We Tried The As-Seen-On-TV BaseBoard Buddy And It Wasn't As Easy As It Looks
Baseboards seem to be one of the easiest-to-overlook features in a home, but they can make such a remarkable difference when cleaned. However, while we all know what being exposed to too much dust can do for your health, bending over to scrub certain wall treatments can be equally damaging — to a bad back. Or, as one TikTok content creator put it while showcasing the Baseboard Buddy, "I'm getting old, and stuff."
We love to test new cleaning products, especially simple cleaning hacks that make our lives easier. The As-Seen-On-TV Baseboard Buddy has been getting quite a lot of attention for its ease of use and effectiveness at cleaning and dusting, and with over 20,000 reviews on Amazon, we decided to test it out. Although the price on the As-Seen-On-TV website was $19.95, we were quickly directed to their Amazon shop, and after taxes, the total came out to $27.40 with free shipping. After a few days, it arrived on our doorstep, and we were ready to introduce our baseboards to their new friend.
BaseBoard Buddy Overview
While you can clean your baseboards with a microfiber cloth and some water or wood cleaner, crawling around your home cleaning molding is nobody's idea of fun, which is why we imagine many people don't do it (us included). However, the Baseboard Buddy claims to restore dirty wall treatments to a like-new condition, and since we discovered that the process was easy to do, having a product that would make it even simpler seemed like a no-brainer.
According to its official TV commercial, this gadget's main selling point is that its unique design allows you to clean your baseboards by "walking and gliding" with a natural posture and no back pain. Since they should be cleaned on average once a month, it's good to have a tool that allows you to accomplish the chore while remaining upright.
The product arrived with all its parts sealed in plastic or bubble wrap, and we found nothing damaged or broken, which was a great start. The instructions were easy-to-follow, so we put it together in about a minute. Once we had it assembled, we found the dirtiest baseboard we could get our hands on and got to work.
Testing the BaseBoard Buddy
We wanted to clean from top to bottom and tackle hard-to-reach spots to test the Baseboard Buddy and see if it held up to all the hype. Since the pad had a curved shape and a swivel head, we could adjust it to whatever we needed to clean. A good tip for cleaning baseboards is to spray warm water onto the towel or pad you're using to wipe so that it removes all grime and dust. We did just that.
First, we decided to attack the bottom molding of the home to see if the Baseboard Buddy was all that easy to use. From there, we tested it on the window, a door frame, and a corner to see if it could be effectively maneuvered in tight spaces. We also tested it without warm water on the cleaning pad to see how it held up dry dusting various surfaces.
Not the buddy we're looking for
While we can confidently say that the Baseboard Buddy is easy on the back, there were some issues we came across that are tough to ignore for a cleaning tool designed for occasional use. The wand was easy to use, but shortening the handle wasn't as easy as pushing a button or standing farther away. We had to stop, remove the rods, and essentially put them back together at the length we wanted. We also didn't like that the cleaning head wasn't very flexible, as we had to force it to turn from a horizontal to a vertical orientation.
In terms of positives, the tool performed great while wet and dry, but wetting the cleaning surface is a must for effective "one sweep" cleaning (it even suggests this in the manual). However, we'd imagine a makeshift solution would perform similarly, such as the one thought up by Home Maid Better. Thus, we would pass on this product and find a better tool — or use a microfiber towel once a month to clean the baseboards and play through the pain.