I Used to Vacuum All the Time Until I Found This Genius $40 Tool

My first job was at a movie theater, so I know my way around a broom. There were two-dozen auditoriums connected by long hallways — and people would drop popcorn everywhere. When I wasn’t tearing tickets or serving food, I was cleaning up spills. Naturally, the brooms were the absolute worst. They were probably a decade old based on how they (and their matching dustpans) were falling apart.

Needless to say, I’m not the biggest fan of sweeping my apartment after working that job, but I know it’s a necessary home tool. There are some messes that a vacuum just can’t handle, and when you aren’t deep cleaning it’s less hassle to pull out a broom and dust pan instead. I never thought that I would find sweeping enjoyable, but OXO’s Large Sweep Set totally surprised me. It has so many smart features (including an extendable handle that gets into hard-to-reach areas) that make it the best broom I’ve ever used by a clear mile.

This set is leagues above the ones I used during my movie theater days — for obvious reasons — and the basic one that I got from a hardware store. For one, the dustpan is wide and has a large capacity so that you can sweep for a while without having to empty it, and its size makes it more difficult for debris to escape. It also locks for smoother emptying into the trash can.

The process is made easier by the teeth lined along the top of the dustpan, which act as a comb for the broom’s bristles and ensure you aren’t just spreading dirt around. Generally, you’re supposed to clean your broom every once in a while; after gently hitting your broom against something like a fence, tree, or trash can, you should use a comb on the bristles to remove hair and anything that’s wrapped around the strands. OXO’s dustpan does that job for you, and keeps it in good condition for longer.

The broom itself also offers a ton of benefits, such as the extendable 55-inch arm. When it’s retracted as low as 36 inches, it’s ideal for sweeping dirt piles into the pan; when it’s fully extended, you can reach under furniture. The bristles are long, feathered, and soft-tipped so that the broom glides across the floor as it grabs dust and dirt. The broom and dustpan also lock together for compact storage.

This lightweight sweep set is so effective that I’ve put it to work even more often than my vacuum lately. From the hardwood floors of my living room to the tile in my kitchen, the bristles have picked up everything on a first pass. Just this week I spilled popcorn kernels everywhere — a mess that I’d rather avoid clogging my vacuum with. Even though the bristles are softer than they are rigid, I swept all of the kernels into the dust pan in seconds — even in the case of the ones that scattered under my kitchen island.

The long handle helped with that task — you also don’t have to hunch over with it — and I was able to get a good amount of debris out from underneath my fridge too. It even does an impressive job on my low-pile rug, grabbing hair that I don’t even notice is there. That’s where the dustpan’s teeth especially came in handy. Most other brooms would require reaching down and untangling strands of hair by hand or with a comb, but I barely have to lift a finger. It’s so satisfying!

I also don’t have a broom closet, and thankfully this broom has a much smaller footprint than I expected. I can retract the broom’s handle to make it more discreet, and when the broom and dustpan are locked together, it takes up even less space. I could easily slide the set under my bed, but for right now I leave it sitting upright in the corner of my kitchen. Its ability to stand on its own is also enormously convenient when I need to walk away from cleaning for a second.

There may be some similar sets out there, but I’ve relied on OXO’s home products for years — including its collapsible colander — so I know this one will stand the test time. It has me vacuuming less than before. And I never thought I would see the day that I actually liked sweeping, but this set has proved me wrong.

Buy: Large Sweep Set with Extendable Broom, $39.99 (also available on Amazon)