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Cleaning, Kitchen

Product Review: Scrub Daddy

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Scrub Daddy original

I kept seeing these cute little smiley face scrub sponges, the Scrub Daddy, on QVC, and wanted to know how well they worked but didn’t want to pay the shipping and handling fees since I already found my perfect scrubber in my favorite Spaghetti Scrub that I rave about in ‘My Favorite Cleaning Gadgets’ blog.

Well, didn’t they come out with a larger ‘brick’ version of the cute little smiley face, meant for bigger jobs called Scrub Daddy Heavy Duty? This was back at the end of winter/brink of spring and I knew my grill really needed a deep cleaning for the season. It was on a special one-time value and my mom said she’d split the pack of 5 with me, so why not?

The inventor of these was on that Shark Tank reality show, and these sponges are made from a special material that’s not supposed to scratch. What specifically caught my attention was he kept saying it was good on grills and grease. I then watched him clean a filthy oven with nothing but water, and it looked amazing.

The inventor and his invention…

 

Scrub Daddy Heavy Duty; one cut in half

It did scrub extremely well, I will not deny that by any means. And it did not scratch anything I’ve tried yet. However, the special material does NOT like grease whatsoever. I purchased a nice, used cast iron frypan at an estate sale that had been recently sandblasted and re-seasoned. Beautiful! (I have no patience with new cast iron so it is my new goal in life, to find nice, used pieces like this that are already broken in for me! :P) It was pretty clean, but of course I wanted to test out my new Scrub Daddy and see how much more grease it could pull off of this frypan. And it worked! Cold water, no soap, and it got a good little bit of grease off of the pan. (You can’t use soap on cast iron, remember, so another reason I wanted to try this.) After I was done, however, I couldn’t get the grease stain out of the sponge and it was literally the first time I used it. These are advertised as working and lasting for months. Hmm…

I tried another sponge on some old caulk that needed to come off the edge of my shower. For this task I used a bucket of cold water, the Scrub Daddy, and a paint scraper. I did get everything off, but I think the paint scraper did most of the real work. It was a tough call, but I was mostly annoyed that the Scrub Daddy wasn’t staying firm, as I felt like it would have done a better job if it had. They are supposed to stay firm in cold water for coarse scrubbing and soft in warm water for gentle. My experiences have all been that they are flexible in both warm and cold water, although it was a little more firm with the cold water than the warm.

Scrub Daddy Heavy Duty box front

The next thing I tried the Scrub Daddy out on was the car. It did much better than the soft sponge I have at getting the bugs off the front! That is one area I do recommend using it. I used cold water and Armor All Car Wash & Wax.

Alright, the time has come to try it on the grill. I have washed a couple of small grill baskets I put veggies into with the same sponge I used first on the cast iron skillet, so a little bit more grease has built up on it at this point. I’m really sorry I didn’t take a picture of it before using it on the grill because afterwards it had to go directly into the trashcan and I couldn’t touch anything because my hands were so caked in grease. So, yeah…again, the Scrub Daddy really did scrub most of the grease and grime off of the grill and grates. It just would NOT come off of the sponge, even using the ‘jet’ setting on my outdoor hose. And by the time I was done it was just pushing the grease around on both my hands and the grill so I did have to take an old Spaghetti Scrub and some paper towels out to finish the job. I have to say I have never gotten so much grease on myself scrubbing the grill before. And the Spaghetti Scrub or honestly, even the scrubby side of a regular sponge don’t collect grease like that until they are a bit more used and abused at the end of their life cycles.
My friend purchased the original Scrub Daddy (smiley face version) and really liked it for her dishes. She used it to peel zucchini (another thing they advertise about its scrubbing power is that it scrubs the skin off of your vegetables!) and said little pieces of zucchini are unfortunately now stuck in the sponge material that she can’t get out so she will not be using it for that again. You might be able to see in my picture the tiny flecks of white caulk that are stuck in mine.

 

Another thing I feel I should mention was that they advertise that you can cut the Heavy Duty “bricks” in half. One of the sponges I immediately did so with because I was splitting a set of 5 with my mom, so we decided to split the 5th one literally in half. Well, there was a huge air bubble in the middle, so the sponge was going to break down faster than normal. Luckily QVC’s  customer service took care of it and sent me a new one immediately. Let’s hope you’d get that same service if purchased elsewhere, too!
Back of Scrub Daddy HD box

My overall feeling is that if you don’t have access to the Spaghetti Scrub (I did see these at World Market!!) and you do have access to the Scrub Daddy, I would totally go for it. Their site says they are sold at Bed Bath & Beyond, Walmart, and a few other retailers. I would think it would be great to use the same way that I already use my Spaghetti Scrub on the dishes, and I think it would also be good for cleaning soap scum in the tub. Like I said before, I also liked it on the bugs on the car!!

I would just make sure to keep the Scrub Daddy away from anything that has any amount of grease on it, particularly from a grill. I am curious to hear if the original one works any better than the large one since they are supposed to be the same, and I also wonder if the grease inside of the oven will do the same as the items that had grill grease since I watched him clean the oven on TV with no problem!!! Looking at the Heavy Duty product description on their website I now see in parenthesis “solvents, grease, oils and other substances may resist rinsing”. Ugh!
Have you tried the Scrub Daddy? Which one? What do you like to use it on? Did you have any grease troubles like me?!

 

Cleaning, Kitchen

My Favorite Cleaning Gadgets

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I mentioned all of these in the “Baking Soda Bath” blog, but here is an official shout-out to my favorite things to clean with. Of course everyone has their own way to do things, and different things work for different people. I’d love to hear what other products you love to clean with!

Spaghetti Scrub

Spaghetti Scrub’s website domain name says it all—goodbye, detergent! These scrubs are completely natural, made of either corn cobs (harsher; not for nonstick or glassware) or peach pits (safe for the latter). Naturally color-coded as yellow and pink, respectively. 🙂 They claim that you don’t need to use ANY detergent unless something is really greasy, then you might need a dab. I still use dish soap, but it’s very mild and it doesn’t suds up quite as crazy as the big name brands do, so having the spaghetti scrub really helps me cut through the grease if the suds start to run low! I can also wash my wood cutting board and knives with it using only water, which is ideal for these types of items.

Peach pit Spaghetti Scrub

Since I do keep a few nonstick things around, I only purchase the pink ones. I do have to admit that I was extremely skeptical at first! We purchased a box for the store I worked in and used them in our break room. They come in a box of two, and these things LAST! We used it pretty heavily (you’d be surprised by how many pans we’d wash for customers…plus our own dishes from lunch and store demonstrations), and I just started to realize how well it scrubbed and how little detergent you really did need! It doesn’t totally work for wiping down counters, though, so I still crave a sponge for those jobs. I use the scrubby side of a sponge more than the regular side, and those wear out pretty quickly with heavy use like that, so the Spaghetti Scrub is a great way to make my sponges last SO MUCH longer than they used to. Things also don’t seem to stick to it like the scrubby side of a sponge can when the job is really dirty.

Point is, the price may seem a little steep the first time you buy, but they last forever and do a great job, so you won’t remember how you did things without it!

Mrs. Meyers Dish Soap

Mrs. Meyer’s dish soap

Mrs. Meyers cleaning products are probably the least expensive natural items you can find and it’s starting to get easier to find in major stores! With a lot of the national brands, personally, my skin gets irritated and I have a hard time remembering which ones do and which ones don’t. I have been lucky enough to have been able to try a few “fancy” brands and Mrs. Meyers liquid dish soap (absolute favorite is the honeysuckle scent!) is still my top pick.

Granted, if my dishes are extremely greasy, Mrs. Meyers might not suds up as crazily as the big brands still would. That is probably another reason I like having the Spaghetti Scrub on hand, since you technically shouldn’t need soap with it unless something’s super greasy. But even without the Spaghetti Scrub, I was still using Mrs. Meyers and loving it. They make great scents, too!

Insider tip: Caldrea is the same company! Their scents are a little too overwhelming for me but I do love that the sets come in a little caddy.

Casabella Dish Brush

I was never raised to use a dish brush. I’m unsure if they made them safe for nonstick back when I was growing up, but that’s the only thing my mom and I can think of as to why she never tried one before. Long before the Spaghetti Scrub was on the market I decided that I use the scrubby side of my sponge too often and wear it out pretty quickly. Once I bought a dish brush, that ended, and I soon realized that it’s a heck of a lot easier to pre-scrub a dirty pan with just a dish brush and water before dunking it in the dishpan and ruining the soapy water! I like to keep it in my arsenal even though I also keep the Spaghetti Scrub on hand. The Spaghetti Scrub isn’t as good as the dish brush for pre-cleaning because if it gets too greasy it really needs to be rinsed in soapy water, in my opinion, whereas a dish brush is usually OK with just a rinse.

Casabella dish brush

The Casabella dish brush comes in fun colors, is relatively inexpensive, and safe on nonstick surfaces, so that’s why it’s my top choice. I don’t know that I would trust anything cheaper with my nonstick unless I really trusted the brand name like I do with Casabella.

Norpro Pan Scraper

Norpro pan scraper

You can find flimsy little plastic pan scrapers for less than a dollar, but I stepped up my game and grabbed the Norpro pan scraper (for a whole dollar!) as soon as it came into our store. We used pan scrapers for EVERYTHING around that place, so I quickly learned their versatility and adopted it into my home. I also keep one at work for random office administration emergencies—you may not be surprised how handy it has been! The Norpro is a thicker, larger pan scraper with a very thick edge that is a comfortable spot to grip it at.

o-cel-o Sponge

Non-scratch o-cel-o sponge

A sponge is a sponge, but generally o-cel-o is what you find in most stores. Blue means scratch-free, although they sometimes make other fun colors, too, that are scratch-free. The package will actually tell you if it is or not. I have to have a sponge around because you still need to sop up messes, and a dish brush or Spaghetti Scrub just can’t do that for you. Some people prefer a dish cloth because they feel a sponge holds germs more, but I think they both have that potential if you don’t keep them out of the sink where people are dumping things all over it. A good suggestion I came up with to ensure your sponge stays out of the sink is to buy a soap saver as a “sponge rest”. I did this at my office and it’s gone over swimmingly!

Barkeeper’s Friend

Barkeeper’s Friend is an inexpensive product that’s very similar to baking soda and Comet that you should always have on hand, because you can clean anything with it! It’s safe for nonstick and glass, and actually sucks grease out of porous nonstick surfaces. They now make a liquid formula, but the original powder and a little water go a long way. I use this to get sticky things off and stains out, amongst other uses! See “Baking Soda Bath” blog.

Barkeeper’s Friend

Cascade Complete Pacs Dishwasher Pods

Cascade Complete

While I am not a huge proponent of using the dishwasher (ranty blog on its way!), the Cascade Complete Pacs are the only dishwashing product I have found to actually clean the dishes and not leave a residue. I once lived with a roommate who demanded we use the dishwasher and I was always running the thing 2-3 times trying to get the dang dishes clean! Another friend heard my dilemma and immediately bought me a giant pack of the Cascade with gel pods from Costco, and the rest is history!

Casabella Sponge/Brush Holder

After I decided that I couldn’t live without a dish brush, then came the dilemma of keeping it out of the sink and relatively dry and clean. I first tried one of the aforementioned Caldrea soap/lotion set caddies, but it wasn’t tall enough. I searched high and low, and finally stumbled across the Casabella Sink Sider Faucet Sponge Holder – at Ace Hardware of all places! (Our kitchen store didn’t carry it, and I lived near one of the Ace Hardware stores that also sell housewares—these stores are heaven if you can find one!! My father actually worked for Ace for many years so I always joked that it was like his store and my kitchen store had a baby together.) The only thing I wish I had thought of sooner was the fact that it comes apart for cleaning, which you should do to keep water buildup out of it. (Yes, you need to keep your cleaning products clean! This goes for your dish drying rack, too.)

Casabella faucet sponge holder


Veg-Hog Veggie Brush

Veg-hog vegetable brush

The Veg-Hog Veggie Brush by Boston Warehouse (Animal House) is not only just plain adorable, but very functional, just like all of their products. The Veg Hog has actually been rated, which is just hilarious to think about rating cleaning supplies, but this baby makes headlines!

Another veggie brush that just feels perfectly ergonomic, at least in my hand, is this Vegetable Ring bamboo brush by Full Circle. The circle shape seems weird, but it feels ergonomic!

The only other product I am hoping to add to my arsenal again is the Chef’n Sudster. They’ve changed the design a teeny bit, but it looks the same and I thought it dispensed just the right amount of soap for washing just one dish or two at a time without having to fill up a dishpan. I did knock or drop it into the sink a LOT, which is what broke it eventually, so there’s that to consider. Looking at the new design, it actually looks less prone to breakage. Now I really want to buy another one!

Cleaning, Kitchen

Cleaning Pans With a Baking Soda “Bath”

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Baking soda or Barkeeper’s Friend are both safe on almost every surface and can be used to clean a whole lot more than pots and pans. I use this method on everything that has something that just doesn’t seem to want to come off— it even helps with stickers that just won’t come off of something!

The baking soda bath is also GREAT for nonstick cookware, when you think it’s “not nonstick” anymore, it generally means the pores are all clogged with filth.  Leaving the baking soda concoction on it helps draw everything up out of those pores!

I used a grill pan as my example so I can show you how well this method truly works. And it’s cheap! You don’t need the specific cleaning tools I use, aside from the baking soda, but I prefer what I use and feel they hold up to rough cleanings like this and keep on keepin’ on! (So it’s what I most highly recommend!)

Dirty grill pan!


I usually save my ickiest pans for the end of a load of dishes, that way if I need to let them soak, I don’t have to waste any more water. I will generally take one pass at something before resorting to the soak, just to loosen up anything I can to start it off on the right foot.

I didn’t soak this pan before going for the baking soda bath, but a lot of times I do, especially because I’m hoping I don’t have to resort to this method and that the soak will do the trick! This particular pan actually had several uses of buildup on it before I tried getting it clean. It’s a grill pan—meant to be ugly! But it proves my method swimmingly.

The first layer of baking soda is applied…


I washed this pan in mostly greasy leftover dishpan water. Rinsed it off and immediately applied a layer of baking soda. Move it around with your fingers, drizzle more water on it, etc. as needed. Try not to just pour more water on it because you will end up dumping most of your concoction down the drain! You want it paste-like. Let it sit—the longer the better, so go ahead and start wiping down the counters and sweeping the floor.

Not looking too bad after the first scrub-a-dub!

 

Implements of war!

 Take the scrubby side of a sponge, a dish brush, or in my case, a Spaghetti Scrub, mix with elbow grease, and scrub that baby! Rinse your sponge throughout to get maximum scrubbing in. Depending on how dirty the pan is, you might have to repeat this step a few times. This grill pan in my example seemed like a lost cause after one round, but was almost totally clean after a second bout. I left a tad bit of a stain to ensure to you that it wasn’t a second pan or anything sneaky like that! When you’ve finished it up, I recommend washing the pan thoroughly in warm, soapy water to get rid of any residue from the baking soda or Barkeeper’s Friend.

Finished product! Like new!


Norpro pan scraper


I also like to break out a nylon pan scraper when doing something heavy-duty like this. This particular pan has ridges, so I didn’t really use it much this time around, but generally I will use this before even grabbing the sponge or dish brush. You can find flimsier, cheaper ones, but this one by Norpro is only a dollar and is extremely sturdy!

Read more details about my favorite cleaning gadgets here!