I have a very unromantic recommendation for you today. But it is something that I have had for YEARS and for which I have been extremely grateful these past few pandemic months.
It is a zooper – otherwise known as a handheld vacuum. We always called it a zooper when I was growing up; I don’t know why. Maybe because of the noise it makes? And “zoop” is a verb – you go zoop something up with the zooper. Sometimes we called it a Dustbuster, but I think that’s a proprietary eponym, like Kleenex is for facial tissue or Band-Aid is for sticking plaster.
Anyway, in pre-pandemic times, I would use the zooper approximately once a day. Carla has an uncanny ability to produce crumbs, so I would mainly do a little tour under her seat at the counter, but then I’d give a quick once-over to the kitchen and the entryway.
During These Unprecedented Times, when Carla and I are here all day every day and have nothing better to do than produce endless messes, I am using the zooper twice a day, at least.
Carla is still a crumb generator. Plus, it’s summer, so we are in and out and constantly tracking in playground mulch and grass strands and pieces of dirt. Plus, Carla’s new-since-the-pandemic fascination has been making clothing for her Barbies and stuffed animals, so there are bits of paper and tape and fabric and dried-up fabric glue and yarn and string and beads everywhere constantly. To stay on top of things, I make a daily round with the zooper each morning after breakfast and each evening before bed, with an occasional mid-day zooping if we’ve been particularly prodigious with fashion production or going outside and back in thirty times.
My zooper – the Black and Decker cordless handheld vacuum – is excellent. It’s lasted for at least three years – probably longer; I can’t remember when we got it – and it’s still going strong. And it’s helping to keep me sane.
Things I like about it:
- It has a small charging base that’s easy to fit in an unobtrusive corner. I suppose you could wall-mount it, if you wanted to, but I haven’t checked.
- It maintains its charge very well. Previous handheld vacuums have gradually lost power over the years, until they have the stamina and sucking power of an aging tortoise. Actually, now that I think of it, I know very little about the stamina or sucking power of a tortoise of any age. Hmm. Well, onward. I shall say, instead, that I’ve had this zooper for years and have never had a single problem with it losing power or suction.
- It has a nice long neck, which allows you to get into things like the tracks of sliding doors and the space underneath the oven. (The helpful diagram on the product page refers to the neck as a “nozzle” which is a delightful word.)
- It is VERY easy to clean. You pop out the little plastic container, dump your household detritus in the trash. Pop out the filter, dump it out. You can wipe everything clean with a damp cloth. And then everything pops back together easy peasy lemon squeezy.
- It’s lightweight (just 2.6 pounds) and easy to hold. My only problem with excessive zooping is that my back starts to ache from all the bending. I am not meant to wander back and forth the length of my house whilst stooped over. But it’s just my back; my arm never gets tired.
Things I don’t like or about which I am neutral:
- It’s kind of pricey. Amazon is selling it for $72.99 right now, which seems like A LOT to shell out for a handheld vacuum.
- The neck has a flip-up brush tool that I have literally never used. The brush isn’t bothersome, though; it lives folded down against the neck of the zooper, like a coarse little goatee.
I feel kind of lame, recommending something so utilitarian. But my admiration for its utility has grown so much over these past few months – I really lean on it to help me keep my house from feeling like a hovel in between Big Cleanings.
This is what being An Adult means, I guess. Feeling evangelical about a household item.
What silly household things are making your life easier these days?
We have that same zooper and I enjoy it similarly. One additional thing I like about it is that it’s an item a child can manage: back when we had more toys spread over the house, one parent would supervise a clean-up time before dinner while the other parent cooked, and one kid would be given the zooper and would zoop around with it for an amount of time; even if they didn’t do as good a job as I would have, or get the same areas I would have gotten, zooping was still being accomplished.
YES. I can ask Carla to zoop up her breakfast crumbs and it is very easy for her to handle.
I have never used the word “zooper!” That’s funny. I could use this nicer version of one, however. Mine has lost its suction for sure.
My household things are making life harder lately, not easier. Our toaster is glitchy (sometimes you push the handle down but it doesn’t heat on the first try. Our electric can opener barely remembers how to grip the can and start the cut. Looks like I’m due for a small appliance shopping spree!
The one item I’ve found very useful lately is a basic zester for limes/lemons; I’ve been making a lot of jasmine lime rice.
I remember having a DustBuster a lot of years ago – I’d rather lost track of how useful they are until getting a cordless Dyson (V11) last Christmas (I know! – it’s the kind of gift that’s supposed to make one a bit stabby as it’s so very domestic, but I was delighted 🤷🏻♀️) which is basically the same thing with the addition of the long tube to alleviate the bending and scooting about issues. Since getting it I have probably had my ‘proper’ vacuum cleaner out about twice as the Dyson is just so handy that I actually quite enjoy running around with it several times a day! The perverse pleasure that seeing the canister fill gives me is another bonus (oof, particularly when you go to town on mattresses!)! We won’t, however, speak of the cost of them…
I have the exact same zooper and I love it! Mine has been going strong for over 4 years, maybe even over 5. Prior to this one I had been going through about one a year, getting a new one when just lost all sucking power. I don’t know about the aging tortoises, but when you find yourself picking up debris WITH YOUR HAND to feed into the zooper, you know it’s time for a new one. I asked for a nice one for my birthday and this is the one my sister got me and I’ve loved it ever since.
Dude I just lightening speed ordered that so fast on the “light enough for a child to use” comment. The crumbs are driving me CRAZY lately. 4 year old’s favorite snack? SALTINES: cue the eye twitch…
I’ve got the exact same one! And Amazon is ripping people off because I think I paid about $25 for it at Target a few years ago. What I especially love about it is that after I finish sweeping the kitchen, instead of a dustpan, I use it to “zoop” up the little pile. With the dustpan, it seemed like there was always something left behind…NOT ANYMORE!
Never heard of it referred to as a zooper, but I love it and now have co-opted the name.
If this what it means to be An Adult – swooning over the little things that make our lives easier – then I am An Adult…finally.
Listen, I put a zooper on my Christmas list last year and I was DELIGHTED to receive it. I needed something light but with a powerful suction to vacuum my couch (so much cat hair!) and the one I got works AMAZING. It’s one of my favorite household tools.
I also bought a lightweight cordless vacuum earlier this year and that might be my FAVORITE household tool because it makes it so easy to vacuum up little messes so quickly – especially litter. I usually just vacuum around the litter boxes every few days and I am a billion times happier for it, ha.
I admit it, I love my roomba. It works well for us because we are in a one level flat with no stairs, and the husband has asthma, so dust control is important. We run it before our four year old goes to bed, and it bustles around busily, under the bed and sofa and those places a person couldn’t (be bothered to) reach only occasionally throwing itself out the French doors. It’s sweet! (I can’t help investing it with human feelings). I don’t have a zooper (newly adopted word) at present, I did have one but it disappointed me terribly by refusing to recharge one day after 4 years of loyal service. When I get over it, I’ll consider another. Marvellous as roomba is, crumbs on counters are beyond it. We all have our specialities.
Our roomba is called Roombie and I have been known to follow it throughout the house saying things like “look how cute he is!” and “he’s working so hard!”
Don’t feel lame. I have also officially become an Adult during this pandemic, because I bought a new iron and was unbelievably excited when it arrived. (My old one was a Christmas gift from my mom just before I moved out, so is from Dec 1989.) I have used my iron more since March 15 than ever before in my life (making masks and ironing masks once washed) and it is so lovely to have a new one.