Woolite Rug Stick: Hope It Can Double as a Cane Later!

So, back to life. I'm trying new things again, and enlightening my small mass of friends with my dubious commentary on said things.

A friend of mine fretted for a bit over my OCD-style of cleaning in comparison to her own. (She needn't have worried, as she is just as clean as I.) But, her comments to me made me chuckle a little, thinking of how the wife is often the one who worries how the house looks, while the husband will often survey the homestead and just be happy that he can find the toilet and the 'fridge. And, why not? If the house looks like a tornado hit it, no matter how many hours the wife works and takes care of the kids, she is usually the one that people will whisper about: "Tsk, tsk; she sure isn't much of a cleaner, is she?"

Anyway, on to the Woolite Rug Stick.

The 'stick retails for about 16 bucks at Kroger, but it was on sale for $13, and I had a $3.00 coupon. I figured that 10 bucks was not too much to spend for another foray into The Cleaning Unknown.

It was easy to assemble and set up, but it did not seem to make much sense at first glance. From where was the foam spray coming? I was afraid to look for a nozzle, as I am very prone to getting shot in the eye when I attempt such things. I found the "lock" button, though, and went about trying to figure out how this could work as well as it appeared on the All-Knowing Commercial.

Taking a deep breath, I unlock the safety knob, and attempt to clean the carpet area coming into my living room from the foyer. A medium-sized stain had mysteriously appeared there in the last few days, and nobody wants to own up to it. (As an aside, I think that's why some people have babies: easy to blame for stains, hard to be angry at.)

There are no buttons, no way to make it "go." Just make a sweeping motion with the brush side up, the instructions read. I did so.

Nothing happened.

Okay, it's a new can of foam. Even though I shook it well per directions at setup, I took it out and shook it again.

Nothing happened.

I checked if it was unlocked. It was. I quickly put it down; I like my eyes.

I made one huge, deep pressure sweep on the carpet, much like one would do while hoeing a garden.

Success!

Now I have on my carpet a scenario that looks like I was trying to grow cucumbers, failed, and tried to cover it with a blast from a fire extinguisher.

I do a few more sweeps with a little less pressure in an area that was about 2' X 3'. I made sure to go over the Mysterious Stain very well. But, not too much; this stuff has to dry and be vacuumed later.

I flip over the 'stick and start about trying to use the brush side. Here is where I started to get VERY aggravated. I swear to all dieties that I am not a tall woman. I'm about average; pre-kids, I was 5'6", and since I have had them, I am told that I am now 5'5". I had to bend waaaaaaay over to brush the carpet, which is the major selling point of this device. "Fluffs the carpet!" it churps, never mentioning that you basically have to be bent in half to do it effectively.



Not pictured above: The chiropractor's bill. Apparently, he demands payment in bananas.

However, as I am a trooper for The Great Cleaning Quest, I braved my screaming back and swipe, swipe, swiped the area. It looked a little more fluffy. The stain was still visible, though; in fact, it looked darker. Okay, this is explained away with simple chemistry (or is it biology?) and not a huge worry. I decided that I was going to walk away and let it dry, and then make my final assessment.

Later....

I come back to the spot, which is now a 2'X 3' area of slightly lighter carpet than the surrounding carpet, with a still-obvious stain in the middle. But, it is very fluffy!

Final Assessment

My back smarts just looking at my stain-ensconced-in-fluff area. This product is touted for "high traffic areas," but in my high traffic area, it did little to nothing. It did not lift and pull any major dirt out of the carpet; I suspect the lighter colored carpet comes from the extreme fluffing. The fluffing, while nice, could be achieved with a vacuum cleaner and some tenacity. Vacuums, I note with a bit of snark, seem to be more friendly for people who are taller than 4'10".

In short, I paid 10 bucks for a glorified hairbrush for my carpet.

Edited to add: I totally forgot to remark on the smell. How could I?? Anyway, the one good thing that this product had going for it was the smell. There seemed to be none. :)