These grass brooms are a staple in many Southeast Asian homes, and they work so much better than any plastic broom you'll ever use

The design is very straightforward: just a stick with grass splayed on the end

Depending on where you get yours, the details can vary. Most often, they have a wooden handle, but the bristles can be either woven, sewn, or held in place with a plastic piece like mine. 

The star of the show is the 'paypay' (Tagalog for 'fan') style bristles

As the name suggests, the bristles fan out and lightly graze the floor to gather small debris other brooms would miss. Due to their softness, lint and hair don't get trapped in the bristles like typical brooms. Its soft bristles are even capable of reaching into tight corners, bending underneath furniture, and catching specks from the grout between floor tiles. 

Even though I have a vacuum, I use mine for cleaning larger piles of fur, lint, and dog toy batting instead of wasting the space in my tiny stick vacuum bin

The walis outperforms any other broom you can find at your local home goods store when it comes to gathering fine particles, especially pet fur. Plus, these brooms often come with a matching lightweight dustpan that I love for its thin ramp and effortless use.

Many Southeast Asian countries have their own versions of a walis

The walis I have now was made in Vietnam. All of them get the job done though. I suggest buying one that you find at your local Asian supermarket or this more stylish version from Amazon. For something a bit cheaper, you can get an authentic Filipino one on Etsy. 

The bottom line

A walis is the home cleaning tool you didn't know you needed — until now. These brooms are durable, too. Even with daily use, I've never had problems with my broom falling apart or breaking, even after my robot vacuum mistook it for a pile of hair. It's a worthwhile investment, especially if you don't have a stick vacuum handy.