Consumer Reports: "Schtick" on "Schticky" - Valley News Live - KVLY/KXJB - Fargo/Grand Forks

  We spend hundreds of billions of dollars a year on infomercial products! Two "As Seen on TV" products are currently trying to sell you on reusable lint rollers. Never knew you needed one? Consumer Reports puts them to the test!

  Watch out, lint rollers! You've got some competition. The $20 Schticky and the $10 Sticky Buddy.

  Both these "As Seen on TV products" claim to pick up almost any mess, including pet hair, debris, and even coins.

  Consumer Reports' Pat Slaven couldn't resist checking them out. First, Pat "schtickied up" messes around Consumer Reports' headquarters. Then she took on pet hair at her home. She compared both infomercial products to a regular old lint roller. Turns out they all work.

  Pat Slaven: "They pick up lint. They pick up cat hair. They pick up coins."

  But an advantage with a conventional lint roller — a quick rip gets you to a clean sheet. The reusable Schticky and Sticky Buddy both need to be washed.

  Pat Slaven: "You have to rub them. You should use soap. It takes a bit longer than the
commercials show you."

  And Consumer Reports found you have to take off the end caps and drain them thoroughly — otherwise water gets trapped inside and can leak out later.

  Consumer Reports says you might want to "shtick" with a lint roller for quicker cleanups, and for bigger jobs — go for a vacuum.

  Consumer Reports' testers have a great upright vacuum to recommend at a great price. It's the $180 Hoover WindTunnel Max model number U-H-30-600. It rates excellent in Consumer Reports tests.