But Wait There's Even More!

Considering Mighty Putty? Ready to order Yoga Booty Ballet? Before you place an order, check out our annual review of infomercial products.

By Michael Neill

From Reader's Digest

The Oddest Products On the Planet

Filling the minutes between the Happy Days reruns and documentaries about obscure, unpleasant fauna, infomercials lay siege to your brain's pleasure centers, urging you to buy things you never knew you needed. And so you pick up the phone and order now, while supplies last, confident they're not available in any store! And you wind up, as I did, with a living room full of artifacts from late-night TV, everything from the Wonder Washer to the Yoga Booty Ballet DVDs to something called … Tater Mitts.

Some actually deliver on their gaudy promises, some kind of work, and some crumble at the merest touch.

Why would anyone in his right mind clutter his life with this stuff? So that you, dear reader, won't have to. With that in mind, and with the assistance of a small but dedicated cadre of Reader's Digest staffers, I opened my home to some of the oddest products on the planet.

We ranked them on the following scale:

* Don't waste your money

** Works, sort of

*** Good enough to buy

**** Overnight delivery!

So don't touch that remote (or that phone or that credit card) until you read what we have to say.

GO DUSTER
$9.95 **

The promise - The makers of this battery-operated spinning feather duster have gone way out on a limb with an audacious statement: "makes dusting faster, easier, and more fun than you ever imagined!"

The reality - Fun? Well ... yes, actually. "Takes the mundane task of removing dust from blinds, ceiling fans, etc., and makes it an adventure," said one easily amused tester. Although most would like to see an extension pole added for hard-to-reach places, the consensus was "easy to use." But more than one did notice that "it doesn't really remove the dust so much as move the dust around."

HOLLYWOOD PURSE HOOK
$9.95 **

The promise - Instead of slinging your handbag (or umbrella) on any old icky, sticky floor, hang it on this "chic, elegant, and durable hook," says the company. You get a set of two hooks: one with a gold finish, one silver. This portable device uses the weight of the purse as a counterbalance to attach to a table or shelf.

The reality - "It's an unnecessary gadget," said one tester. Added another, "Who cares if it's gold or silver?" But, gushed one martini drinker, "it's perfect for bars!" The obvious flaw of a purse hook: It's one more thing to cram into your purse.

HANDYSWITCH
$14.95 ****

The promise - As if America isn't sedentary enough, the box screams, "Too lazy to get out of bed to turn the lights off? HandySwitch is the amazing remote-control light switch that turns on any lamp in any room!" Plug the receiver into an outlet, and plug the lamp into that. Then use the switch to operate the lamp remotely, from the far end of the room or even outside the house.

The reality - Turns out, our staffers are a bunch of lazy bums. Bum No. 1: "Very handy, especially when walking into a dark house." Bum No. 2: "Excellent for a person with limited mobility." Bum No. 3: "The signal was so strong, it worked two houses away."

WONDER WASHER
$69.95 ***

The promise - Ever wanted to travel the world, just you and your washing machine? Good news! This portable, bucket-sized washer goes where you go, assuming you go to places that have electrical outlets.

The reality - "I like that it agitates, similar to a real washing machine," said one tester. "I think the clothes get a little cleaner than a hand wash would get them." And another raved, "It was great for delicates." A third tester, though, had a better idea. "You could make a bunch of piña coladas in it," she said. "It's basically a giant blender."

Flat Fold Colander, Tater Mitts, and Yoga Booty Ballet

FLAT FOLD COLANDER
$9.95 *

The promise - In the competitive world of spaghetti drying, "a full-sized strainer that magically folds flat to store anywhere" would seem to hold the edge, right?

The reality - Not according to our testers. They found this plastic offering too much of a strain. "Compared with an ordinary colander, it's wobbly," complained one. And another thought, "I guess it would be good for my yacht-if I had one."

The promise - These bright-blue rubber gloves with an abrasive surface are the latest in potato-peeling haute couture. The idea: Rub the potato back and forth with the mitts on, and watch the skin disappear.

The reality - "Messy and didn't get the job done," said a tester. Even after cleaning the mitts as instructed, "I still had to pick little pieces of potato peel off the gloves," said someone else. Unintended consequence: A third tester fell in love all over again with her old potato peeler. "It's so much easier."

YOGA BOOTY BALLET
$32.95 **

The promise - "A dynamic fusion of dance, booty sculpting, and yoga that will make you feel strong, confident, and beautiful."

The reality - You'll look ridiculous doing it. "It's the dorkiest dances of the early '90s condensed into one DVD," wailed one tester. Worse, said another, it's "not challenging enough to even make you break a sweat." But that didn't keep one mover and shaker from admiring the "variety of workouts."

Spin Spa, Openx Duo, and Mighty Putty

SPIN SPA
$19.99 **

The promise - Nothing less than trans_forming your boring shower into a vibrant "spa experience," through the use of a spinning brush. While you're at it, "use the

microdermabrasion head to cleanse away dead skin cells from head to toe and reveal the youthful skin beneath."

The reality - "It takes more work to keep it steady than to enjoy what it does," griped one tester. Others thought it was "clunky" and "gimmicky." But, as another said, "who doesn't love a massage? It felt great."

CARTDESK
$109.99 *

The promise - For that special workaholic in your life, a folding desk that lets him or her work anywhere.

The reality - "Too much folding, unfolding, snapping, and unsnapping," said one tester. "Reminds me of a foldout airplane tray table-and it produced the same cramped, inconvenient space."

OPENX DUO
$29.95 **

The promise - Finally, a solution to the national nightmare of scissors that don't cut it, nutcrackers that crack under pressure, can openers that can't, and bottle grippers that have lost their grip. And it's all-in-one! Comes with a package opener that "cuts plastic like butter."

The reality - "Way too expensive," commented a tester. "Save your money-buy a second set of scissors," advised another. On the upside, one staffer loved the fact that "it easily cracked walnuts and opened cans."

MIGHTY PUTTY
$19.95 ***

The promise - This superpowered epoxy creates "an everlasting bond" that can support up to 350 pounds.

The reality - Our testers agreed. They used it for tasks both mundane (plugging a leaky faucet, affixing a loose tile) and imaginative ("Mom, what's Tommy doing on the ceiling?"). Okay, we're kidding about Tommy. But we're not kidding about the reviews. "A little goes a long way," said one tester. The only complaint was an unpleasant vinegary odor, but it dissipates.

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