The SC Johnson Smart Twist Cleaning System
The claim: The SC Johnson Smart Twist Cleaning System offers the company's most-trusted brands in one, easy-to-use system: Shout® Carpet Cleaner, fantastik Kitchen Cleaner, Pledge Furniture and Specialty Surfaces Cleaner, Scrubbing Bubbles® Bathroom Cleaner and Windex Glass Cleaner. Smart Twist brings added convenience by automatically adding the right amount of water and keeping three cleaners in one space-saving spray. The Smart Twist Cleaning System can help reduce waste, compared to buying new trigger bottles. Each cleaner cartridge requires 63 percent less plastic than a new standard spray bottle, avoids transporting up to 22.7 fluid ounces of water, depending on the formula, and is recyclable in most community programs
Cost: $24.99 for a starter kit with three refill cartridges; $7.99 for refill cartridges
Where:SCJGreenChoices.com and SmartTwist.com
The only thing I hate more than cleaning is spending money on the assorted products it takes to clean my house and clutter my cabinets.
Want to see jeers when the cleaning commercials come on TV? Come to my house.
But I think SC Johnson has something to crow about with its Smart Twist Cleaning System.
I love the notion that three cleaning products can be encompassed in one tool. Ditto the concept of purchasing concentrated cleaners in smaller bottles that snap into an easy-to-handle tool that has a well for water. Can you say ergonomically correct? It takes up minimal cupboard space, and I don't have to carry three different bottles or cans out to clean my car.
I'd even be happy to purchase it on SmartTwist.com.
It seems like a great idea — combining three oft-used cleaning products into one convenient spray bottle. Instead of buying full bottles of Windex, Pledge or Shout Carpet, you buy those same cleaners in concentrated form, and water (from the attached tank on the spray bottle) activates them.
The concept should work pretty well — each cleaner has its own nozzle, so there's no fear of mixing glass cleaner with your wood cleaner. It would have worked (for me), if it weren't for that pesky water. Perhaps because of the way it mixes, the cleaners seem overly wet and don't dry as quickly as their full-bottle counterparts. That left me feeling as if each of the cleaners wasn't as strong as normal. I'll admit, the products clean fine — it just takes them longer to dry.
However, the main reason I wouldn't go for this again is realizing that each of these concentrated cleaners runs about $7.99, while a regular bottle of Windex seems to be about $3 to $4 at most places (Pledge is about the same). Now, I'm all for going green, but when the real thing seems to work better and costs less — well, there's no choice.
I love a new toy that brings a little excitement to my housecleaning chores. The Smart Twist is a perfect example. My kit included Windex, Scrubbing Bubbles and fantastik. The system was easily assembled, I added water to the handle tank and was ready to go.
I hit the vent over the stove with fantastik, which worked its magic on the grease and grime that quickly accumulates there. The bathtub and tile walls gleamed from the Scrubbing Bubbles treatment. With a spin around to the Windex cartridge, I took aim at mirrors and a storm door.
Each product — all of which I have years of experience working with — performed as expected. The mixture of water and concentrate gave as much cleaning power as their standalone cousins.
It's a nifty gadget. My one reservation is being forced to plan ahead, because it is available only through online orders.
