OH MY GOD THE NYC UNIBOMBER FOUND MY HOUSE!The Swiffer CarpetFlick
Written: Aug 26 '05 (Updated Aug 26 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: no batteries or power required, lightweight, easy-to-use, quick, nice grip
Cons: replacements expensive, not daily-use, not for floors or heavy pile
The Bottom Line: Although an extravagance for economically challenged families, this is an excellent gizmo to have for emergency carpet cleanups. I love it!
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| Caprig's Full Review: The Swiffer CarpetFlick |
The following is a review of the new SWIFFER CARPETFLICK CARPET SWEEPER. The circumstances surrounding my receipt of this gift were rather wild, so I have taken the time to include this in my review for entertainment purposes and yes, even for a bit of catharsis on my part.
If you are in a hurry and do not want to read through the extra entertaining part, I have clearly labeled the sections of this review that pertain to the actual sweeper itself. Please feel free to skip over the beginning story and go directly to the essential part of the review.
For the rest of you, after the kind of summer I have had, I deserve to talk a little about it, and you deserve to have a little fun. READ ON!
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A couple of days ago I was in my room after a rather bizarre summer. My daughter came hollering to the door that the package man was there.
I was confused- I did not order a package. Now what? My mind raced.
Oh No. The New York City Unibomber had chosen my house.
I HAD to be the lucky one that is why I was getting this bizarre gift. I mean after all, nothing in life is free, right?.....but I am getting ahead of myself here. Let's rewind just a touch.
WHY DID I REACT SO ODDLY TO THE ARRIVAL OF THIS PACKAGE
I mean, after being very ill, having our kids get in a car accident when they were supposed to be home being babysat, having our beloved pet die of stroke when I picked her up, hurting my back so I could hardly walk for much of the summer, having a bizarre eye peeling allergy to a mysterious weed in my yard (the insides of my lids peel- it is so gross), having our propane company suddenly charge us for a clerical error they made last year with no explanation, having our refrigerator stop working during the hottest summers in years, only to have the insurance company claim for 2 months of continuous calling that they have no record of us....etc,...I have been a bit shell-shocked.
Additionally, the week that I received this bizarre gift had started out rather strangely....
THE AMBULANCE
I am an artist. Color rocks my world. After many years of searching, I found this fabulous resource for pigments (cosmetics that are professional grade and can be mixed into lipstick, nailpolish, put on eyes, etc, and I paint with them as well) and they were so inexpensive it was almost impossible to believe. As an artist obsessed with color, this was the cause for celebration.
My order arrived on Monday. This amazing woman sent me a variety of samples of other colors bringing the total order up to 60 colors.
I was ecstatic, my life's search was coming to an end. A color I have waited for 2 decades to find for was in my grasp at last.
I went to my bedroom and start putting this stuff all over my arms and face. Boy it was beautiful- iridescent duochrome colors and like peacock feathers- just amazing.
The joy of seeing such beautiful amazing color was thrilling me, and precious little had thrilled me all summer. I continued to cover my entire face and body with glistening brilliant duochromatic color. Finally, feeling guilty for neglecting my household duties, I returned to cleaning my room again.
Suddenly, my six year old burst into the room screaming about an emergency vehicle going up the road. What do you want? I live in rural farm country. That is a big deal. I did not think much of it until she came shrieking in once again about how it was at the neighbor's house.
Our neighbors on one side are in their 80's and I checked with them via phone immediately to make sure they were OK. It turned out to be the neighbors on the other side of us, whom we talk to only occasionally when we see them at the store. I have way too much work to do on our little farmette to socialize with neighbors much.
Suddenly our 80 year old neighbor husband came tearing out of the door jumping in his truck like Batman and screeches to my driveway to pick me up and then tears to the neighbor's house- where the neighbor is so lawn conscious that he starts mowing in April even when snow is still around. The truck goes screaming up the lawn up to the house. I almost collapsed laughing. If the neighbor with the ambulance at his house was not already suffering from a heart attack, he would be seeing his lawn all molested by a truck!
We ran up to the house and the kids were just staring at me. Well, I am not social, they probably think a lot of things.
The husband had a severe allergic reaction to a bee sting (never had one before) and his throat closed, but they caught it in time.
The neighbor's wife was apologizing for scaring us and I just kept saying we just wanted to help if we could. She just stared at me (she does that a lot anyway) and then we left. I got home and gave the report to my sobbing daughter that was convinced someone died, and then I happened to pass the mirror.
Oh dear God- I could NOT BELIEVE I went out the door like that. Greasy hair, dirty garden clothes completely covered with glittery iridescent smeared colors. I looked like a homeless person who fell into a dumpster at a cosmetic factory.
THE SALESMAN
You would think I would learn from this- OH NO! NOT ME!
Wednesday I had to show my friends on Makeup alley my new makeup. They wanted to see photos.
So I made up my eyes like peacock feathers and put on a huge peacock feather breastplate that I designed some years ago. COMPLETELY covered to the waist with peacock feathers.
I was just about done and knew that I had like five minutes to snap pictures before my eyes started to water from the evil weed outside, when there was a knock at the door.
A salesman was here to drop off an order of schoolbooks and he wanted to show me how to use them.
Oh NO! NOT AGAIN!
I knew that I had to take photos so I ran like lightning across the doorway hollering about photos and being there in a minute and snapped like a ton of photos and then went on the porch. He kept relatively straight face while talking to this maniac dressed like a peacock in the middle of nowhere.
At least the UPS man did not make his usual appearance when I was caught in an evening dress, covered with bizarre alien makeup or having my face covered in black soot by my aspiring six year old makeup artist while I napped!
BACK TO THIS WEIRD PACKAGE
I looked at the return address- FED EX? Joe Paniagua? I don't know anyone by that name in NYC.
Flick Me Open- Oh GOD IT IS A NY UNIBOMBER. I mean why would someone send me a gift with the words flick me open on it?
I began to panic. Anthrax. Some kind of cruel joke.
I put the package on my bed, circling around it like an animal studying its prey.
Where should I open it?
I ran out on the porch carrying the mysterious package like Batman in the old TV series carrying a bomb.
I reached out in front of me and gingerly took my knife pushing the box as far away as possible. At least if it was anthrax, I would have a good chance of survival......
I checked the wind with my finger in the air. Yep. All was still. I should be able to contain the virus long enough to see what was in the box and then run into the house.
One..... (reaching at full arm's length with a knife cutting each side of the box while covering my mouth with a cloth).....two .....three sides --OPEN!
I ducked my head and covered my face to avoid that deathly attack.
Once open I waited a moment before I lifted my head slightly.
No white powder. No explosion.
I peeked out of one eye.
I saw a glimpse or orange and yellow.
Hmm. I like color, but maybe the sender did that to lure me in.
I crept slowly over to the box like a cat with all muscles taut ready to bolt if necessary.
So far so good.
I could not read very well, what was it?
Gingerly I picked up the paper from the top of ........an orange box of a SWIFFER CARPETFLICK!??!.
Oh dear God, did I feel like a complete idiot! I bet the UPS man was parked in the weeds somewhere eating his lunch enjoying the show.......
WHAT IS THE SWIFFER CARPETFLICK LIKE?
Once I had recovered from the extreme stress of the situation in a few days, I decided to pursue this orange package and see what it was like.
In the package was an orange base, three metal poles, another metal pole with an orange handle on it, and a package of four sticky cards.
The SWIFFER CARPETFLICK is similar to a tiny vacuum, but it does not need electricity or batteries to run.
There is an orange square base on a swivel/pivot hinge at the end of a metal tube. There are two other tubes that fit into that tube much like the way our extensions fit on our vacuum hose. A little button springloaded secures the sections together. The top has a very nice ergonomic handle on it. The bottom of the handle is soft gripable plastic and the top is hardened for solidness. There is a large soft plastic ring on the handle for hanging.
The head of this unit is very simple- no moving parts.
The top is domed with a slot in the side. Above the slot is a little orange button that does not push in- this holds a card that is similar to the old computer cards in the days before PC's were common place. To those younger people- it is slightly shorter than a business sized envelope.
The bottom of the unit has a bar across an opening that is slightly smaller than the card that goes in it. On each long edge of the opening are two very stiff velour like strips of fabric similar to a floor head for a shop vac. Just beyond each red velour like strip are two opening that are as long. These openings are curved up into the unit so that debris is raised from the rug by the strips and then deflected into the long openings which dome up into the unit.
The card that goes into this is sticky on each side. You have to peel off paper to expose the sticky.(warning: this is a FASCINATING occupation for little children) The white side goes up and the orange side goes down- this is clearly marked on the unit. The card has a hole in it that snaps onto that orange stationary button I told you about earlier- to make sure that the card stays in place once you slide it into the slot on the top of the unit.
HOW DOES THE SWIFFER CARPETFLICK WORK?
This little gizmo is quite interesting. I decided to test it on a horrible area of carpet in a catch all room in our house. I had not been able to vacuum it in a long time. I mean if I am going to test it, I might as well REALLY test it, right?
This unit is to use only on rugs- not floors. You slide the head back and forth over the surface of the carpet and the bottom of the sticky card catches light lint, hair, grass, etc. The top of the card has the heavier stuff it throws up into the unit and catches- glitter, paper shreds, dirt, etc.
Once the card is full, you pull it out and throw it away.
HOW WELL DID THIS WORK ON MY DIRTY RUG?
I was very impressed- this unit took a small area, about 8' by 8' and sufficiently cleaned my horribly dirty rug so that if company was coming over suddenly and I did not have time to vacuum, I could easily have passed this off quickly and easily. It took about 5 minutes tops. The rug looked clean with nothing left behind at all to make it look bad.
Here is a list of what this SWIFFER CARPETFLICK picked up on my rug
TOP SIDE OF STICKY CARD:
uncooked rice
popcorn
dirt
seeds
popped balloon fragments
torn paper
garlic skins
corn chip crumbs
glitter (yes I dumped a bag of glitter all over just for fun)
grass
leaves
watermelon seeds
lint
dried tomato pieces
and lots of unidentifiable other chunks and crumbs I would rather not explore
BOTTOM SIDE OF STICKY CARD
fuzz of all different colors
hair
lint
grass
tiny stones
glitter
and lots of very find unidentifiable particles that I would rather not explore further
MY CLOSING COMMENTS
I am very impressed with the SWIFFER CARPETFLICK. The card complete filled up before I had to throw it away. It made my rug look very passable until I can get around to vacuuming it. It is easy to use, and glides over the carpet beautifully. The card is easy to put in and easy to take out. The unit is small, and easy to hang up. Lightweight, it is great for people who do not have a lot of strength in their arms or hands.
A few things I have noticed:
--You have to make sure you are over a garbage receptacle when you remove the card.
--This is a one use card- make sure you REALLY want to use it as they are not cheap to replace.
--This is for pick ups on the surface, but it is NOT a substitution for vacuuming- just in case you are tempted to try it....:D
--If you have heavy pile rugs, or hardwood floors, this is not for you.
--Moms with young children- you may want to think twice about using this as a tool to teach kids about vacuuming. Peeling paper off of the sticky cards is not something you want to introduce your young children to. I am still cleaning up the residue from the 20ft path of sanitary napkins that my 6 year old laid down from the driveway to the back door of the house.......
I highly recommend this unit to anyone who has to deal with berber or low pile carpeting in their home. It is great when you can not lug out the vacuum and you have a light spill to contend with that is surface on the rug. It is especially nice for families with young children, or those who have stairs and can not lug the vacuum up and down the stairs.
It is fabulous for those days when someone pops in and you want to QUIETLY and QUICKLY make your rug look acceptable.
WHERE CAN YOU FIND THIS UNIT?
The SWIFFER CARPETFLICK is available at all kinds of places where you find other cleaning supplies- drugstores like CVS, grocery stores, Walmart and other superstores. I have not been to the store to check prices yet so I can not tell you what they are in our area. However, I do know that they are currently running a special coupon offer at www.swiffer.com.
Despite my horrific reaction to receiving this unexpected gift in the mail, I must say it was all worth it- I really love my little SWIFFER CARPETFLICK.
Oh yes--Just to let you know--I received this product from Hass MS&L so that I could review it- but if you read this whole review, you already knew that, right? HAHHAHAA
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Caprig
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Location: NE US- 2 email me delete REMOVETHIS
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Product-Evaluation/Information-Specialist. Too Busy to Be KIND to Others? You are TOO BUSY.
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