Cleaning the house is probably on the bottom of the list of favorite activities for every homeowner. And parents of small children can sometimes feel that it’s necessary to call on the National Guard for assistance. While House Rake isn’t a cleanup crew, it can save energy and effort, making more time to play with the kids. The long handled scooper is constructed with a design and material that lets a person scoop up both small and heavy toys without scratching the floor or having to constantly bend over and ware out their back. It could be just the ticket for picking, or rather sweeping, up after junior for those whose backs have been raked over the coals and who can spare $40. Expected delivery is October 2014.
Category: Home
The Premise. The washing machine has seen subtle changes to bring them into the 21st century, but their designs have remained largely the same. One inventor has made the washing machine simpler, more energy efficient, and more compact.
The Product. The Reason washing machine has a slide-out drum, not unlike a trash compactor, and can handle loads of a single garment all the way up to a winter comforter and duvet. The Reason weighs the load of laundry and calculates the appropriate amount of water and detergent, and custom tailors each cycle to only use what is needed to clean garments. The entire device is operated with a single button, and can handle loads up to 12 kilograms.
The Pitch. Based on the feature set and innovation of the Reason, one can’t fault inventor Andrew Reason for being excited about his project. However, with the epic movie-trailer soundtrack and the metaphors to saving enough resources to fill Olympic pools and shut down power plants, the promotional video comes off a little strong. Reason includes a whole array of demo videos however, showing off every aspect of the machine. The Reason needs to raise £40,000 to complete the prototype stage and get the initial production out the door.
The Perks. The Reason washing machine will be sent out in December of this year for those that pledge support of at least £779, complete with detergent and conditioner. A year supply of the detergent and conditioner is available for £150, and those that want to change their laundry routine earlier can get in on the first batch for £4,000, receiving their washer in October.
The Potential. The Reason washing machine is an interesting design that’s a perfect fit in smaller apartments and economy housing because of its small space requirements and the ability to cut back on utility costs. The initial investment price may be a little high for those looking to cut costs, but Reason calculates that within an eight-year time frame, the washer will have paid for itself. While that may seem like a long time to wait to break even, the machine does thankfully come with a ten-year guarantee.
Ever notice how when the cleaning your pump sprayer doesn’t work quite the way it should when the liquid gets low? And it never lets you use up everything in the bottle. That would be the primary difference between SprayMo pressure sprayer and other pump sprayers. A couple of squeezes lets you spray a continuous stream to your hearts delight, which also means your hand doesn’t get so tired so fast. In addition, its wide mouth lets you easily transfer the product from store bought sprayers. For $25, backers get one bottle and an expected delivery of December 2014.
Ever want to glam up your garage door, but don’t think a flag will do the trick? Try GarageSkins, panels designed to stick to your aluminum garage door to make it look like it’s made out of wood. These overlays use real wood with different finishes and designs to class up your doors. Best of all, they’re easy to install and only take about an hour to apply. A one-car garage system goes for $395 and a two-car system goes for $700 with an estimated delivery date of May 2015. GarageSkins hopes to raise $75,000 in its 45-day Indiegogo run.
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Blanket Blocker keeps covers in place
If you’re the kind of person who moves around a lot when you sleep, then you know that keeping your blankets off of the floor is a near impossibility. This means that they get dirty faster, which increases you laundry load faster. Blanket Blocker is designed to keep your covers from slipping off of your bed while you are asleep at night so that they don’t become a tripping hazard. It also apparently has a certain amount of entertainment value for kids, based on the video. For $25, backers get a set (two) of them, but an expected delivery isn’t noted.
Hot tubs are the perfect remedy for the winter blues. The only problem is that snow and ice on the cover can make those soothing hot dips hard to access. Hot Cover gives backers the chance to get into their tubs with ease. This heated cover uses insulated coils to melt any frosty debris on the tops of hot tubs. All of that heavy snow and ice goes away easily with this battery-operated system. One early Hot Cover costs backers a $199 donation or $299 at a regular price. The Hot Cover needs to raise $20,000 in its 27-day Indiegogo campaign.
If it seems that your kitchen space has somehow been taken over by the clutter of food and beverage boxes, Stick n Store may very well help you to regain control. The storage units mount easily to the inside of a pantry and cabinet doors via industrial mounting tape. While the kitchen decluttering pods may give you multiple ideas for what they could hold, the company specifically had coffee pods and K-cup boxes in mind when designing these tools of organization. For $18, backers have to postpone their jitter lifters with an expected delivery of October 2014.
Energy is expensive these days and anyway to cut down on utility bills is always welcome. Paca Dyers are one small way to save money on energy each month. These large hairballs are made of alpaca fur, which are all natural and contain no lanolin, a common irritant for many. With porous fibers, the Paca Dryers soak up moisture, allowing your clothes to leave the dryer earlier. One set of three balls goes for $25 on Kickstarter with an estimated delivery date of May 2014. Paca Dryers hopes to raise a modest $1,500 in a 45-day campaign.
Sliding doors and windows help create space and can easily be opened or shut. However, some don’t come with screens. Vent Well allows owners of sliding doors or windows to get the fresh air they want without letting in bugs or rain. This Aussie ventilation system is made out of plastic and has a completely adjustable height for any opening. It is easy to install and makes a great guard for pets or children’s toys. One Vent Well with one extender goes for $36 on Indiegogo with an estimated delivery date of July 2014. Vent Well hopes to raise an ambitious $150,000 AUD in its 50-day campaign run.
The Premise. Twist ties that come with bread, chips or other bag-packaged foods tend to get lost in the shuffle. These tiny but essential bag securers are necessary to keep the foods we love fresh. Their size and disposability, however, means that they go missing a lot.
The Product. The Twist-Tie Pod gets its inspiration from tape dispensers. The small white device holds a 65’ foot roll of twist ties and cuts and dispenses them accordingly. Magnets on the back as well as screw holes make it possible to secure the Pod to refrigerators or to the inside of cabinets.
The Pitch. Twist-Tie Pod’s adorable Hawaiian creator and ukuleleist Milton Wheeler chooses a dorky but charming video to feature on his Kickstarter campaign. This video is a must-see and does one of the best jobs of selling a crowdfunded product in recent memory. The dramatization of frustration from a missing twist tie, the twist tie jingle played on a ukulele, and the hilarious faces of Wheeler all deserve an Oscar, or at least props for such great entertainment value. The rest of the campaign shows the standard progression of prototypes, the back story for the product’s idea, as well as insight into the cutting device that chops the ties (spoiler alert: Wheeler uses modified toenail clippers). Wheeler hopes to raise $10,000 in his 36-day campaign.
The Perks. Lower reward tiers offer only spools of twist ties while higher tiers offer spools and the Twist-Tie Pod. For $18, early backers get the ties as well as the dispenser which go for $20 at a regular price. Tiers go up to $250 which offers a pod decorated by a Hawaiin artist. The standard Twist-Tie Pod has an estimated delivery date of May 2014.
The Potential. The Twist-Tie Pod is one of those little kitchen accessories that has the potential to make life a whole lot easier. The only bad news is that twist tie dispensers already exist, but are mostly marketed to be used in the garden and not the kitchen. For example, Bond’s Twist Tie Dispenser uses 66’ of twist tie with a blade to deliver the same results as the pod outside and only costs $3. The Twist-Tie Pod’s design with the kitchen in mind is great, however the price will need to come down in order to get backers to hop on board.