Anyone who has found themselves 74 TikTok videos deep in someone’s ‘things you didn’t know you needed off Amazon’ series will have definitely heard of the ChomChom roller. But I refuse to pay upwards of £20 for a glorified lint roller, so was really excited when I found a dupe in my local B&M.
It was the last one hanging on the shelf, so must be a pretty popular product, and a snip of the price at just £3. Now, these kinds of rollers are particularly satisfying because they collect the hair in a little compartment inside, which is akin to the feeling of using a nose strip on your blackheads. It’s disgusting, but boy does it feel good.
The B&M ‘Petshop’ Lint Roller Pet Hair Remover looks to have a similar design to the American ChomChom, with a roll of fibres that pick up the hairs, and two rubber strips running across the roller. The roller is around seven inches wide, so it’s ideal for upholstery and carpets that end up embedded with hair because of our dogs.
I decided to test the roller on my yellow armchair, which The Scamps rarely sit on, but there were a few pet hairs on it from taking pictures of them in previous weeks. The roller only rotates until the rubber strips hit either the top or bottom of the roller, so around 150 degrees, but this is what allows the hair to collect in the back. It feels strange to use at first, with the friction of rubber on fabric, but you soon get into a rhythm and can tell you’re doing the job right. The handle has been ergonomically designed, and it does feel pretty comfortable to hold, you just have to be quite vigorous with it.
After rolling my armchair, I checked out the hair storage tray and did find a few pet hairs in there, but I wanted to test it in an area that got a bit more use. I used the roller on our carpeted staircase, and then checked the compartment for the results – and this time it was far more full! Who would have thought so much hair could be embedded into your carpets, despite regular hoovering?
I found that the roller did struggle to pick up bigger bits of fluff from the carpet, and I think it would be best to use it after vacuuming. The vacuum will pick up all of the obvious dust, hair and lint from your home, but the B&M roller will be able to find the bits you missed, or that just aren’t visible to the eye. It would also be good to use on days you’re not vacuuming – for example, we hoover out living room rug every other day, so we could give it a quick roll on alternate days.
As the warm weather starts to creep in, your dogs will start to moult more, so you’ll likely find yourself pulling hair from everything you own. I’d never have paid £20-odd for the ChomChom, but I really can’t complain at the £3 B&M alternative, particularly with three American bullies rolling around the carpet each weekend!
