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What the Heck Are Those Smiley Face Sponges I Keep Seeing on TikTok?

Michelle Mac
5 min readJun 16, 2023

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Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

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If you’ve been on TikTok or YouTube for any length of time and stumbled into the world of cleaning videos, you will have seen these sponges in pretty much every video.

They are in the shape of a smiley face and come in several colors and styles. You’ll see them used to clean sinks, bathroom sinks, showers, ovens, and dishwashers.

This smiley sponge is called the “Scrub Daddy”.

The Original Scrub Daddy with its iconic smiley face and yellow color

The Original Scrub Daddy with its iconic smiley face and yellow color

Buying a Scrub Daddy Of My Own

After seeing these sponges everywhere on my YouTube & TikTok feed, I finally caved the other day and bought one (you win consumerism!). I’ll admit I also bought the “Daddy Caddy” the little suction holder to stick it to the side of my sink. Though that name does make me a little queasy I’ll be honest.

So far I’ve used it to clean my oven door (inside and outside), my sink, and a few pots and pans that aren’t dishwasher safe. Speaking of the dishwasher did you know you can put the Scrub Daddy in the dishwasher to clean it?! I learned that this week 😅

Anyway, after actually using the product and seeing its many use cases, how it’s marketed, and the range of accompanying products on offer, I wanted to go down the rabbit hole on the Scrub Daddy to see what I could learn.

Learning About The Scrub Daddy’s Creation

The Scrub Daddy is a sponge in the shape of a smiley face. It’s made of a special material (a polymer; don’t ask me what that is) that allows it to be firm in cold water and soft in warm water.

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Michelle Mac
Michelle Mac

Written by Michelle Mac

The *heavily edited* ramblings of a technical writer & frontend dev. I write about creativity, design, and productivity. Start here: https://heymichellemac.com/

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