KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Forget about Oxiclean. The newest hot infomercial product is a rag. That's right, a rag.
But the way they're pushing it people are almost pushing each other out of the way to get one. Is it worth it?
His name is Vince Offer and he's giving Billy Mays a run for the money these days, as the pitchman for the ShamWow.
The TV ads says "ShamWow. You'll be saying wow all the time!"
Vince tells us this amazing cloth from Germany can soak up to 20 times its own weight, and will sop up water anywhere and everywhere. But will you really say "wow" if you buy one?
The Results
While all of them worked, the ShamWow was not drying the windows as well as the other two towels. That's not a "wow."
The Leather Chamois and Autozone drying cloth both left the windows dry. The ShamWow did not.
On our videotape, we could see the watery residue and streaks the ShamWow left.
To make sure we were not at fault, we asked a woman and two men who had just washed their cars to try the various cloths on their cars too.
While they all liked the heavy weight of the ShamWow all said Autozone's drying cloth left their car dryer.
Sure the Sham Wow may sop up spills better than a paper towel. But when it comes to getting a car completely dry, we weren't wowed.
So John's final grade is a "B".
Worth The Money
One plus about the ShamWow: Its affordable, especially if you can find it in a store and avoid shipping.
For $19 you get 4 large cloths and 4 small cloths as opposed to a leather Chamois, where the same price gets you one cloth.
While it may not be a miracle product, for the price, you may say "wow."
John also tested another claim in the commercial which shows how easy it is to use the ShamWow in mopping up a spilled Coke and cup of coffee, and easily rinsed out.
He found around the kitchen, it appears to work as advertised.
