises. Anyone that knows me knows that
ironing and going to the grocery store are two of my most hated. But
nothing tops my crappy job list like cleaning the bathtub. Especially now that I have a lovely plastic bathtub that just loves
soap scum. Cleaning the tub by hand - while burning off 5,922
calories - just isn't any fun. Enter the Black and
Decker Scumbuster. Ever since seeing the commercials on TV, I've
been intrigued. Could this appliance be the Holy Grail? Could
it be the next device - like the electric razor - that I simply can't live
without?
 The Scumbuster
comes in a nice carrying caddy and comes with a variety of brushes for
cleaning tile, carpet, countertops, tires and just about any other surface
in your home. Also included in the box is a sample of Black and
Decker's carpet\upholstery shampoo.
The Scumbuster gets its power from B&D's "Versapack" battery system. In the picture on your left, you can see the sealed compartment near the
end of the handle - that's where the battery goes, and it allows the Scumbuster to operate even when completely submerged in water, which is
very nice if you're as clumsy as I am.
After charging the
battery for a few hours, I turned the Scumbuster loose on my shower. If you've ever used one of B&D's "Dustbuster" vacuums, you know how
underpowered they seem. Alas, the Scumbuster falls into this
category. The first time you turn it on, you expect to feel the raw
cleaning power vibrate in your hand, barely able to contain its lust for
cleaning. Instead you get a very "meh" feeling, not unlike you would
getting behind the wheel of a Kia. But does it work? Yes it does, at least on my shower. I got extremely subpar results
with "raw" Clorox Gel, but the Scumbuster absolutely went to town
once the gel hit some water and formed a nice lather. Soon I was a
cleaning fool - even cleaning the very top tiles of the shower that I had
previously ignored. Hey, as domesticated as I may be, I'm still a
single guy. Total cleaning time for the tub: around 10 minutes. Aggravation factor: zero!
Once I had the shower nice and sparkling, I turned
the Scumbuster loose on some chocolate gelato stains on my sofa and
carpet (please don't ask how that
happened). Using the enclosed carpet shampoo sample, I attacked the stains
full-force. And after they dried... they looked exactly the same as they
did before. To be fair to the Scumbuster, the stains were a couple of
months old by the time I got around to trying to exorcise them. By
then it might have been too late. So while this machine works well on
average cleaning tasks, it's no miracle worker. But that's OK. Like my electric razor - which I know doesn't do as good a job as a blade,
but mainly use for convenience and because I hate getting cut - the Scumbuster gets the job done but certainly won't change the world. It does an excellent job cleaning my shower, but most importantly it has
turned a job that I hated and would put off as long as possible and turned
it into something that I "don't mind" doing. Instead of my usual "awww,
man has it been two months already??" I now clean the shower every
Saturday morning without a murmur and without a moan. Which in and of
itself is worth the $35. If you hate cleaning the shower as much as I
do, you should check it out.
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