ShamWow: does it work?
Wednesday, April 22, 2009 by RockstarMama
I’m an uncoordinated klutz. I spill things, break things, trip over things, couldn’t walk a balance beam to save my life and I
‘m notorious for making messes. I am single-handedly keeping the paper towels people in business… until now?
cleaning shortcut miracle, shouting, “It’s a shammy! It’s a towel! You’ll say ‘WOW’ every time!”So the guy looks like a circus freak up close and was recently arrested for beating up a prostitute. The thing sucks up an entire bowl of water! “Vacuums” a 2 liter of soda off a carpet! And you can use it to shine your boat! $20, begone! I must have my ShamWow!
According to the commercial, the multi-talented ShamWow all but gets you dressed in the morning, bakes you cinnamon rolls and chauffers you to work. I was more or less convinced that I would be bankrupting Bounty paper towels within a week.
But as you know… I’ve been fooled before, like when I nearly had to be hospitalized following a test run of the Smooth Away.
EXPERIMENT #1: The Bowl Test
The claim: ShamWow can absorb a bowl of water, and then can be held over said bowl and not drip.
See what REALLY happens:
Isn’t the dude a lovely hand model? However, following the experiment above, my husband made this very upsetting discovery:
YUCK!!! ShamSuck. To be certain that our test was fair and unbiased, we measured out the same amount of water and repeated the experiment with a 50 cent Easter Bunny towel from Wal-Mart that was exactly the same size. Guess what? Bunny absorbed every ounce of the water. (Shout out to my MIL for the festive and holiday-appropriate experiment stabilizer.)
Experiment #2: Ability to dry stuff
Claim: ShamWow easily soaks up spills and dries dishes
What we did…
PART A–Banished kids to the living room (no cones or caution tape to blockade the impending wet spill), poured 3 oz of water onto the kitchen tile, applied ShamWow. Rub. Still wet. Huh. Apply Bunny towel. Success! “You’ll say ‘WOW!’ As in wow does it suck. The SuckWow!
PART B–Wet bowl. Apply ShamWow. Rub. Hey, guess what? Not only is the bowl still wet, it is now covered with a shitload of lint. This thing is a pathetic $20 piece of now slightly less orange felt.
Experiment #3: Washing your car, boat or SUV
Claim: It works
Reality: ShamWowItSucks. After violating child labor laws and putting my 3 year-old twins to work scrubbing my SUV, I attempted to dry and shine the hood with this half-assed version of a ripped up old t-shirt. Not only did it not dry the Mommymobile, it left streaks, water marks and a crapload of lint all over the thing.
THE EVIDENCE: I dried the left half of the hood and windshield with a shammy my husband found on sale at AutoZone. Right side? ShamWowed.
Claim: The ShamWow acts like an amazing vaccum! According to the obviously-created-using-magic commercial, you can dump part of a 2-liter of coke on a square of carpet, drop on the ShamWow, flip it over, roll it up, and squeeze out all the liquid… it’s carpet-tastic! Watch the video on the official ShamWow website, and then come back to see what REALLY happens.
Does it work? Click below to find out…
Acts like a vaccuum, my ass.
If you’re doing an art project with your kids and need a couple useless, crappy pieces of felt, head to your local Walgreen’s. Even though scary website weasel dude website claims the ScamWow can’t be found in stores for the advertised price, I paid (might as well have flushed) $19 for the same deal. He also said the towels are guaranteed to last 10 years. So unless I head immediately to a raging bonfire and stuff these things where they belong, they may be laughing at me from my pantry shelf for years to come. Great.
Still need more proof? This is probably the funniest video I’ve ever seen, and except for the action figure battle, mirrors my own experience. Please enjoy.
Check out my reviews of the Smooth Away and the Leg Magic! Just added: New reviews of Youthology and Crayola’s 3D chalk! Got something else you want me to review? Submit your requests here.
Friggin awesome post.
So disappointing, though.
You should join HumorBloggers.com. They’re doing a Vince/ShamWow blog carnival coming up soon, and this one NEEDS to be included!
I agree – I got them for my b-day and they don’t work! ShamSuck!
Shawn–SWEET!! A whole carnival for Vince… muhahaha.
Jen–Nice b-day present. Next year you could ask for the Smooth Away or the FlowBee!
hilarious post.
i enjoyed the audio/visual aides along with your husband’s awesome hand modeling
too bad it didn’t work.. i’ve seen the demonstration in person at the outlet mall and it worked wonders.. i wonder whats different about the demo and the actual thing.
selling us cheap knock off versions of shamWOW..
that does shamSUCK.
Haha, this is great! I keep seeing these in the checkout line at Wal-Mart and I’m always tempted. Proof of the insidiousness of the ShamWow commercials? In line a few days ago, my 2 YEAR OLD saw them and said “ShamWow”! I loved your videos, especially the last one when your husband just throws the ShamWow in disgust. And the other video you posted with the parody? OMG. I freaking lost it while watching that. I was literally crying from laughing so hard.
OMG! I just read all your blogs while sitting bored at work and just want to say, “I LOVE YOU!” Your hilarious and def. have a way with words. I emailed your blog to all my office peeps just to have a laugh fest about 15 min. after sending it. Everyone in my office is just rolling on the floor. Keep up the blogs you’ve gained another loyal reader!!:))
1. Run through washer first. Don’t use it directly out of the package.
2. NO fabric softener in the washer or dryer.
3. Try it slightly dampened. Like the way a dry, hard sponge doesn’t absorb at first.
I like it better than a sponge in the kitchen since it drys quickly and doesn’t mildew. Not a miracle, but not useless. This isn’t new. I got mine years ago at a home and garden show – sold under a different name. I believe Trader Joe’s has a similar product in different colors! Not sure how the price compares.
I knew it! I knew it! It’s such a shame that these people are allowed to get away with the lies that they tell potential consumers. And yeah, what is up with the headset Dude has on, it looks pretty pathetic. He reminds me of like a Jim Carrey on Crack!
I am so glad I am not that “call now” gal anymore. It’s terrible that you have to actually buy it only to figure out that it sucks, probably bounty or another wad of papertowels work better. Thanks for doing this review, you have saved us from getting suckered by manufacturers who want nothing more than to empty even the lint out of your pockets along with your money!
omg…omg I love these reviews! I died laughing at them! Thank you so much, I’ll no longer feel like a fool for believeing these damn infomercials.
LOL!! That guys video post…I have tears from laughing!!!!!!!! Thanks for posting that along with your videos too. You rock!!
LOL! I’m glad I didn’t order them online. I was tempted! Thanks for the warning.
Jess–I will let him know you enjoyed the hand modeling, I’m sure he will be thrilled!
Mequet–That video made me laugh so hard. I saw that you posted it on your site, awesome!
Christine–YOU ROCK! Welcome to the rockstar fam. Glad I gave you the giggles.
GAfromCA–I wonder if the different colors also bleed? That was kinda icky. I’m glad we noticed it before washing it with any white socks!
Reddrida–”Jim Carrey on crack” OMG LOL!
Christy, Nat & Shey–thanks for reading & for the props! Happy to entertain.
I bought those about two weeks ago from the drugstore, but haven’t opened the box yet… maybe I can get my money back and revert back to the discount store for all my bunny blanket purchases.
FAIL!! I really thought shamwow was going to be pretty cool and I was telling my mother how beneficial it would be. -_-
Great post! I just have to say that I don’t believe in any of that stuff! I figure if they have to hawk it like that, there is a reason!
I loved your review of smooth away! I had thought about trying one to keep my head smooth (yep I’m a baldie), but it sounds like that isn’t going to happen this century!
Keep up the great posts!
Lmao That last video somewhat disturbing yet point proving.. Good review My sis inlaws friends a groomer and gave her some generic ones.. hmmm… colors a lil darker yet it seems to have the very same results.. cant blame this one on bein a gerneric brand I guess =) lol
Christine-Cali: LOL–if you return it and cause a scene (something along the lines of shouting “THIS THING IS CRAP!!!”) I will mail you a bunny towel.
Vic: Well, you could probably use it for… hmm. Um. You could put it under one leg of a table if the table was wobbly.
Stlheadake: Where were you a couple weeks ago when I was at the store, shelling out cash like a sucker? Perhaps you should follow me around at stores and if I reach for anything dumb, you could slap my hand away. Also, I wouldn’t attempt the smooth away on the dome unless you want a weird noggin rash.
Chick: Like, an animal groomer? Ooh, the lint factor would be a problem. Here’s your dog… sorry about all the lint. Have a nice day…
Ok. i saw that you posted your review on the sham….What?..
So i was getting ready to sue you as soon as you did another experiment using it as a towel like in teh official video were they dry the dog!… I thought that it the Sham…What? was also an “As seen on TV” thing it was likely to work just like the Smoothaway an the dog! and damage it :S
Adrian–Yeah, I don’t think I would try this on a dog. Dogs don’t seem to really be fond of regular towels. Seems like there could be a lot of growling and yelping.
Shoulda check out your review before I plunked down $20 for this piece of crap. It works as well as a piece of rubber trying to suck up water.