Not so long ago, cleaning was associated with a bucket of soapy water, a “makuti” broom, a hard brush, and an old t-shirt-turned-duster. Little by little, creativity which let’s say was influenced by a topic quite familiar during our Science lessons in school dubbed ‘Making Work Easier’, make-shift equipment using full human-height tree branches became a common sight attached to the same apparatus.

The dawn of the internet, e-commerce, youtube, e.t.c has exposed us to very many cleaning techniques and apparatus. We can window shop this equipment nowadays at the click of a button. I know I am not the only one who dives into TikTok content and finds themselves on Jumia or Amazon or Alibaba and the likes salivating over a gadget or something linked on a stranger’s description box.

Now we have mops of every kind imaginable, soft brooms, flat brooms, and hard brooms, of varying brush consistencies, wipe cloths of every fabric. The options are endless. Leave alone that, the recommendations are endless. It’s a matter of who is your preferred cup of tea, and where you drink it from because again influencers control our lives whether we’d like to admit it or not.

Malls, shopping centers, bazaars, high rises, office buildings, towers are cropping up in Nairobi on a monthly basis. Once infrastructure progressed, technology joined the WhatsApp group. These prompted the advancements in existing tech, in an attempt to initiate less labor-intensive machinery, more efficient and diverse use of the same equipment.

We are all chasing the minimum effort lifestyle, and the techies and engineers are telling us; ‘#SayNoMore‘. The designs are mind-boggling, it’s a wow factor every single time you see an ad. There’s this and then there’s that and then there’s another one before your lips meet from astonishing very dramatically.

‘A Zamboni’-I bet you’ve locally come across it at Sarit Centre. : Photo Courtesy

An example is a hoover or popularly known as a vacuum cleaner. Did you know that there are hoovers that bear 2in1 properties i.e. they suction dust and water? Did you know that they can be cordless as well, solar-powered even? And have varying sizes in scale?

Another is a scrubbing machine. It has a base that you can customize according to the task at hand, and surface type. If you want to scrub floors say terrazzo, cemented, cabro, tiles, carpets, you attach a brush pad. If you would like to wax floors, you attach a waxing pad. There are scouring pads, soft-bristled pads, etc.

For large-scale work in huge buildings, we have a Zamboni where the operator sits in the machinery and seems to be driving it-yes that’s a cleaning tool, and it’s very multi-faceted and extremely efficient in its uses, and I bet you’ve locally come across it at big shopping malls like Sarit Centre, Westgate Mall, Village Market, et al.

Robotics and AI are driving advancements in machinery that are ensuring diversity and efficiency are the number one factor being considered. You’d think creativity is likely to take a break twenty years into the 21st century, but hey innovation ain’t having that conversation right now.

Terms such as cordless, ergonomic, agile, voice-activated, green energy, app connectivity, are the words you’d need a dictionary nearby to decipher since their redefinition.  These have made the process that is cleaning to be optimal, less time-consuming, reliable, and better in many other ways. Yes, the price tag, will astonish you, as it is a hefty one but it’s worth every penny.

It is definitely just the beginning of the 21st century. Innovations are evolving. Ideas are ever-changing. Do not shy away from morphing within your home space or office space. What is left is to embrace change which is inevitable in its entirety.