Dhruv Trivedi
Episode 22 of ‘Shark Tank’ season 12 featured three friends and business partners who have come up with an innovative new cleaning product. Promising to cut down cleaning time and water usage by half, the guys from The Scrubbie introduced their product – a flexible scrubbing attachment that can be fixed to almost any kind of extendable water nozzle.
The product brought back memories of the famous Scrub Daddy, a product featured on ‘Shark Tank’ back in 2012, which went on to become one of the show’s greatest monetary successes and has garnered more than $200 million in sales since inception. We decided to check in with The Scrubbie and see if this scrubbing product is destined for similar greatness.
The Scrubbie: Who Are They and What Do They Do?
The idea for The Scrubbie came about years ago when Wichita-native Jeff Dakin found himself scrubbing his dinner dishes with the metal edge of his kitchen sink’s spray gun. Realizing how convenient it would be to have a sponge attached to the spray gun nozzle, he got in touch with his long-time friend Matt Hosey, a local contractor in oil and gas leasing, with whom he had previously discussed various other product ideas. Hosey brought along his childhood friend, Tyler Kessler, and the “Side Hustle Homies,” as the trio from Wichita refer to themselves, delved into making their groundbreaking scrubber.
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The three friends spent the next few years and a considerable amount of money perfecting their product, which also involved getting help from professional product engineers to create a universal connector that attaches the sponge to a wide variety of water nozzles. During this time, both Hosey and Kessler officially came on board as partners and investors. They finally launched The Scrubbie at the 2019 Wichita Women’s Fair, where it was an instant success.
Described as a “Universal Scrubbing Attachment,” The Scrubbie aims to simplify and speed up cleaning tasks by combining the water and sponge in the same place, removing the need to keep switching between the two. Additionally, it is easy to use right out of the box and can be connected to most kitchen sinks and garden hoses without requiring any tools.
The Scrubbie: Where Are They Now?
After their successful stall at the 2019 Wichita Women’s Fair, The Scrubbie team once again featured their product at the 2020 Fair, where they found an even higher interest in their product than the previous year. A day after the Fair ended, things got a lot more exciting when they found out that due to an earlier sales idea they had had, one of their marketing managers had sent in an application for The Scrubbie to demonstrate their product on ‘Shark Tank.’ The excitement was because they found out that they had been selected to appear on the show.
Being long-standing fans of the show, all three of them were excited at the opportunity and prepared for the sudden rise in publicity that they would receive after being featured on it. According to Dakin, the 6 million-odd viewers of a typical Friday night ‘Shark Tank’ episode translated to 6 million potential customers. The company subsequently prepared their website, which is also where they sell their product from, for increased traffic as well as warned their suppliers to be prepared for a spike in product orders.
The dishwasher-safe sponges are reversible for different cleaning requirements. They are also individually replaceable and come in packs of 3, so the universal connector can be reused. The Scrubbie attachment, along with 3 sponges, costs $19.99 ($14.99 after discount), while a pack of 3 replacement sponges costs $4.99. Also on offer is a subscription service for $30 ($14.99 after discount) which will send users a pack of 3 sponges every 2 months. Since early 2021, the product is also available on Amazon.
Even before its appearance on ‘Shark Tank,’ the convenient scrubbing attachment was garnering interest locally and got featured on local media outlets like The Wichita Eagle and the 104.5 The Fox radio station. The Scrubbie also received offers for a buyout but the team decided to hold on to their product, and are currently working on releasing even more attachments for it. Talking about their future plans, Hosey said, “We’re very aware of the rich history of Wichita entrepreneurs. We just want to follow in their footsteps.” Well, we wish them all the best and hope they can become the next Scrub Daddy of ‘Shark Tank.’
Read More: Update On Suds2Go From Shark Tank
