When New Jersey researcher James Smith was young, his mother would tie a towel around a broom to clean cobwebs and other household messes. After spending years working on nonwoven-based products like dryer-based home dry cleaning systems and Wet Ones, and seeing the success floor cleaning systems like Swiffer have had over the last decade, he decided to apply his mother’s old cleaning tip to a new product, using nonwovens.

The result is three technology platforms that use nonwovens technology to turn an ordinary household broom into a cleaning and air freshening device. Smith, whose company Regenesis, formerly known as Creative Product Resources, developed the first home dry cleaning kit for the dryer and licensed the technology to Henkel/Dial, is now looking for licensees or co-development partners for the technologies.

The most simplistic of the three technologies, is BroomSock, which is a nonwoven pouch that is shaped to fit around any household broom. In addition to offering cleaning benefits, BroomSock has an odor-release delivery system so it can freshen air while it works, explains Smith, who earlier in his career worked on Carpet Fresh rug deodorizers for Airwick.

“When the consumer uses it as an attachment, the scent is released and it allows the fragrance to freshen the house as you clean,” he explains. “People are always looking for something to use on hard floor surfaces and it’s a good answer to dispense fragrance at the same time.”

Beyond BroomSock, Regenesis has also developed reusable BroomSock, a mesh plastic pouch that fits over the broom. The smaller nonwoven sheet is then placed at the bottom of the pouch for either dry or wet applications. Additionally, BroomMop plastic pouch contains foil pouches that can be filled with liquid cleaner and then dispensed during cleaning.

Smith says he is still in the early stages of getting the word out about this technology to potential licensees but he is confident his contacts with consumer products makers will help him attract partners on the patented technology.

“If this gets out, it could mean a real significant use of nonwovens,” Smith says. “Already we are examining the use of several different types of nonwovens for this product.”