We've all seen the commercials -- for products that promise to save us time and money by keeping food fresh or steaming clothes dry.
We wanted to see just how well these "As Seen on TV" products work. We enlisted the help of a family to put four products to the test.
Amy Chan and her daughter Ashley tested Mr. Steamy Dryer Balls, Always Fresh Containers, Debbie Meyer Green Bags and the Reseal and Save. Chan also gave her review on the Tobi Steamer, an As Seen on TV Product she purchased herself.
Debbie Myers Green bags and Always Fresh Food Containers both sell for $15. They promise to keep food fresher longer by absorbing ethylene gas which causes food to ripen. The Chans used bananas, tomatoes and peppers in the test. They left some of the food on the counter in the open air, put some in the green bags and also the green containers. After 11 days the food on the countertop left in the open air began to spoil. The food in the green bags looked much better, but the food in the containers looked terrible!
"Unfortunately in our tests the food in the green bins did not do very well. It's not something anyone would want to eat."
The Debbie Myers Green bags did help food last longer and over time, could save you money.
The Chans also tested the Reseal and Save -- a $20 device that claims it can reseal bags by heating the plastic and creating a new seal. It promises to be fast and seal plastic bags air tight and water tight. While they found that some bags took longer to seal than others -- the Chans gave the Reseal and Save a thumbs-up.
"After a party if you have open bags of chips or other snacks using something like this could be a convenient way to seal bags to keep things fresh and it was easy to use," Anna said.
The Mister Steamy Dryer balls are heavily advertised and at a cost of just $10 are billed as a revolutionary way to use the power of steam to avoid ironing. You fill them with water; put them in the dryer with your clothes and when the dryer heats up the steam is supposed to be released. The commercials say your clothes will come out of the dryer wrinkle free. But in Amy's test that didn't happen.
"I thought if this works I can put away my iron -- but when we took several button down dress shirts out of the dryer they still had a lot of wrinkles." So Mister Steamy did not perform as advertised.
When the shirts needed ironing -- Chan said she could use an As Seen on TV Product she had purchased herself to get out the wrinkles. She plugged in the Tobi Steamer, a product she purchased for $100, and it worked very well!
Chan says she has been very happy with the product and has even purchased several of them as presents for friends and family. The Tobi Steamer promises to be five times faster then ironing and it does get the wrinkles out -- so it may be a good option if you want to put away your ironing board.
Key Points:
- Amy Chan and her daughter Ashley tested out several popular As Seen on TV products for this segment
- They include Mister Steamy Dryer Balls - $9.99 (at Showcase), Debbie Meyer Green Bags - $14.99 (at Showcase), Always Fresh Containers - $14.99 (at Showcase), The Reseal & Save - $20.00 (As Seen on TV outlet) and the Tobi Steamer - $99.99 (at Shop TV Canada or Canadian Tire)
- The Debbie Meyer Green Bags and The Reseal & Save performed as advertised
- The Always Fresh Containers and Mister Steamy were a disappointment
- As Seen on TV products can often be purchased at small retail locations like Showcase, over the phone or online
- The Chans own a Tobi Steamer ($99.99 at Canadian Tire or Shop TV) and highly recommend it, giving it rave reviews
