SonicScrubber household cleaning brush
Buy now £18.99, Amazon.co.uk
- Number of brushes: 4
- Requires 4 x AA batteries
The makers of sonic scrubber claim that using the brush makes your cleaning process 57 per cent faster. While I haven’t done the minute-by-minute breakdown, it’s certainly the quickest way to blitz my bathroom that I’ve found so far.
The unit comes with a choice of five different heads in a range of shapes and sizes, designed to tackle different tasks – the small pointed brush, for instance, is great for getting into hard-to-reach corners, while the larger round heads can make light work of flat surfaces. To swap them over, you simply twist and pull – much like the aforementioned toothbrush – and then once they’re in situ, press the on button to operate the device.
If you want a quick blast in a certain area, just press the button straight down, but for a more prolonged clean, you can slide it up to keep the scrubber going without having to push manually. It’s battery operated, requiring 4 AAs, which is handy as you don’t have to wait for it to charge, and doesn’t seem to affect the power of its motor, which spins at a rate of 10,000 oscillations per minute.
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I’ve used it on a range of surfaces and finishes, from metal to tile and even glass, and managed to achieve results I could never have dreamed of by hand. While the bristles are quite firm, I’ve not noticed any scratches or abrasion – just the shifting of gunk that our usual routine never quite managed to tackle – and so far, they’ve held up without warping or weakening at all. The only slight complaint I have is that it is, by nature, quite loud, so you’ll need headphones if you want to listen to music or a podcast while you work.
You do still have to apply some limited pressure to really drill deep down into the caked-on spots, but compared to a typical clean, there’s much less exertion involved. I would make a joke about it being the lazy girl’s dream, but the numerous five-star reviews on Amazon point out to me that this is flippant. Those with conditions ranging from carpal tunnel to osteoporosis say it’s made cleaning much easier and more accessible for them, which is another hugely important plus.
I’m almost embarrassed to utter this next note, but reader – using a sonic scrubber is also a tiny bit fun. While I’m never voluntarily going to dedicate hours of my life to the cause, there is also something hugely gratifying about attacking a stubborn corner with a perfectly-shaped cone of bristles, and watching it come up sparkling.