This is whoissugar (I believe that name is rhtorical). She is extolling the virtues of Zip-It to her followers. If you pay close attention you might just get some shampoo and conditioner tips as well. Now, whoissugar doesn’t actually show Zip-It in use, but she’s giving us a shout-out, so we’d figure we’d shout back.
The Devo Reference
The good folks at Shelterrific.com channeled the famed song from Devo to exhort our favorite tool:
When a clogged drain comes along, you must zip-it Now Zip-it! Zip-it good! Sorry — as a big DEVO fan, I had to. But seriously, can we talk about how brilliant the Zip-it is?
Yes, you most certainly can! And for those of you who may now have that song bopping through your head, perhaps you should whip it. Whip it good!
This Old House Posts New Euphemism
We’ve heard the wad of hair and goo that is pulled from your drain with a Zip-It called many things. “Rat” most commonly. There has been a few “Cousin It”s. And let us not forget my personal favorite: “sasquatch”.
But now This Old House has given us a new one:
I pushed Zip-It down the drain of our shower stall and within a few seconds yanked out a wad hair only slightly smaller than Seabiscuit’s tail (below). I was amazed and disgusted at the same time.
“Seabiscuit’s Tail”, brilliant!
Real People. Actual Results.
While we take the art of unclogging drains very seriously, it cannot be denied that the process is a bit nasty. Through the years we have been blessed with customers who are demented enough to video themselves using Zip-It. The videos contain all the nervous laughter, “oh my God” first rushes, and horrors-of-the-realities that one would expect when using Zip-It.
We have taken the best moments of these videos and put them together in one, loving, ode to our fans. As gross as Zip-It might be, it works even better. Enjoy!
*This video is not for the squeamish or faint of heart. If you have heart problems, dizziness, nausea, irritable bowel syndrome, or are prone to fainting or epileptic seizures do not watch this video. Do not operate heavy machinery while watching this video. Watch this video in a well ventilated space. Keep a bucket handy. If symptoms persist seek medical attention and show this video to your doctor.
Zip-It Gets 88% Approval Rating
Zip-It has been officially recommended by ConsumerPla.net and for that we are truly grateful.
How do you fix a clogged sink or tub drain? Chemicals, Snake, Auger? Call a plumber? This problem must be the most common, and one of the most unpleasant, plumbing problems that we all encounter in our everyday life. In an upcoming guide, we will explore the different product options to clearing a sink drain. Without needing to go through all possible scenarios, however, we can already say that, to us, the first option after trying a plunger is the Zip-it Drain Cleaner, a simple, inexpensive, and easy to use device with very high user satisfaction ratings.
What is interesting about this site is that they research other websites and calculate a total approval rating. Zip-It got 88% (sounds like we are in front of the curve):
We collected 169 user reviews from multiple sources: Amazon Zip-It Drain Cleaning Tool, Amazon Zip-It Drain Cleaning Tool 12-Pack, Sears Zip-It Drain Cleaner, Zip-It Drain Cleaning Tool – Reviews | RateItAll, Cobra Zip-It Reviews | Buzzillions.com, COBRA Zip-it Drain Cleaner #2 Reviews | Buzzillions.com, Cool Tools: Zip-It Drain Cleaner, Cobra Products 400 Zip-It Drain Cleaning Tool Review – InfoBarrel, Family Handyman Unclog Drains with the Cobra Zip-It Drain Cleaning Tool. We found an excellent 88% user approval rating, with a 5% margin of error at 95% certainty. This is a particularly good result, given the fact that, from the tool’s design, we know, before using it that it will only work with clogs that are close the the drain.
The Family Handyman
Zip-It was mentioned in the Family Handyman. Apparently Mary needed to unclog some drains for a party she was hosting. How thoughtful!
If you’ve ever pulled a 2-lb., rodent-like glob of hair (mixed with an odorous combination of toothpaste, nail clippings and nameless slime) from your drain, you’ve experience the same gaggy feeling I had a couple of Saturdays ago. How is it possible for four people to shed and rinse down the drain enough hair to completely clog the bathroom sink every couple of months?
As part of the preparations for hosting a couple dozen people for a formal holiday dinner, I called upon Dorothy, a wonderfully energetic and clever woman who can whip a house into tip-top shape in no time. As is often the case, our bathroom sinks were draining slowly, even though my husband had poured some chemical goo down them several days before. Dorothy noticed the slow drains, went right out to her car and came back with a simple, thin piece of white plastic with teeny (and a little bit sharp) barbs. In no time she had the sinks unclogged and was proudly showing me a wad of paper towels and the gag-inducing clumps of hair.
I asked her about the tool (which she says she’s used on those sinks before), and she explained that all you do is stick the strip of plastic down the clogged drain, twist a little bit and pull it out. If you do a full twist, you’re more likely to snag the clog, but it will get very tangled on the barbs and you’ll probably want to just throw the whole thing out instead of cleaning it off and reusing it. Dorothy says she has good luck with a partial twist and then she’s able to easily clean the “rat” off and reuse the tool.
The Cobra Zip-It Drain Cleaning Tool is available at home centers and hardware stores and many online sources. A single tool costs about $5 and a handy 12-pack about $30. You can also buy it through our affiliation with Amazon.com: Cobra Products 400 Zip-It Drain Cleaning Tool
Do You Have What It Takes?
Justin apparently DOES have what it takes – as long as he doesn’t have to touch the rest of it with his hand (That doesn’t sound very champion-like).
Good stuff almost immediately at :03.
Reader’s Digest Recommends Zip-It
In a lovely little article in the March 2011 issue of Reader’s Digest Zip-It is touted as one way to solve 5 sticky Situations:
Get rid of clogged drains. The Family Handyman recommends a “cheap, fast, chemical-free” unclogger called Zip-it (available at Walmart, Walgreens, Ace, and Lowe’s), a jagged plastic wand with “teeth” you insert to bring up hair and goop. Another Family Handyman tip, from a reader: To unclog a shower drain, remove the drain plate, insert the hose of a shop vacuum, and tighten the seal, using a rag if necessary. Turn it on and suck the gunk away.
For the other 4 sticky situations you will just have to read the whole article for yourself HERE.
Fun With Wads of Hair
This video is rather long (9:20), but the videographer seems to be enjoying herself, so she can take as long as she wants, as far as I’m concerned. She pulls out one massive clump of hair, and then seems rather disappointed. I don’t know what she was hoping to find. She she be proud of that thing.
She also makes some hair dance, Offers an interesting opinion on the aroma of her catch, waxes poetic on the shape of the globs of hair (much as one would when looking at clouds), and requests an answer to the question of where spirals come from (you have to watch).
Good stuff at :31, :56, 1:40, 6:20 and 7:16
Also, there is at lease one good obscenity in there, and maybe a few lesser ones.
Teaching The Children
This is a very quick video – a whopping 17 seconds. The Zip-It is already in the drain, so the video is pretty much just pulling the clog out. In the background you can hear a child’s reaction.
It’s good to know that future generations will live in a world where it is easy to clean a drain. Good stuff at :08.