“Erik, catc-“– before Jeremy could finish, the bucket of Orbeez in his hands crashed upside down on the floor, spilling gel balls all over. “Dude! We had 3,000 beads in there!”, I wailed in despair, watching the gel balls roll all over the floor, many of them broken apart from the impact.
“Sorry, man! I’m really sorry…the bucket just slipped off my hands as I was taking it off the shelf”, Jeremy said sheepishly, looking at the mess of gel balls.
“Well, at least most of the water beads are still in one piece. Let’s pick them up and throw away the damaged ones”, Jeremy suggested.
“Yeah…there goes our playtime with Orbeez guns”, I grumbled as I went off to grab something to clean up the splatter balls with.
Now this is where the issue arose – how were we supposed to clean up thousands of Orbeez?
Long story short, we did figure it out and actually still had some time left afterward for a few matches. We had to try a few methods before we could completely clean the Orbeez balls off the floor. Here’s how we did it, along with some other methods for outside that came to my mind later on.
1. Cleaning With A Dustpan And A Broom
We decided to go the classic way of cleaning up anything off the floor – a dustpan. We took turns brushing up the Orbeez together with a broom and scooping them up with a dustpan. It took some work, and we all tired up quickly, but it was an effective way to get a large number of Orbeez quickly. We poured them From the dustpan into the bucket, back where they should be.
2. Picking Them Off Manually
As we cleaned up most of the splat balls, it was becoming increasingly frustrating to round them up with the broom and dustpan. We figured that it would be best to pick off the remaining Orbeez manually. It was, of course, pretty simple – all we had to do was pick them up and store them in the bucket.
3. Mopping Orbeez Up
We managed to recover all the Orbeez that were still intact (and also some broken bits that made it into the bucket), but that still left a lot of broken bits and pieces on the floor. Erik grabbed a mop and started to clean it up. Before long, the floor was clean…mostly. The gel balls were frustratingly slippery, and many broken pieces remained stuck on the floor, the mop only dragging them from one place to another.
4. Washing The Floor With Water
Finally, we just took a bucket of water, poured it on the floor, and repeated it a couple of times until the last residues of the gel blaster balls were washed out. I’d definitely recommend this as the final step when cleaning up Orbeez. Not only is it very irritating to have those gel balls squish under your feet, but they’re also very slippery.
5. Using A Wet And Dry Vacuum Cleaner
If you have a vacuum cleaner with dry and wet modes, you may switch it to the latter and use it to suck the Orbeez off the floor and outside your home. However, keep in mind that this would likely damage and destroy the gel balls completely. I wouldn’t recommend this method for retrieving Orbeez that you plan to use, but it’s a great way to remove used balls or clean up the mess if you ever play a splat game indoors.
6. Rounding Them Up With A Squeegee
You may push the gel balls on the floor into a pile using a squeegee. Once done, scooping them up with a wet cloth or a spoon should be pretty easy. You could even use a dustpan like we did while cleaning up the Orbeez with a broom.
7. Picking Off Dry Orbeez With A Wet Cloth Or Sponge
Cleaning up dry Orbeez might appear a bit difficult due to their tiny size. Don’t worry – a wet cloth or sponge will do the trick. Dampen the cloth or sponge and press it into the gel blaster balls. The beads will stick to their wet surface, allowing you to pick them up. You may then remove the Orbeez from it by rinsing the cloth or sponge.
8. Using A Lint Roller (For Dehydrated Orbeez)
If the wet cloth/sponge method seems too messy, you may use a lint roller instead. All you need to do is roll the sticky lint roller over the floor. The sticky surface will automatically pick up the Orbeez. While this method is quick and simple, it’s only effective for small areas. If your Orbeez beads are still hydrated, you can dry them out and follow the same method.
9. “Duct Tape Fixes Everything!”
Don’t have a lint roller? How about duct tape? You could wrap some duct tape around your hand with the sticky side out and use it to pick up dry Orbeez by pressing your hand over them. The only problem is that removing them from the duct tape can be more time-consuming due to its strong adhesive.
10. Checking And Cleaning Hidden Areas
Orbeez are small and round, and due to their slippery texture, they can easily roll or bounce into gaps, cracks, or tight spaces. Some common examples of these hidden areas include the gaps between baseboards and the floor, under furniture or appliances, or between sofa cushions.
To ensure a thorough cleanup, it is important to check these hidden areas where Orbeez might have accumulated. Using a flashlight can help you see into dark or shadowed corners more easily. If you don’t want to reuse the cleaned-up Orbeez, please dispose of them properly, as they take time to biodegrade.
Though cleaning up the Orbeez took up some time, we still managed to have a blast afterward. Of course, Jeremy rained down splat balls on Erik every time he got a chance. haha! Still, we were glad that most of the splatter balls were still in one piece and could be used. We gave them a quick wash, though, before we started playing.
I do hope you’ve found this guide helpful and won’t have much trouble if you ever need to clean Orbeez off the floor or outside. If you have any more doubts, let me know in the comments!
