Shamwow! cloths wash, dry and polish any surface

[Ivan Seeking]

Main Question or Discussion Point

Shamwow! cloths wash, dry and polish any surface. They are like a towel, chamois and sponge all in one--except they're extremely absorbent and can be used over and over. Shamwow! towels are machine washable and bleachable, will not scratch surfaces, and will last for more than 10 years!

http://www.shamwow.com/

This guy is one of the strangest pitchmen that I've ever seen.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Looks pretty great to me. But I don't see this as something new as my sister used something similiar 10 years ago as a diver when drying off.

 

[turbo]

Yeah, nothing new. I have had a similar towel in my hiking gear for maybe 20 years. They are very light and absorbent. I think I bought mine at LL Bean, and it has a grommet in one corner so you can hang it from your pack frame to dry after wringing it out.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Is this the same product, or are you guys talking about chamois? And what are they called besides Shamwows?

 

[seycyrus]

If someone actually has one ofthe shamwows, please verify the claims that the commercial makes. That's some pretty incredible stuff.

 

[turbo]

Is this the same product, or are you guys talking about chamois? And what are they called besides Shamwows?

It's a thick, lightweight towel that is VERY absorbent. I think it was one of the first really practical applications for micro-fibers. I can't find my specific towel with the grommet for hanging from a pack frame, but they currently carry something similar. These are textured, but mine is a thick towel with flat surfaces. You can wipe down after a bath or swim and it sops up a lot more water than a conventional towel. The best part is that you can wring it out and keep using it until you're all dried off. It air-dries very quickly after it's wrung out, too. Very handy for long treks where weight is a factor.

http://www.llbean.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?categoryId=49952&storeId=1&catalogId=1&langId=-1&feat=36971-ppxs&dds=y

 

[Ivan Seeking]

So you can get 8 Shamwow towels for $19.95, or the towel, washcloth, and soap set at LLBean for $29.95. Which is the better deal?

I guess it comes down to the quality and number of square feet of the product. So the real question is whether the two products are identical.

I always worry about the potential for cheap spin-off products. That is, I wouldn't be surprised if the towels at LLBean are a much higher quality product. But then again, the nature of advertising is changing, so that may not be a fair assumption any longer. Maybe deals like this Shamwow can be pretty good?

It is also true that a product that rarely sells may only need a good Akroydian pitchman to put the sales through the roof.

 

[turbo]

The Shamwows might be good, but I must warn you that even the nice LL Bean towels will tend to compact and become less-lofted after years of use, so that they are not as absorbent as when they were new. Still, the fact that you can wring them out and keep drying yourself after a swim is nice - you don't need a heavy cotton bath-towel to dry off, just a small light-weight towel that takes almost no room in your pack and weighs next to nothing when it is wrung out.

 

[seycyrus]

On the commercial I've seen, the guy has a square foot of carpet. He lies it on the floor and pours a glass of colored water (juice?) on the carpet. He lift the carpet and you can see it is soaked, andthe floor underneath is all wet. He then puts the carpet back down, places a shamwow on top of the carpet for a bit and it soaks it all up.

He lifts the carpet and the shamwow soaked up the water *through the carpet*. There isn't even any stain on the carpet anymore.

 

[pantaz]

I hate infomercials in general, and really I can't listen to this guy. But, from the little bits of the demonstration I've seen, the product appears to be viscose fabric. (I believe "viscose" is a trade name for a type of rayon/cellulose non-woven material.)

I've seen the stuff marketed as camping towels, car drying towels, and pet grooming towels. The cheapest, by far, are the pet care versions -- $2 or $3 for a 20"x27" towel. They're sold at Amazon and pet supply stores under the names "Metro Absorbent Towel", "Metro Pet Towel", and "Moisture Magnet". (Just Google "pet towel" and you'll find plenty.)

 

[russ_watters]

Is this the same product, or are you guys talking about chamois? And what are they called besides Shamwows?

I'm reasonably certain that the one I used when I was a swimmer 20 years ago was the "Shammy" - http://www.shammysolutions.com/site/1618064/product/100-01

That's basically a synthetic verision (says it's rayon) of "chamois". It had a feel somewhat like foam rubber (did not feel like fabric at all, whereas chamois does), but much softer.

The claim I have a hard time believing is the lifespan. It is better than a sponge, but like a sponge, when you wring it out, you leave a little bit of what you had soaked into it in it. Over time, that'll build up.

 

[russ_watters]

On the commercial I've seen, the guy has a square foot of carpet. He lies it on the floor and pours a glass of colored water (juice?) on the carpet. He lift the carpet and you can see it is soaked, andthe floor underneath is all wet. He then puts the carpet back down, places a shamwow on top of the carpet for a bit and it soaks it all up.

He lifts the carpet and the shamwow soaked up the water *through the carpet*. There isn't even any stain on the carpet anymore.

One neat trick I picked up in the Navy is if your shoes/boots get wet, stuff them full of newspaper overnight. When you wake up, they'll be dry to the touch. It is simply a matter of wicking-away the moisture.

 

[mcknia07]

I don't think it's all that new. I mean, yeah, it has a different name. For you to get all the moisture, you have to get it right away, and under your carpet, don't you have padding....YES, so that absorbs more moisture, so.....lets just think.......whatever we have used, I think it will still be fine, they just want your money, LOL

 

[tribdog]

Don't read too much into the carpet demonstration. You could do the same thing with a handful of paper towels under those conditions. A real chamois probably isn't as absorbent as a Shamwow, but it will last forever.

 

[Grogerian]

If someone actually has one ofthe shamwows, please verify the claims that the commercial makes. That's some pretty incredible stuff.

It doesn't work as perfect as they say, but it is very useful for cleaning up spills quickly, if it becomes dirty you can wash it in cold water but don't dry it (learned the hard way - lol) it does hold alot of water, but not so much that you should run out and buy these (unless your very messy... then save paper towel!)

 

[Moonbear]

Don't read too much into the carpet demonstration. You could do the same thing with a handful of paper towels under those conditions. A real chamois probably isn't as absorbent as a Shamwow, but it will last forever.

Knowing tribdog's history with soiling carpets, I think I'm going to take his word as authoritative here. :rofl:

 

[hypatia]

The spokes person "Vince" just makes me cringe. And a few things mentioned really don't apply to me. I don't use 20 dollars of paper towels a month, mostly I don't even use one roll a month. I use my sponge, which also last much longer then a week.
But Vince, aagghhhhhhhhhhhh shut up!

 

[Moonbear]

The spokes person "Vince" just makes me cringe. And a few things mentioned really don't apply to me. I don't use 20 dollars of paper towels a month, mostly I don't even use one roll a month. I use my sponge, which also last much longer then a week.
But Vince, aagghhhhhhhhhhhh shut up!

Well, that's a difference between men and women. I haven't refilled my paper towel holder for weeks now, since the last roll that had been there for months ran out. But, every time I've had a guy visit, or been to a guy's house, OMG! Everything...grab a paper towel! It's like sponges are a foreign substance!

 

[russ_watters]

I use paper towels because I'm concerned about being sanitary. Sponges are little germ habitats.

 

[Moonbear]

I use paper towels because I'm concerned about being sanitary. Sponges are little germ habitats.

That's what disinfectant is for. Still, do you manage to use $20 worth of paper towels in a month? You'd probably have to use at least 2 dozen rolls of paper towels in a month to accomplish that!

I usually use a dish towel to wipe up the disinfectant as I clean countertops, and then it goes into the laundry. The sponges are mostly used for the scrubby side, or to soak up bigger spills, followed by cleaning.

Though, one of my pet peeves is sponges left sopping wet to get germy and stinky. I always squeeze out the sponge so it dries between uses. I don't hand-wash dishes though. If I did, I'd use dish rags and wash them after one or two uses rather than use sponges.

(And if it wasn't clear, I was joking about the sex differences in paper towel usage...for every guy I've met who uses paper towels for everything, I've encountered one who has a sponge that he uses until it falls apart. :yuck: My joke was probably too bad to come across well.)

 

[Evo]

I use those little Dobie pads. They rinse easily and dry quickly, unlike thick sponges.

 

[turbo]

My wife and I use nylon-webbed sponge pads for scrubbing dishes, have a stiff nylon pot-scraper to tackle the caked-on stuff, and have a large stable of dish-rags. Use the dish-rags to do dishes, rinse and wring, and use them to mop up alcohol-water disinfecting spray to clean other surfaces, and launder them every couple of days. It works out well, and we use few paper towels.

For cleaning dust, washing windows, etc, we use terrycloths made of micro-fiber.

 

[russ_watters]

That's what disinfectant is for. Still, do you manage to use $20 worth of paper towels in a month? You'd probably have to use at least 2 dozen rolls of paper towels in a month to accomplish that!

I usually use a dish towel to wipe up the disinfectant as I clean countertops, and then it goes into the laundry. The sponges are mostly used for the scrubby side, or to soak up bigger spills, followed by cleaning.

Though, one of my pet peeves is sponges left sopping wet to get germy and stinky. I always squeeze out the sponge so it dries between uses. I don't hand-wash dishes though. If I did, I'd use dish rags and wash them after one or two uses rather than use sponges.

(And if it wasn't clear, I was joking about the sex differences in paper towel usage...for every guy I've met who uses paper towels for everything, I've encountered one who has a sponge that he uses until it falls apart. :yuck: My joke was probably too bad to come across well.)

My post was a failed set-up, btw - I was joking too. I don't use paper towels to be sanitary, I use paper towels because I'm male and therefore inherrently lazy.

I don't know offhand how much paper towels cost, but it isn't enough for me to care. I use perhaps 2 rolls a month.

 

[tribdog]

I probably go through between 5 to 10 rolls of paper towels a month. fewer if I have a clean towel when I get out of the shower

 

[nottheone]

I am ashamed to admit I fell for this one without checking the web. They aren't microfibers as far as I can tell and they don't work any better than a real chamois or paper towel, worse in my opinion. They leave water behind, they don't pick it all up. Some reports are that they aren't even made in Germany like the snake oil salesman says (I should have known just by looking at that guy) which is one of the reasons I bought it. Other people say that it won't dry a sweater like he says either. This product is near worthless.

If you call in to buy this product be prepared to be inundated by other offers for about 15 minutes or more, that's the point where I hung up the phone and sent him an email to see if the order for just the Scamwows was actually going to be processed, unfortunately it did. Don't buy this if you expect it to work like he says.