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The Shuffles Shoe Mop Has to be One of the Dumbest Products Ever!

Just by chance I came across infomercial video of a product called Shuffles, which is a mop you wear on your foot like a shoe. Click below to play the video:

I’m afraid that this commercial—much like the Hawaii Chair—is so ridiculous that many people will refuse to believe it is real; they’ll assume the ad for the Shuffles shoe mop is some sort of a prank or joke. But this is an actual product that people expect you to pay money for. You can buy yourself a pair of Shuffles at www.GetShuffles.com.

I love how the infomercial shows women gracefully gliding across the floor in rhythm, like they are dancing—not dragging their aching legs like some kind of prisoner on a chain gang.

One woman claims with a straight face, “My husband and my daughter actually help me clean. They fight over who is going to use the Shuffles.” If the members of your household are fighting over who gets to clean your floors with a shoe mop, then perhaps your family has serious anger management problems and needs to see a licensed therapist. Or maybe they are just really bored around the house, in which case a DVD player might be a better investment.

It is also pretty nasty that they show people using this thing in their bare feet.

After seeing this video I remembered that years ago, some woman who worked at an infomercial production company emailed me and told me about an infomercial her company had made for a product called the “Schmop,” which was a shoe mop like Shuffles. She told me she would send me a copy of the infomercial but she never did. After doing a search I found the website for the Schmops product as well (although I can’t be sure if it is exactly the same product that woman wrote me about).

Wondering if there were any more of these incredible shoe mop products around, I found another one named the MopShoe. And the MopShoe also has an infomercial. This ad isn’t as absurd as the one for Shuffles (mainly because half the time they show people using it on the hand), but it does have a neato jingle at the end! (Click below to play the video.)

Ya gotta love that song:

Make a little mess?
Don’t know what to do?
Put it on your feet now
MopShoe!

The perfect tune to clean floors by!

Neither the Shuffles nor the MopShoe commercial makes the case that using the product will not only clean your house but will help you burn calories as you use it. (Clean floors and lose weight all at once! Amazing!)

After seeing the Shuffles and MopShoe infomercial videos and the Schmops website, we now know that there really and truly are people alive on planet Earth who think the public is dumb enough to spend money on a shoe mop!

Comments

  • 41 Responses to “The Shuffles Shoe Mop Has to be One of the Dumbest Products Ever!”

  • Evidently the rumors of recession were ill-founded.

    Comment by Al Frank on September 11, 2008 at 2:36 pm

  • Just because of the sole fact that the mop shoe is made in the US makes it a far more superior product…

    Comment by TimNRA757 on September 11, 2008 at 3:10 pm

  • That’s just a bunch of lawsuits waiting to happen!

    Comment by Melissa on September 11, 2008 at 4:17 pm

  • Funny, I did this once when I was 10 years old. I smell lawsuit.

    Comment by Mel on September 12, 2008 at 5:36 pm

  • It is also pretty nasty that they show people using this thing in their bare feet.

    I take it that your not a podophile?

    Comment by Visaman on September 12, 2008 at 6:34 pm

  • This is even worse than the crap I sell.

    Comment by Richard Simmons on September 12, 2008 at 7:40 pm

  • Mop Shoe?

    Gezhundheit!!

    Comment by Scott Mercer on September 21, 2008 at 9:17 pm

  • Great Exercise!! It’s like you’re mopping without even knowing it. While I’m cooking or washing dishes, I’m getting my mopping done at the same time. I think I will buy my children a pair for Christmas because they are constantly running/sliding around the house.

    Comment by Bekay on October 3, 2008 at 3:19 am

  • Hello all, I am the one responsible for the mop shoe. Its a great product. One thing to keep in Mind is that its easy on the back and you have a lot more pounds of pressure utilizing your weight instead of pressing down a stick. It has a 10 year warranty!!! As far as lawsuits go. Its actually not slippery cause it absorbs the water so its quite stable. I still suggest dont use while intoxicated and keep away from electrical outlets.

    PS Hey Richard Siimmons how bout selling it for me!!

    Comment by Kelly Hurd on October 31, 2008 at 7:43 am

  • Hey! Don’t you DARE knock this amazing item! I lost 280 pounds thanks to this product. She was fat, but she was still my dear Mother. You see…, she slipped right outta the 3rd floor window while using them, but hey… the insurance check was niiice! and the Shuffles still work… even with the blood spatter on em’! 12 out of 10 stars!

    Comment by TommyTooMuchTeeVee on January 6, 2009 at 6:57 am

  • i know if i got the mop shoe for a gift i would muder that person

    Comment by erm on February 7, 2009 at 6:48 pm

  • Okay, I have to admit that this looks fun to do.

    I’m SORRY I JUST LIKE THE IDEA OF SLIDING AROUND ON MY FLOOR LIKE A JERK.

    Comment by Canaduck on March 25, 2009 at 3:53 pm

  • People that take the time to blog/comment on these type of things really need to find something more meaningful to do with their boring lives. The only reason I found this page was because I googled Shuffles to inquire about re-ordering pads, and surprise, surprise…the first thing I find before the actual website is a blog from people commenting on a product who have never even used the product. I am an entreprenuer myself and give credit to anyone coming up with and taking a risk on any new product or idea. What have any of you done other than rag on other people’s work…that’s the better question!? Why don’t you guys put the computer away and do something more productive with your own lives, other than waste your company’s payroll dollars or the government’s unemployment dollars on your blogging/internet time wasting?!

    Comment by Lisa on March 25, 2009 at 8:41 pm

  • I think it is a great idea. Many times in my life I have used a big towel to wipe up something on the floors and used my feet because I can put more pressure on the floor without bending over at the time. Anyway, kudos to the gal for trying because marketing a great product is very hard to do. Many things we use were thrown at us four or five times before someone came up with, just the right ad to get people to buy. Cheers, and good luck on your endeavor.

    Comment by Dennis on April 19, 2009 at 4:13 pm

  • Oh god, what an embarrassment. Mays and Sullivan ought to know better than to promote such a retarded product.

    Comment by C.M. on April 22, 2009 at 10:58 pm

  • just saw this on pitchmen, if she stole this idea from those other 2 products, how is she able to copy it and sell it without patent issues?

    Comment by mike on April 23, 2009 at 12:33 am

  • Well, there is a new show out called pitchmen and Antony Sullivan and Billy Mays is the one that helped the girl that invented shuffles get it on the market. They KNEW it wasn’t gonna sell much so they didn’t even take any of the profit. They give it all to her. What was funny is this woman actually put her damn life savings of 40k and quit a huge marketing job to pursue that damn product. When Mays and Sullivan told her they weren’t selling well and she would need to pay out of her own pocket to keep the commercial on the air, she blamed them for not selling well! What was also amusing is that before the commercial was done being made, she was being so damn picky about it being PERFECT that it made mays and Sully wanna pull their hair out. I dunno, but she just needs to find another invention to pitch to them, because that one just isn’t gonna ever work! I kinda feel sorry for her 😛

    Comment by Elizabeth on April 23, 2009 at 6:03 am

  • Lighten up! We watched ‘Pitchmen’ the other night & thought this idea was great! My Mom and I have been doing this for years with paper towels on our feet, so to actually see this product made us both smile…and not just smile, but want to BUY IT! Y’all can be as nasty as you want to be and live in a house with dirty floors…meanwhile Mom and I are shuffling around our CLEAN floors and loving it! Bravo to the inventor for her persistance!

    Comment by Karen 'n Kathie on April 26, 2009 at 7:08 pm

  • For those of you who are curious, patent infringement is probably a non-issue in this case. Just because one product “copies” off of another does not mean that they are liable for patent infringement. In order for there to be a problem, the first person to invent the mopshoe/shuffle would have had to file for a patent within 1 year of disclosing the idea to the public.I’m betting this didn’t happen. It is also highly likely that someone came up with the same idea before the people mentioned in this article since the product is fairly simple. Anyway, I wouldn’t worry much about any sort of infringement liability for any of the products.

    Comment by MacGyver on April 26, 2009 at 10:13 pm

  • I am watching the show now and was also wondering how it did prior to the show even ending, hence how I found this page. I have been looking FOREVER on an easy way to clean my small 12″ tile kitchen floor. I hate pulling out the mop or getting down and scrubbing so it stays dirty and marked up! I’m a single 28 year old guy… I have no clue. Reading other reviews it seems like a cheap and easy solution to clean the floor! What’s the fuss? There is always a need for something, small market or large. I’m seriously considering buying it as long as it is still around to actually purchase! Thank you for actually posting up the link to purchase… I’m gonna go check that website out as well.

    Comment by Jeff on May 2, 2009 at 7:26 pm

  • I saw this on Pitchmen too and I couldn’t believe the woman who invented it sacrificed her financial security for what could turn out to be either a mild success or a colossal failure. I know there are those who think it’s a great idea but you have to take into account not everyone does and if their numbers are larger than the other way around the profits will be much smaller. Add to that the fact that there are already many competing products out there plus your standard ones and you begin to see the challenge she faces. If I were her I would have kept my day job and developed this on the side until I knew it was going to be enough of a success to sustain me before I quit. As it is now if this thing flops or doesn’t sell well she is in for a very hard landing especially in this economy.

    Comment by Jack Sampson on May 2, 2009 at 8:16 pm

  • maybe she gave the pitchmen,Antony Sullivan and Billy Mays fellatio she is absolutely gorgeous I would buy frm her personally. She is F*&*%$@g HOT!

    Comment by joe on May 2, 2009 at 10:17 pm

  • Great, how LAZY do you have to be to end up needing this??

    Comment by S on May 3, 2009 at 2:23 am

  • Frankly, the “need” for such a product could be from the fact that a ruined back prevents you from bending over at all. My mother-in-law has had degenerative disc disease for 30 years, and it’s ravaged her spinal column. She’s had multiple surgeries, has multiple fused vertibrae, titanium cages around her lumbar spine, and every disc in her spine is either fused (surgically), herniated, or ruptured. She could benefit tremendously from this product for cleaning up small spills and things that just need quick attention. Sure, she’s never going to mop the whole house with this; her husband does that anyway. However, she could easily use these to make her life a lot easier, cleaning spills when no one is there to help her so she doesn’t have to wait and risk damaging her wood floors. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that this isn’t a silly product or that anyone in their right mind would really use this to mop their entire floor. I think this is really where they went wrong with the advertising. They should have looked at it is a way to clean small spills and should have tried to market it to people who really need this because they’re disabled or have some other reason for really NEEDING these things. It’s a niche community, but I think if done right she could actually break even on these things, if nothing else. It’s really tragic, but at least it’s not a damn Snuggie!

    Comment by J on May 3, 2009 at 3:31 pm

  • I’m not feet-phobic, but the idea of cleaning the floor that close to my bare feet does freak me out. Of course, I don’t even walk around my house without slippers, but this just seems ridiculous.

    Comment by Devika on May 31, 2009 at 4:08 am

  • I just saw a rerun of this on Pitchmen, and just had to look it up. Here are my thoughts:

    The girl for Shuffles told her brief bio, and said she grew up poor and had to do a lot of cleaning around the house. As such, she had to use towels on the floor a lot with her feet. Therefore, she thought it would be a great idea to make an actual, proper foot-mop instead of a towel.

    However, one thought immediately came to my mind: did it ever occur to her that the only reason she thinks this is a good idea is because she was too poor to own and use a proper mop?

    Comment by Aaron on July 1, 2009 at 10:32 pm

  • The one thing that comes to mind each and every time I see this sort of product, is how easy is it to clean those pads? And, when you do clean the pad, you then have to put your foot in a soaking wet pad. It’s all well and good to show how to clean a CLEAN floor in a tv studio, or how to clean a small self contained mess, but what about the read world of kitchen floors? I would hazard a guess that most clean looking floors, will actually have quite a bit of surface dirt, which will have to be rinsed off every couple of feet (no pun intended!) I would think having to sit down to take Shuffles on and off over the course of floor cleaning is about as hard on the back as mopping.

    As for the calorie burn, you burn calories mopping the traditional way. In addition to using your legs and back to move the mop, you also move your arms, which gives you a broader range of motion than sliding around on the floor.

    Comment by gazoo on July 2, 2009 at 12:16 am

  • My wife and I seen the Shuffle’s product on Pitchman last night. The one comment that my wife kept saying is that it doesn’t have the “wow” factor and then said that this product is not revolutionary or basically, isn’t something that can’t be accomplished by other household items; Then she flipped her fuzzy slippers over and proceeded to demonstrait. I laughed my head off. She was right. Why spend $14.95, $19.95, $29.95 on a product that pre-exists in most people’s house? You have shoes, sandals, etc, and micro fiber cloths can be bought for less than $4 for 3 cloths at any local Walgreen’s, Rite Aid, CVS, etc store.

    That “poor” woman. She dumped $40,000 dollars on developing this “idea” when it already exists. It was like she was trying to reinvent the wheel. I don’t know, but just looking at her and how knitpicky she was with the commercial, and knowing that she left a “marketing firm”, she’s a perfectionist and those are the worst type’s when trying to come up with a mass produced product that will have appeal and make people want to buy them. She would have better luck marketing the Shuffles as inexpensive flippers for using in a pool or use as a Big Foot costume or something else.

    Comment by Bishop on July 2, 2009 at 9:55 am

  • About the only redeeming quality of Shuffles was Kristen’s big booty in all of its bootylicious glory on Pitchmen. 😉

    Comment by Darth Chaos on July 2, 2009 at 11:43 am

  • I agree with Darth Chaos, I was checkin’ dat booty out all the time, thank gawd for reruns and the internet, but I would warn new viewers who haven’t seen this particular episode yet that her voice is damn annoying. I can think of another use for her mouth though…. hehehehehe…

    Comment by Mark on July 8, 2009 at 4:19 am

  • I’m curious to know if any of you nay-sayers have actually tried the Shuffles. Or, better yet, who among you has taken an idea to production and then to market? My hat is off to this inventor. I bought her product and think it’s a great invention. They are designed to easily clean corners and edges. You can easily apply pressure right where it’s needed. They work great. If you’ve actually tried this product and feel compelled to post a “buyer beware” notice, fine. Otherwise, find a more productive use of your time.

    Comment by Texas Girl on July 9, 2009 at 4:43 pm

  • I think you are taking this shoe-mop thing too seriously. Have you seen that commercial? It’s freaking retarded and hilarious.

    Comment by Michelle on August 11, 2009 at 11:48 pm

  • Kristen the Shuffles chick reminds me of Pauley Perrette…only younger, less gothic, and more booty. 😉

    Comment by Darth Chaos on August 26, 2009 at 11:14 am

  • Hi Kristen.

    I know that post #31 was you. That being said, I’d like to say that instead of selling a shoe mop, you should sell a workout video/shoe mop combo, with you as the star. That booty and those ample breasts would sure to jiggle a few dollars out of viewer’s pockets.

    Best of luck with the shoe mop. It’s not such a bad idea I guess.

    Comment by Billy Hayes on September 9, 2009 at 11:08 pm

  • After chopping up my latest hit into little tiny pieces,there’s nothing I love more than to clean up the bloody mess with my shuffles while wearing a snuggies.

    Comment by A dude on September 10, 2009 at 10:14 am

  • There isn’t an idea in the world that someone else hasn’t already had the same idea about. I know you know that.
    The difference is that someone made the move first on some idea and/or built the better mousetrap before you, and well, there you go. Whatever. Caca happens.

    If you see something on infomercials, you, more than likely, can come up something relatively similar on you own. Maybe not Ronco’s little rotisserie but certainly the less gadgety things.

    After having most of my life troubled by a bad back, I thought that I had come up with the mopshoe idea.
    So, apparently I didn’t. Big surprise.
    I was going to make a prototype but then no sooner did I say “prototype”, a similar item was advertised on TV no less than a month or two later.

    I then thought that anyone really, could make this from home in a few minutes, the mopshoes.

    First put on the flatest shoes you have and then put a couple of pairs of old socks on each foot over said shoes, and then use the cleaners to wipe down the floors using your weight fully than on you hands and knees. And put on some fun music, because actually, it does help when cleaning.
    I’m also a germaphobe, (yes freak, but please let that go)so this idea helps me clean behind the toilet.
    (I have a couple idiot friends with bad aim, ugh, but heh, they have other qualities enough to overlook their oversights.)
    Rest in Peace Billy Mays

    Comment by Matt Stark on November 29, 2009 at 5:56 am

  • Hmm Pitch Men!! I created the Mop Shoe way before the rip off SHUFFLES, Lazy Husband, and Mop Slippers!! THEY ALL STOLE MY IDEA and didnt contact me at all. I hope the lady from Shuffles reads this!!!! CAUSE YOU SUCK!!! I sent an email to the people at Pitchmen and guess what?? NO RESPONSE. I actually worked for Quick and Brite and cut a commercial called ExtraClean and good ole Sully was the host. And all those Oxy Clean demonstrations were a rip off!!! The oil on top of the water trick.. Um Quick n Brite did it first!!! I have a new design for the Mop Shoe and its coming out later this year!!!! YOUR AMERICAN!! BUY AMERICAN!!! BUY MOP SHOE!!!

    Comment by Kelly Hurd on February 6, 2010 at 12:10 pm

  • I just watch an episode of the “Pitchmen” on TV pitching these idiotic Shuffles. A mop or broom would be easier, faster and more efficient to use and probably cost you less money. Just another waste of money that these info-commercials think we consumers are gullible enough waste our hard earning monies on. The only thing was I felt sorry for the gal that invented them as she spent $40,000.00 of her own money to promote the product. Someone a long time ago should have brought her down to reality before she spent all that dough. I got the sense that the fellows on the TV show also thought it was a waste of money but they only felt sorry for her and it was good for their TV ratings. Although these same pitchmen have been known to pitch some garbage in their day.

    Comment by William Penwell on July 29, 2010 at 2:58 am

  • Sadly, William (#38), many consumer are in fact gullible enough to squander their hard-earned money on silly infomercial products. The infomercial industry rakes in billions of dollars a year, so whatever they’re doing is rather effective.

    Comment by Jordan on January 11, 2012 at 1:39 pm

  • OMG< I loved these things and was just looking to find a new pair. and sadly apparently I cant. 🙁 they work well and they last a really long time. I am just replacing mine because the kids left them out and the dogs decided to use them as a chewy.

    Comment by Jeanette on February 17, 2012 at 4:42 pm

  • I’ve got some of these & they are brilliant!! Because of your body weight they get more grime off than an ordinary mop. I use them with my ordinary mop to get the tough spots off & don’t have to worry about where I walk. They’re not slippery at all. Maybe you should try it before you knock it.

    Comment by Surfin on March 23, 2012 at 12:30 am