Doing dishes isn’t the most exciting household chore — unless, of course, your sponge sports a grinning face and comes in fun shapes. That’s the appeal of the Scrub Daddy, a unique, texture-changing interpretation of an ordinary sponge that actually motivates me to clean my dishes, counters and sinks. I’ve even thrown out my other sponges to make room for more of the brand’s growing list of products.
Social media played a large part in my decision to purchase a Scrub Daddy in the first place. Founder Aaron Krause introduced the brand on “Shark Tank” in 2012, and since then it’s soared in popularity on social platforms like TikTok, thanks to multiple viral videos and over three million followers. But you can credit function as well as cuteness for its success. Made of the brand’s proprietary polymer foam called FlexTexture, the sponge itself is rough enough to break up stubborn food and grime, but the brand says it notably won’t scratch your cookware, sinks, counters and other household surfaces you choose to clean.
Scrub Daddy
One of the standout features of the Scrub Daddy is that it changes textures based on the temperature of the water: It is firm and rigid in cold water to help remove debris, but also soft, compressible and absorbent in warm water to act as more of a gentle sponge.
While it’s always nice to see the Scrub Daddy’s face smiling happily as you power through your dishes, the sponge’s iconic smile isn’t simply for looks — in fact, it’s highly functional. You can clean silverware and utensils by putting them in its “mouth,” poke your fingers into its “eyes” to clean inside cups and other narrow kitchenware and even use its spiky “hair” to get an extra boost of scrubbing power.
Associate updates editor Zoe Malin has been a Scrub Daddy user for years. She doesn't have a dishwasher at home, so she relies on the sponge to handwash nonstick cookware, glassware, ceramic plates and more. Since the Scrub Daddy offers two different textures in one sponge, Malin says she can just keep the one product by her sink instead of crowding her small space with multiple cleaning tools. Malin also mentioned that she finds the Scrub Daddy’s round shape much easier to grasp compared to a typical sponge’s rectangular shape.
You can find the Scrub Daddy in colors like blue, green, orange and pink, as well as multiple scents, a dye-free version and an eco-friendly sponge that’s made from natural coconut fiber and post-consumer plastic. And if you like to change up your kitchen accessories for different holidays, the Scrub Daddy is typically offered in festive shapes.
More Scrub Daddy products to consider
Since its introduction, Scrub Daddy has expanded into more than a dozen cleaning products, including dual-sided sponges, sink organizers, polishing pastes and eraser sponges. In addition to the brand’s original Scrub Daddy sponge, we highlighted a few of the brand’s popular products — which are also Select staff favorites — and some of its latest additions below.
Scrub Mommy
The brand’s Scrub Mommy is similar to the Scrub Daddy, sporting a smiley face design and a scratch-free texture that you can use on over a dozen different surfaces, including glass, ceramic, nonstick cookware and stainless steel. But there’s one key difference: It features the brand’s FlexTexture material on one side, as well as the brand’s ResoFoam material on the other side, which is denser and more absorbent to act like an ordinary sponge. The Scrub Mommy is also odor- and stain-resistant, so you won’t have to worry about using it on bigger messes and stains, the brand says.
The Scrub Mommy can handle cleaning pots, pans, household surfaces and plenty of other areas — and it doesn’t even require soap to do its job, Scrub Daddy says. Malin, for example, used the sponge to get the dirt off tile floors when she moved to her new apartment, and she currently reaches for it to scrape off the sticky residue from new furniture, picture frames and more that’s left behind by price tags. Much like the brand’s original sponge, you can purchase the Scrub Mommy in a variety of shapes, including spring-themed and dog shapes.
Dish Daddy
This wand comes with a free-standing and self-draining base that can simplify your dishwashing tasks by storing and easily releasing dish soap when you need it. It also includes a replaceable FlexTexture foam head that you can peel to remove and press to attach to the base. The brand says the Dish Daddy also includes a dual-seal design to prevent leaks.
PowerPaste
Scrub Daddy’s PowerPaste is a non-toxic and biodegradable cleanser that can clean dirt, grease, food residue, soap scum and more around your home, according to the brand. To use, you simply swirl around your damp Scrub Daddy or Scrub Mommy sponges in the product until it produces a cleaning foam. The PowerPaste is used on multiple household surfaces to polish and protect them — but keep in mind, the product is naturally abrasive and the brand does not recommend using it on soft, varnished or delicate surfaces.
Daddy Caddy
For a simple solution to storing your Scrub Daddy and Scrub Mommy sponges in your sink, the Daddy Caddy includes an open design that allows your sponge to drain and dry without collecting odor, according to the brand. The Daddy Caddy equips two large suction cups on the back to secure it in one place and prevent it from rotating or slipping, Scrub Daddy says. If you’re looking for a more universal sponge holder, Scrub Daddy also offers a Sponge Caddy.
Eraser Daddy
The brand’s Eraser Daddy acts as a typical household eraser: It’s water-activated and works to spot clean scuffs and debris on various surfaces. It includes the brand’s FlexTexture material on one side for more scrubbing power, while also equipping a tri-composite eraser material on the other side that the brand says can last ten times longer than regular melamine foam, which is the material typically used in eraser sponges.
BBQ Daddy
This grill cleaner from the brand blends a FlexTexture foam core with an ArmorTec mesh outer and flexible stainless-steel fibers to clean stubborn grime and food residue. Scrub Daddy recommends submerging the scrubbing head in cold water to make it firm and applying it directly to your preheated grill. The other side of the brush also has a built-in scraper to tackle any buildup on the grill, while the handle is designed to serve as a bottle opener and grate lifter in addition to a cleaning tool. The brush head is also replaceable.
If you’re looking for other powerful scrubbing tools, the brand offers its Scour Daddy made from durable ArmorTec mesh, as well as the Scour Daddy Steel that’s designed with stainless steel fibers.
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