If you are able to overlook ShamWow’s insanely corny and annoying infomercial and actually give in to buying it, I think you will be ultimately pleased.

Contrary to the product’s slogan, you won’t find yourself saying “WOW” every time you use it. What you will find out is that the ShamWow is actually a pretty useful product. It is such a good product at what it’s advertised to do that even its “knock-offs” are great products.

It’s so great that I didn’t even know until after using it for a while that the ShamWow I had purchased was actually one of the “knock-offs.” The salesman in the Valley Plaza mall told us that it was the “as seen on TV” ShamWow and even had the same show and demonstrations as the guy on the ShamWow infomercial.

The product that I used is called a Chamois (shammy). It is identical in every way to the ShamWow. They both were made in Germany, and both are composed of the same undisclosed fabric, which is advertised to hold up to 12 times its weight in liquid. They also both come in the same bundle, which includes a big orange cloth and a smaller blue cloth.

Before, I would use paper towels to clean up simple messes in the kitchen. If you know my family, then you know of our huge barbecues and parties. Where you have plenty of people and plenty of food, you will find plenty of spills. For as many rolls that we go through, you would think we own stock in Brawny paper towels.

The Chamois cleans up those same messes without having to use up countless sheets of paper towels. It is as absorbent as they say it is. I would say you could wipe up around 10-15 small spills before having to rinse it out.

In the infomercial, there are “actual buyers” who talk about how they use and love the ShamWow. One man says, “If you’re going to wash your car or any vehicle, you’d be out of your mind not to own one of these.”

The infomercial states all of the things that you could use the ShamWow on such as your boat, RV or vehicle.

This was one of claims that I just couldn’t believe. I’m not sure how one cloth could dry a whole RV. I have a 4×4 truck, and it normally takes me two very large towels to completely dry it.

So, I tried it out, and, to my surprise, the Chamois actually didn’t do as bad a job as I thought it would do. Of course, I had to wring it out a few times, but for the most part, it served its purpose.

Now, I’m sure that drying a Dodge Neon would be quicker and easier than my truck, but the Chamois actually impressed me in this regard.

We purchased our ShamWow knock-off at a kiosk in the Valley Plaza mall with two bundles for $25. In each bundle was the big orange cloth and a smaller blue cloth. It was really not a bad deal considering that a consumer would pay around the same amount for a generic “shammy” at Sears.

You can wash it in the washing machine, but most of the time, you’ll only have to rinse with water and wring it out.

This product is said to be able to last for 10 years. We have had ours for a little over a year. By the looks and condition of the big orange cloth, I wouldn’t doubt its longevity. As for the smaller blue cloth, I think that even if it does survive for 10 years in my kitchen (that’s where we normally use it most), it won’t be the prettiest thing.

I understand that it is the responsibility of the company to market their product as something consumers cannot live without. Anyone trying to sell something will talk up their product to be the best thing ever. I get it.

But, come on, this is a piece of cloth. It’s a “shammy” or towel. Some would say it acts like a sponge. There’s really not much to it, but this piece of cloth and its simplicity is probably the most practical thing I have in my kitchen now. It isn’t the greatest thing in the world, but it is great at what it’s supposed to do. Even if I didn’t get the real deal, this is no sham.

4 out of 5 stars