I remember learning the tough lesson about how advertising is full of lies when I was about four and there were all those commercials for Scrubbing Bubbles bathroom cleaner. I swear I wasn't so dumb that I believed that the bubbles would start to talk and strategize militaristic plans for tackling soap scum, but when I found the stuff in my house and poured it in my tub, those bubbles did absolutely nothing- they didn't even move. My cynical side came to life that day.

So now that I know that little roach-sized uniformed maids aren't actually going to come crawling out of the automatic shower cleaner, made by those same Scrubbing Bubbles people, I'm kind of excited about it. It's just a little contraption that holds a cleaning solution and shoots it out onto the shower walls and tub. You turn it on right after a bath or shower, when the tub is still wet so the cleanser combines with the water and needs no additional rinsing. The sprayer goes in complete circles, to a distance of up to 8 feet, so every corner of the shower wall should be cleaned. Theoretically, if used after every shower, you never need to do a thorough scrub-down ever, but that may be pushing it.

The automatic shower cleaner should be available in most mass retailers soon, and the basic kit with two 34 oz. bottles of cleaner (each lasting for appx. 21 cleanings), and 4 AA batteries will sell for about $30. The refill bottles will be about $5.