While browsing through the latest Kleeneze catalogue, the JML Rubber Wonder Broom caught my eye. I often need to do some not intensive exactly, but a little more thorough cleaning than a dustpan and brush or a mop would do, and I hate getting the vacuum cleaner out - so, the claims of this multi-purpose rubber broom seemed to fit my ideal of reluctance I experience regarding housework.

I ordered the broom, which cost £9 from Kleeneze, and it was delivered to me a couple of days later.

The broom is wrapped mostly in clear polythene, with a cardboard stabiliser, on which is printed many different uses for the broom, together with JML's quality claim, their one-year guarantee on the product and their contact details (by the way, the company is John Mills Limited, trading under the name of JML).

The broom is self-assembly, and very easy to screw together - yes, even I managed it without any swearing, ripping my hair out, wall-climbing or fervent praying. The handle is telescopic, and you can adjust it to whatever length you like. There are instructions on how to lock the yellow handle at your desired length, and it did take me a few minutes to work out how to do this - but I managed it eventually. The head of the broom is made of quite tightly packed black rubber bristles, which appear to be very strong.

JML claims that the broom can be used either wet or dry, on all types of flooring, carpets, and outside on concrete paving - say, to sweep up garden debris such as leaves, moss etc. If you turn the broom around, you can also clean windows with it and there is a rubber squeegee action blade which is operated using the broom handle.

After use, the broom bristles can then simply be rinsed under the tap (turn the tap first of course lol), and left to dry before using again.

I have now used the broom a few times, testing all the recommended functions, and give my opinion below.

WOOD LAMINATE FLOORING

I found the broom didn't work so well when simply sweeping day to day dust and other ordinary particles from my laminate floors (kitchen and bathroom), but it performed extremely well when used with soapy water to wash the floors once they'd been swept over first with a traditional broom.

CARPETS

This is where I personally feel the broom works at its best. Using a little pressure, the rubber bristles dig gently, yet deeply into the carpet fibres and I have to honestly say, it cleaned my carpet in my living room and bedroom even better than my Dyson does! It's harder work, but balancing that little extra effort out with the hassle of setting up the hoover, I'd say that the broom wins hands down over the Dyson.

WINDOWS

This was where I had a problem, although I accept that it could be me rather than any lack of efficiency on the broom's part. I found the rubber blade behind the bristles rather difficult to manipulate against the windows, as the broom has to be held at a strange angle - but, I've never been very good with squeegees anyway, and other people may find it works fine for them on windows. I had better luck with the inside of the windows, but when I tried to do the outside, I found that the telescopic handle wouldn't extend far enough to reach most of the window pane areas. This could be due to me living in a mobile home, and as it's built on a brick base, the windows are higher up than they would be say on a ground floor flat, or the ground floor of a house. If I'd have put more effort into trying to clean my outside windows, I'd have had to stand on a small step ladder to reach the tops, but due to my arthritis I'm unable to climb ladders - so, I'll have to employ a window cleaner or get someone else to do the job for me using the rubber broom.

CONCRETE AND GARDEN DEBRIS

The broom performed wonderfully outside. I live in a semi-rural area that's largely woodland, and I get a lot of dead leaves - all year round - blowing over into my little garden. Exerting a little pressure onto the handle of the broom, it sweeps all those leaves up nicely. I also get a lot of moss forming on the concrete surface of part of my garden, and I was amazed to see how the rubber broom bristles really attacked and lifted the moss clean away from the concrete, which pleased me greatly, as I have tried lots of different moss-slaying preparations that haven't cured the problem at all (moss can get very slippery in damp weather, and I need to keep its growth down as much as possible). After having done a bit of weeding and cutting some grass, the rubber broom did the trick in that with very little effort from me, it quickly swept up all the green stuff and I was able to fill three green waste bags!

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My overall opinion on the JML Rubber Wonder Broom is that it's quite likely the best £9 I've spent in my life, despite it not performing too well on dry wood laminate flooring. It's easy to assemble, and so far seems very durable. The rubber is tough, and I have a feeling this broom is going to last me a long, long time. It's also lightweight, and requires only a little effort to manipulate around various surfaces. As far as the windows are concerned, I feel that it would perform well if I could get the knack of holding the rubber blade part at the correct angle, but I think that's a problem with me (plus my windows being high up) rather than the broom itself.

As for the price of £9, it's advertised more cheaply on some websites, and it could be that what I paid is Kleeneze's own price, rather than JML's or that of other stockists.

Well done JML! This is a superb addition to my household cleaning bits & bobs.

Thanks for reading!