BLACK+DECKERPKS160 Power Scrubber

I have used the Black & Decker Scum buster for years. I like these little power scrubbers better because:1. It's smaller and more portable than the Scum buster.2. It performs the same as the Scum buster, so if I can get the same cleaning power in a small handheld device, I will pick that anytime.3. The Scum buster uses those proprietary Ni-Cad cylindrical batteries. Those are a specialized battery that you have to buy at Sears or the hardware store and they are expensive.This power scrubber uses four AA batteries. We all have those around the house. Moreover, I use Sanyo eneloop rechargeable batteries which means I am never out of power.4. What I really like is that this power scrubber is small, light and easy to use. You don't get tired using it. The huge Scum Buster eventually gets tiresome to use and it's awkward to handle.5. B & D designed the Power Scrubber to spin fast and powerful enough to really scrub things, like pots and pans, tile, etc. But it does not spin so fast to where it would shoot water, cleanser, or whatever all over the place. It's speed is perfect for keeping the cleaning material in the pad and on the surface you are scrubbing.6. This is perfect for its intended uses, scrubbing the sink, things in the sink and the shower/tub. I even used it on my tires!7. Bonus Tip: I find it works quite well when applying medium pressure to the scrubber. It's powerful enough that when applying pressure it does not stall, it simply scrubs harder, which is what I want in a device like this.8. And I like that it can stay submerged up to ten minutes (per the owner's manual). That means you can leave it in the sink with the water running without worrying about it shorting out.Bonus Tip: In fact, the owner's manual says that if water does get into the battery compartment you only have to stop using it and let it dry out over night. How cool is that, not having to worry about water damaging the unit.All in all a great device. It has saved me a lot of work in the kitchen.

For starters, I've never used the Power Scrubber for dishes/pots&pans, so I can't speak to its uses there. I can tell you that it does a great job on porous-looking bath tile (the kind that has little air-bubble holes... I don't get it either, but the shower looks nice), especially when you use the Black & Decker PKS-BB Bristle Brush for Power Scrubber. In addition, it's done a fine job on my car tires and rims. If you keep some rechargeable batteries around, like the Sanyo Eneloop 8 Pack AA NiMH Pre-Charged Rechargeable Batteries, you're good to go.But because of its submersible design, I bought it to help me clean the deep corners of my pool. Ours is a vinyl in-ground pool, and where the vinyl was pressed into the corners of the deep end, there are little wrinkles and ridges. We've got crape myrtles around the pool (not a good idea, but we bought the house this way), and often, the wrinkles collect petals, dirt, etc. The pool vacuum misses these spots, and even diving with a scrub sponge provides no help (because when I start to scrub, I just sorta' float away -- the kids love to watch this, and they know that when THAT many bubbles are coming out of Daddy's mouth, he's probably cussing). By the time the Power Scrubber arrived, I had a very clean pool, except for a small series of black-caked folds where the debris collects.The good news is that the Power Scrubber can handle a depth of 10', and that the dirt was flung out within seconds. The area is spotless. The bad thing is that it took such a small amount of time, that it was a bit of a letdown to get on a bathing suit and goggles, only to return less than 2 minutes later with the job completed. The unit hasn't taken on any water yet, but I pull the battery tray out anyway and let the Power Scrubber dry upright overnight.I also found that the scrubber was exactly what I needed to clean the toilet tank (reservoir). We're on well water, and when we bought our home, the water filters hadn't been changed in a while, so the toilet tanks had clay-enriched brown scum-goo all over the interiors. I drained the tank, donned rubber gloves, splashed some chlorine hither and yon, and let this scrubber wiggle and grind through all of the backstage workings of the toilets. Fan. Tass. Tick. No more staining water.The Power Scrubber does NOT have a blindingly fast rotation, but seems to work more on determination and diligence. I also understand that this pool-and-toilet-tank bit isn't what people are looking for when they're assessing the Power Scrubber's uses in the kitchen, but I thought it might help folks to realize that it's a nice scrubbing tool that is useful in many other locations for many other jobs.

Much larger than it looks online. It seems to turn a little slow, but it is powerful and doesn't stop working from putting pressure on it. That tells me that it has a well made motor which is unusual for a Chinese made product. 4 stars for the slower action.I bought mine, with an optional additional bristle brush, for the laundry. I've used it with the scrubber pads to clean my stainless steel kitchen sink and it worked fine. The scrubber pads, once attached to the velcro like surface pull apart if you try to remove them, so don't take off the pads unless they are worn out, instead take off the whole head, which is easy to remove by just pulling on the plastic under the pad. The blue pads don't seem to have alot of scrubbing power and they pull apart easily. There are some other choices on Amazon that you might want to try.To insert batteries, pull straight out on the wire "hanger" on the base. It comes with 4 Chinese made batteries, however, I recommend Energizer Ultimate Lithium batteries (it takes 4 AA), because they won't ever leak and ruin your scrubber, they are way more powerful, they last for what seems like forever, and for ones in storage, they have a 25-30 year storage life (stock up-they won't go bad-and then you are prepared when you need them for your scrubber or flashlights or etc...). They are too powerful for some things, but work just fine with this scrubber. Use the cheaper batteries for things that require less power, or that won't work with the very powerful lithium batteries.