We Tried Using A Pool Noodle As A Broom And Mop Hanger And It Was A Total Bust
If you're a fan of DIY home improvement on a budget, you already know that pool noodles are not just floaties for staying above water. They're also makeshift door bumpers, comfortable wrist rests, padded ladder guards, space savers in large planters, and so much more. While many pool noodle hacks are totally genius, others fall short, which is why we took it upon ourselves to try this broom and mop hanging trick to organize our cleaning tools.
As shown in a TikTok video by @hometalk, you can use a section of a pool noodle to hang your brooms, mops, or even a light vacuum. The original video uses just two items: About a quarter of a full-sized pool noodle and a couple of Command Strips. In no time and at a very low price, they create this simple organizer. But is it too good to be true? We wanted to find out, so we went and found the materials to put it to the test.
Preparing our noodle
To test the pool noodle trick, we used a portion of a blue Big Joe Super Foam Swimming Pool Noodle that we already had on hand. You can get yours at Walmart for just $3.48. We also used a package of Command Strips from Walmart that cost $9.28 for a package of 60. Other materials we needed to create the cleaning tool hanger included a knife, a pen, and a cutting board.
Creating the organizer was quite simple. As per the TikTok video, we started by laying out our approximately 24-inch-long pool noodle section on the cutting board and measuring where we wanted our Libman broom and Swiffer WetJet to hang. After marking the best spots with our pen, we made a perpendicular cut about halfway through the pool noodle. Then, we attached our Command Strips. In the TikTok, it appears that they use two or three of them. We wanted ours to be very secure, so we ended up using seven across the back of the noodle. Finally, we brought the organizer and our cleaning tools into our walk-in pantry, where we decided to attach the pool noodle to one wall made of smooth-painted wood paneling.
Testing our DIY pool noodle hack
The experiment itself was the most intimidating step in the test. While we really hoped that the organizer would work, we were skeptical that it would be able to hold onto the wall, let alone with the weight of our broom and mop. We began by peeling the stickers off the back of each Command Strip. Then, all at once, we pressed the pool noodle and the adhesives against the wall. To be safe, we held it like this for a full 30 seconds to make sure it had the best chance of sticking properly. When we pulled away, the pool noodle stayed!
However, we still had to see if it could hold weight. We decided to test the broom first because it was considerably lighter than our Swiffer WetJet. With two hands, we pushed the broom handle into the hole we cut previously. Then, slowly, we let go of the broom and stepped back. Crash! The whole thing fell to the floor except for the several Command Strips that remained on the wall. In a last-ditch effort, we tried sticking the pool noodle back onto the adhesives, but it quickly fell back down.
Our honest opinion of the broom and mop hanger
The results of testing this pool noodle hack were disappointing. While the idea seems great in theory, the reality is that most mops, brooms, and other cleaning tools are too heavy to hang on the wall using only Command Strips and a pool noodle. We could see this trick working if you hammered or screwed the noodle into the wall, but the small surface area on the floaty makes it impossible for it to get a good grip without tougher hardware.
Another problem we noticed while squishing the broom handle into the organizer was that the noodle bowed to make room for the rigid shaft. As the pool noodle bent, it arched away from the wall and came unstuck from the Command Strips that were supposed to be keeping it in place. Unfortunately, this hack ended in a loss. While pool noodles are useful for a variety of purposes around the house, we can't recommend them as hanging cleaning tool organizers this time.