I Tried the Nifty Cleaning Tool My Favorite TikTok Follow Says She Can’t Live Without
I never saw a TikTok video from pro cleaner Vanessa Amaro that didn’t make my life better — and my house cleaner. The other week, during a scroll session, I came across one of her tips that really caught my attention. In the post, which has more than 15,000 likes, Amaro name-drops a cleaning product that she personally can’t live without (read: No sponsorships, just pure love).
The tool? A Swiffer duster with an extendable handle. I’m always up for a good experiment in the name of a neat and tidy living space, so I ordered one from Target, and eagerly awaited its arrival. Did it live up to my hopes? Well, keep reading.
In the video, a six-foot-long duster is shown to dust off tall areas while Amaro narrates its awesomeness. “I just can’t live without them,” she says as the duster easily reaches the tip-top of kitchen cabinets and that tricky spot where the ceiling meets the wall. “These things are amazing at getting all the dust; all the cobwebs.”
Cobwebs, you say? I split my time between my place in New York and Vermont, where my boyfriend lives. While I love our cozy Vermont abode, it has a wood stove and super-tall ceilings. That translates to a lot of dust and soot in hard-to-reach places, like the fan blades and the wood beams across the two-story-tall living room. Also, there are lots of spiders.
Armed with the extendable Swiffer duster, I spent part of a recent afternoon tackling those spider webs and wispy dust bits. Overall, I was very impressed. First (and most important), the Swiffer captured a lot of yucky stuff. The duster has two arms, which are fitted with super-fluffy dust trappers. They’re made from various specialty fibers and constructed to maximize dust-capturing abilities. Because there are so many nooks and crannies, the Swiffer doesn’t just pick up dust — it locks it in. That’s a huge plus because I’ve tried some dusters that just transfer dirt from one surface to another or, worse, drop it on my face.
I also really liked that I could use the Swiffer at any length. Extended to the full six feet, I could reach the beam in the middle of the ceiling. But I easily shortened the handle for better maneuverability when I was working on the fan blades. The only hangup I had while dusting was that the delicate fibers sometimes caught on the wood beams, which are rustic and rough. If your house has smooth or painted surfaces, this Swiffer would work even better.
There’s also a lock on the duster, so you can keep the arms in place or adjust them to go from vertical to horizontal. I’ve never seen a duster do that, and I found it really useful as I moved around from project to project. The Swiffer also comes with extra dusting attachments, so you can keep cleaning even when one set gets saturated, as mine did. They’re easy to rinse clean, and very durable, so I have a feeling it will be a long time before I order replacements.
And now for one final seal of approval from my ever-skeptical boyfriend. “I’ve got to say,” he admitted, looking at the fluffy fiber attachments. “That is one nice-looking duster.”
What’s your method for cleaning hard-to-reach spots in your house? Tell us in the comments below.