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Dishwashers

This gadget hand washes dishes for you—but does it work?

If you need help scrubbing or polishing, check this Dremel out

The Dremel Versa gives you automatic elbow grease. Credit: Reviewed / Jackson Ruckar

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One of the biggest hurdles of doing chores is mustering the energy. Just the thought of all that scrubbing is tiring in and of itself. That's why we like the Dremel Versa–it provides automatic elbow grease anywhere. People with weak hands, either from injury or age, will find this gadget especially useful. Or if you just don't want to tucker yourself out doing chores.

While the Dremel brand might seem more at home on a workbench, we found the Versa to be a whiz in kitchen and around the house. We were able to tackle a variety of household tasks with the Versa, ranging from cleaning pots to scrubbing crusty grills.

The attachments

Starting from the right: melamine eraser, heavy-duty scrub, scratch-free scrub, cleaning head, and bristles.
Credit: Reviewed / Jonathan Chan

Starting from the right: melamine eraser, heavy-duty scrub, scratch-free scrub, cleaning head, and bristles.

The Versa comes with four cleaning heads:

•A white pad for polishing and gentle cleaning. We found this ideal for getting crayon off walls or polishing shoes.

•A brown heavy-duty pad that we used to scrub pots.

•A blue scrubbing pad which excels at cleaning stuck on food on plates and countertops.

•A bristle head which is designed to clean tile and metal, great for sprucing up the shower.

The Versa does windows!
Credit: Reviewed / Jackson Ruckar

The Versa does windows!

How well does the Versa work?

The rechargeable battery lasts about over 20 minutes before it runs out. Which is quite a long time, just try scrubbing as fast as you can for that long. In that time, we were able to go through a sink-load of pots and dishes.

These plates are covered in dried spinach, a stain that plagues even the best dishwashers.
Credit: Reviewed / Jonathan Chan

These plates are covered in dried spinach, a stain that plagues even the best dishwashers.

It worked relatively well. We did notice that it flung debris all over the place, but at least it got our heavily soiled plates clean. While it didn't get every speck off in a single pass, it did well enough that a cycle in the dishwasher or another light rinse would finish the job.

We got the plates scrubbed clean, but it flung debris everywhere.
Credit: Reviewed / Jonathan Chan

We got the plates scrubbed clean, but it flung debris everywhere.

Where the Versa really shines is in its versatility (Versa, versatility... I think they're onto something here). Switching between heads was very easy. All the pads have a Velcro back that sticks right on and peels right off. And even though the head spins quite quickly, not once did we witness the pad coming off on its own.

That said, the Versa is not as powerful as we'd like. Being a handheld device means it can keep up with a determined human, so it's more of a replacement for elbow grease than an enhanced version of it. It also doesn't seem as powerful as a cleaning attachment for a drill, though that combination is more expensive if you don't already own a drill.

In the kitchen, scrubbing can take forever. At least with the Versa, you won't be tired when you're done.
Credit: Reviewed / Jonathan Chan

In the kitchen, scrubbing can take forever. At least with the Versa, you won't be tired when you're done.

One thing you need to be aware of, though: exerting even moderate pressure on it while cleaning will trigger the auto-shutdown before the motor overheats. That means particularly grimy messes are best left to more powerful options like a drill attachment or another tool entirely.

Is it worth the money?

We'd say that the Versa lives up to its price point. Retailing for around $50, it's right around impulse buy territory and it'll certainly save you a few headaches per year, even if it doesn't necessarily go above and beyond what an average person can do on their own.

Just don't go in with unrealistic expectations of a tool that will tear through every single mess with ease and you'll be all set. It's a powerful option for people who can't (or don't want to) exert the energy for normal scrubbing, but particularly nasty issues might be handled better by a more powerful tool.

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