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West Michigan mom taking ‘Green Glove Dryer’ invention to Home Shopping Network

Posted at 8:49 PM, Oct 17, 2016
and last updated 2016-10-17 21:26:02-04

PORTAGE, Mich. — Karen Smoots was at her “wit's end” a few years ago when she just couldn’t get her boys’ winter gloves dry. They were always wet and stinky, she said. And putting them in the dryer or on top of the registers at home weren’t working.

“As a mom I was willing to do whatever it took to eliminate that wet stinky smell,” said Smoots during an interview at W-L Molding. “And think about that going on all winter.”

So she and her husband Ryan created The Green Glove Dryer, a plastic, easy-to-use device that goes over registers and dries gloves using the heat or air coming through it.  Smoots said it was an instant hit, selling in 500 stores across the country.

Friday she created its twin, a Green Glove Dryer for the wall.  The Home Shopping Network invited her to showcase them at their studios in Florida on Monday, Nov. 21.

“I am just over the moon excited, humbled, you name it for that opportunity,” said Smoots. “We have this great little accessory pack that’s kind of exclusive for HSN that nobody else is going to get their hands on.”

The crew at W-L Molding, who’ve been assembling the devices since day one, spent most of Monday creating 1,500 wall dryers and 4,500 floor dryers. Smoots said they’re all going to be shipped later this week to HSN and other places.

“We sold a tremendous amount over the weekend,” said Smoots, who’s already selling them on her website for less than $20. “I think I ship to Maryland today, South Dakota, Wyoming. They’re all getting snow. So it’s really been awesome to see where it’s going in the country.

Smoots said she’s thrilled that people like her product. She's glad that she’ll get to promote on national television a week before Black Friday. She believes it’s the simplicity of it that’s made it popular.

“I’m a mom of two children that  are extremely active,” said Smoots. “I’m on a mission and my platform is always to create simple solutions that make people’s live easier.”