Housekeeping is no laughing matter
Melamine sponges are a very inexpensive and very effective way to clean almost all surfaces in your home.
I remember the day I discovered them, I couldn’t understand why I’d never heard of melamine before. There was a reddit thread about lifehacks, and someone was touting a 100-pack of sponges that were so good they could “clean the spots off a leopard”.
Then I realized, I have heard of these sponges before, just not under their actual name:
Mr. Clean has been marketing a product for years called the “Magic Sponge”, a grossly overpriced but otherwise effective product. I don’t want to spoil it for you, but these sponges are almost exactly the same as the version that come in 100-ct for cents a piece.
Magic eraser vs. melamine sponges
Now I don’t know about you, but $19.99 sounds like a pretty hefty price for 8 sponges to me…
Let’s take a look at the off-brand melamine sponges that are almost exactly the same:
Wow. Pretty amazing! Almost makes you wish you thought of it first, right?
Standard Melamine sponges are selling 100 for $6.30. That means Mr. Clean brand Magic Sponges sell for $2.50 a piece, versus the off-brand sponges that are literally 6 cents a sponge.
Unfortunately, not all of us are marketing geniuses like the people at Mr. Clean, and so we tend to cheap out instead of paying out the nose for brand products especially when it comes to house cleaning services.
But, you know what? You’re only kinda cheaping out.
The primary difference between Magic Sponge and melamine sponges is the durability. Magic Sponges certainly last a bit longer – you could probably use one or two of them to clean your bathtub (melamine is a material that dissolves somewhat while you use it, so they tend to “disintigrate” as you clean). The standard melamine sponges dissolve very quickly and you could easily go through 6 of them cleaning a single tub. But at ¢6? Who cares really?
So now that we’ve got the negatives out of the way, let’s take a look at what melamine IS good for:
- Cleaning grime off tubs
- Tile and grout cleaning
- Toilet scrubbing
- Sink and water fixture polishing
- Wall washing (be careful, if you rub too hard you may notice paint wearing off)
- Stains and messes on tabletops
- Stove cleaning
- Glass cleaning
- Wiping down baseboards
It’s a pretty versatile product, that’s for sure. I think they should be a staple in the arsenal of any maid or housekeeper. I’d rate these a 7/10 for home cleaning purposes.
Get out there and give em a shot. Especially on the areas in a home that are commonly missed during a cleaning.You can pick them up at Amazon whenever you feel like it. You’ll be glad you did.
Make sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook – we’d love to hear your house and apartment cleaning tips!
-Dan @ Easyway Maid Service
GET UPDATES No charge. Unsubscribe anytime.