Getting Your Clean On

A review, in three parts.

Readers, I am all for stuff that makes my life easier, and the Activeion cleaning solution fits the bill. Here’s how to do it.

• Step 1. Plug in the unit for about three hours.
• Step 2. While it charges, go the dollar store and buy 5 microfiber towels for wiping purposes. While you are there, pick up a three-pack of microfiber face scrubbies, or the throw-away ones (not cotton).
• Step 3. Come home and make a cup of mint tea to recharge. Then straighten up the house, planning your cleaning routine.
• Step 4. ATTACK DIRT! At this point, if it pleases you, you may comport yourself as a robot would, beeping and booping as you navigate your cleaning journey, with your arms bent 1970’s-Barbie-style, and a monotone voice. (Yes, I tried it, and yes, it is fun.)

Here’s how it fared, part #1:

General cleaning.

• Floor tile. In my vestibule, I have 12x12 rust-colored tiles that I try to avoid cleaning, because it’s really a lot of work. Whenever the cats vomit there (and they do like to) I have had to scrape it up with a razor blade and then spray Simple Green or apply super hot water, then scrub. I didn’t realize there was so much residue on the tiles (from the cats, and from outdoor dirt). But I sprayed the Activeion, and I then wiped with a really cheap microfiber towel. This cleaning was like a dream. No work at all!
• Carpet – pet stains. Ok. I have Stainmaster carpet in the living/dining room and hallway. So I didn’t think this would be so ay-ay-ay-special for this carpet. As it is, I just wipe and vacuum after it’s dry and no stain remains. But Butch and Twinkie have a favorite throw up spot. (Disgusting, but true.) I liked this sprayer a lot because although the carpet is named Stainmaster, it's not named Stinkmaster. This seems to remove the icky stink. I can't imagine how that would work, but it does.
• Carpet – makeup stains. This thing worked on a powder blush stain from makeup that fell onto my palest oyster (non-Stainmaster) bedroom carpet, years ago. Stain remover wouldn’t get rid of it, but this did!
• Indoor walls. This removed finger streaks from my walls without removing the paint along with it (*cough* Mr. Clean Magic Eraser *cough*). Also, you know when your favorite high-heeled shoe flies out of your hands at high velocity because you absent-mindedly put lotion on your hands but picked the shoe up anyway and the shoe hits your wall and leaves suspicious-looking black marks that you can’t remove from your pale pink bedroom walls, even though the marks are embarrassingly high and people wonder what your shoe was doing at that height and they never believe your story, even though it is totally true? Yes? Well, it got rid of those marks too.
• Car. After about 45 days of rain here in Massachusetts, my car was pretty clean, but at the bottom of its body there was still lots of dirt. One long shpritz and Veronica’s bottom was gorgeous again!
• Outdoor cleaning. I told my parents about the bottle, and they had to see it work to believe it. So I brought it over. I cleaned their outside door and metal step-plate (I dunno its proper name, sorry) in about three minutes, as well as some greenish mildewy stuff right off a shingle. It was remarkable!

Excited yet? Keep reading.