About Us

In January of 2020, she had had enough. After never ending toilet clogs in her old bathroom in her old house in Arlington, Virginia, Elaine Steele searched the internet for a better way of dealing with the nasty plunger. Putting it in the tub or a garbage bag to deal with later was disgusting. Alas, there was nothing on the market or in the works for such an idea.

Elaine approached Pierre Malko, her longtime friend who is also an engineer, about the idea of a self-cleaning plunger. Being a germaphobe, Pierre was intrigued, and the two started collaborating on the idea.

The initial brainstorming was focused on designing an all-in-one self-cleaning plunger. This required a way to attach a disinfectant reservoir to the plunger and have a mechanism to release the disinfectant onto the plunger. After many designs, the prototype was created, tested and patent secured. However, the all-in-one approach would be cost prohibitive for manufacturing and purchase. Elaine and Pierre went back to the drawing board.

They started rethinking the all-in-one approach: "What if we put the cleaning mechanism in the base where the plunger sits, instead of in the plunger itself?" That opened up a host of other uses for the product. The Schoon became more than a self-cleaning plunger, it became a utility tool to disinfect other areas in the bathroom. In addition, it would be more cost efficient to manufacture, enabling a more cost effective product for consumers.

The common responses Elaine and Pierre have heard during the course of this journey have been, “how has nobody thought of this idea before?” and “thank you!”. They can’t wait for you to experience the Schoon to disinfect your plunger and your bathroom!