Asian Straw Broom: Excellent Cleaning Tool

It never ceases to amaze me how stubborn and stuck in my American (U.S.) ways I can be.  Have you seen the guest post that wrote for Ruth’s Real Food about me learning to come around to my hubby’s Filipino culture while seeking out real food solutions?  Well, apparently I still have quite a few things to learn and I think I need to start taking better notes.  (Getting off my high horse might help too!)

Ever since I started hanging around my husband’s Filipino family I’ve noted various things that they do differently.  One of these things was the use of a weird looking broom.  THe broom is made from rice stalks.  It was weird because it was shorter than an American broom and it had weird fibers that I was sure could not possibly pick up anything.  I was certain of it!  So, I chalked it up to them not being able to adjust to buying American style goods that they weren’t used to.  I know; I’m stupid.  It couldn’t possibly be better, right?

My Hard to Clean Hardwood Floors

What you need to know is that I have hardwood floors on almost the entire main level of my house.  I like them except they are so hard to keep clean.  If you have hardwoods you may know that you are not supposed to use anything except a soft dust mop to clean them.  But the dust mop is total crap!  I have pugs and they shed like MAD.  Seriously, just after cleaning I will often keep them in the laundry room for a good chunk of the day just so I can have one day with no pug hair on the floor.  And the hair is so fine that it is hard to pick up.

I have been using a vacuum cleaner on the low floor setting) to get the hair and the dirt.  It seems to work better than anything else.  I would then follow up with a steam mop (I am still questioning whether I should use it at all, but I have hardwoods in my kitchen and I need to get up slop off the floor occasionally).

Shopping with the Hubs in the Asian Grocery Store

So this past week my hubs and I were at the Asian grocery store picking up a few Filipino goodies.  While there he asked me if I wanted to buy this rice stalk broom.  It was $3.50.  I shrugged, said, “Whatever,”  and totally did not intend to do anything with it — ever.  When we got home, my hubs started cleaning with it.  WOW!  The stuff it picked up was AMAZING!  It’s also lightweight and not as awkward as the taller brooms and dust mops.  As for the shortness that I mentioned earlier in the post, because it is so light the short stick is actually handy and just the right height at the end of your arm.  You can sweep while you walk.

No More Lugging out the Vacuum and Dealing with Cords!

I’m done lugging out the vacuum for the hardwood floors.  No more moving the cord from room to room.  I may just use the hand held vac to pick up the pile at the end, but that is it for the electricity use.  This broom sweeps tile perfectly as well.  I am thinking that I will get another broom to keep on the upper level to use in the bathrooms.  And I am finally throwing away all the dust mops that I have been holding onto for some silly reason.

Where to Find

I tried to find this on Amazon so I could place a link, but I did not have any luck.  Many Asian stores carry them, so if you have one nearby you should try to find one or ask if they can stock them for you to purchase.  My local Asian store takes special requests and they are usually networked pretty well to find anything you could want. If you can’t find it locally, try to Google it to find a vendor that might sell it.  Type ‘Asian Rice Straw Broom’ and see what you come up with.  They are made from stalks of rice I believe.  Don’t be fooled by imitators. If you find one, let me know!

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