Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I hate cleaning gutters. It isn't necessarily that hard, but it's at least a little dangerous, and it's certainly an unpleasant task. I was elated when I heard about the Looj. At the same time, I work in tech and I tend to take product claims with a grain of salt. This one requires something more the size the salt licks used for livestock. According to the instructions, the battery must be charged for 15 hours before using. According to a warning sticker, the battery must not be charged for more than 15 hours. Nice. Plan carefully, kids. The device itself seems well-constructed, and everything that you have to hook up or assemble is designed in a relatively idiot-proof way. Despite the bizarre battery charging ritual I was willing to give it a chance. I'll admit that my gutters aren't easy to clean, and they were certainly full of leaves. But the Looj was pointless. It would ride up on the debris, then flip over due to the action of its 'auger.' I would have to turn it back over and start again. It felt like I was assisting a wounded turtle. And it barely made dent on the debris in the gutter. The Looj made a huge mess. I had to stop using it on one side of my house because it was flinging debris so far that it was hitting my neighbor's house. Not the neighborly thing to do. I had to hose down the parts of the house and gutters where I did use it because of the slime that it sprayed everywhere. I had to hose down my neighbor's house. I think I'm going to need to burn the clothes I was wearing. Finally, after 'cleaning' about 35 linear feet of gutter and making a gigantic mess, the battery in the Looj died. I was somewhat comforted knowing that my ordeal was over for at least (or exactly) 15 hours. I really wanted for this product to work. I hope that someday someone makes a product that does work for cleaning my gutters. In the meantime, it's back to the scoop and bucket, and the wistful dream of what might have been. Drat.