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Does It Really Do That? Leaf Taco & Gutter Getter

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - It's the time of year when the leaves that looked so beautiful on your trees are now cluttering up your yard.

So, KDKA's Jennifer Antkowiak put two leaf clean-up products to the test to see if they can help get the job done more quickly and easily.

She enlisted Chris Vigliotti, who owns his own landscaping business, and his wife Rachael, who doesn't necessarily let Chris get away with not doing yard work at home.

First, they tested a product called the Leaf Taco, which promises to make bagging leaves and other yard debris easy, even for one person working alone.

Does it really do that?

Rachael spread out the Leaf Taco, which is a square piece of green tarpaulin with special hooks attached along the sides.

Then, she raked a pile of leaves onto the tarp. The instructions say to fold over the tarp into a taco-like bundle and attach the drawstrings on a garbage bag to the hooks, then tip the tarp up and over and the leaves should empty directly into the bag.

Rachael and Chris noticed right off the bat that their yard and lawn bags didn't have drawstrings, so Rachael tried the technique with a kitchen garbage bag.

While the couple thought that a kitchen bag was probably too small for the job, they both agreed that the leaves went easily into the bag, and they gave the Leaf Taco two thumbs up.

Next, Jennifer asked the couple to try a product called the Gutter Getter, which says it can make cleaning the leaves and other debris out of your gutters fast and easy.

"I'm skeptical of this one," admitted Chris. "But if it reduces the amount of times I have to move the ladder I'll be happy."

Chris put together the "grabber" part of the kit which is a pole that can extend to the length needed, with a specially shaped scoop on the end that drags debris down the gutter, reaching even under or around gutter hangers.

That part worked like a charm for Chris, even though his gutters had protruding nails.

"It doesn't slide right underneath" the nails, noted Chris, "but if I twist it, it does get underneath of them."

Once he pulled a load of leaves and debris toward him, Chris used the special Gutter Getter scoop to lift the leaves out of the gutter.

That didn't seem to work well as it shows in the infomercial "at least for my particular gutter," said Chris.

Chris also didn't like the Gutter Guard Shield that came with the kit and is supposed to be installed at the top of a downspout to keep leaves out.

"It's not secure," and didn't seem to fit his gutter.

Bottom line: Chris liked the grabber part of the Gutter Getter enough that he would purchase it, even though the other two parts of the kit didn't work well for him.

"It definitely reduces the number of times I have to move the ladder," said Chris.

Leaf Taco infomercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2E0WncyCnpc

Gutter Getter infomercial: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOCepXib33A

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