Vacuum Cleaners Discussions

http://shopping.yahoo.com/articles/yshoppingarticles/365/best-and-worst-cleaning-products/m

Excerpted from current month's Consumer Reports.

Enjoy.

Carmine D.

hooverman wrote:
Having HAD a Hoover Floormate SpinScrub hard floor cleaner and then a Dirt Devil / Vax model I can testify that despite the brushes, having to take it out, fill it up, use it, clean it, switch it off is far harder than cleaning with a steam mop. Over grout lines and "off ground," surfaces, steam mops without brushes still remove the dirt faster on microfibre cloths than having the brushes attack it. I was shocked the first time I used a steam mop just after using the Hoover model on my parents simple flat vinyl kitchen floor. That and the fact that when the floor was being sucked up to dry the surfaces there aren't any trail lines left by the wheels on the steam mop because there aren't any - unlike the electrical brush assisted "wash" vacuums. Brushes are fine with carpets however but for hard floors, my vote goes to the cheap and better thought out steam mop.

vacmanuk wrote:

Hi vacmanuk,

It would appear that the market here is not paying much attention.  For years, Europe has had floor polishers that simultaneously vacuum as they work and steam cleaners that could get you through an entire home without a drop of soap.  Yet, for obvious reasons -- keeping Proctor & Gamble happy -- manufacturers here have insisted the we use machines that require detergents.  Even Euro-Pro has tried to palm off an actual vapor steam cleaner with a soap dispenser.  Positively moronic.  I'm glad you know, as I, that's just not necessary.  Yet unfortunately, if you can't make it and then find x-amount of special consumables claim as imperative to good use it isn't considered worthy of the market.

The most worthwhile floor care machine developed was the Hoover Floor-A-Matic.  You could scrub and suck up dirty solution, poilsh floors and shampoo your rug with this twin brush machine in simple fashion.  I did not buy special cleaners for mine.  Many times I used an ammonia and water solution for general cleaning and to strip wax.  Allowing me a choice of pads, nylon or steel wool, the machine did the job well and -- it's still running though not often pressed into service here at home as my steam cleaner -- no detergent, long cleaning time and multi-faceted with easy maintenance -- is preferred.

I maintain that the Floormate is great for light duty on creamic and man-made flooring (linoleum, vinyl, etc.).  I am still skittish about using one on real wood.  In any event, had one and then set it out on the sidewalk in short order.

Best,

Venson

Interestingly the electric HOOVER floor washer was first marketed by HOOVER in the late 50's and not very popular for the prices.  In 2000, after HOOVER was acquired by MAYTAG, HOOVER reintroed the product as the Floormate.  It was an instant success and has been selling at all big box retailers since in the $100-$160 price range depending on attachments and solutions.  I have and use one for the last 6 years.  First, for my daughter's house, and now mine two.  Same machine.  Dual use.  Still as good as new.  Perfect, it's not.  But useful and worth the money.  Most definitely.  ESpecially for me, who doesn't like to use a mop.  Recently, the baptism fount at the church overflowed.  No one looking after it while it was being filled.  The Sea of Galilee all over the altar and floor.  7:30 and Mass staring at 8 with persons arriving.  As I was assisting the custodian with mops, I kept thinking if I only had my HOOVER FM this 30 minute 2 man job would be done in 10 minutes.

Carmine D.

CarmineD wrote:

Hi Carmine

I have found that a little simple green / greased lightening and some off the stove  hot  water really works great in my spinscrub.....then a water/rinse after a couple hrs..my spinscrub really does a great job on my very light tan carpet.....tried it on my tile in the kitchen...not great...not bad/wife not impressed...will continue to do it by hand. the only thing id change on it would be some slightly stiffer brushes..but its by far the best in-home carpet cleaner for the money...wonder if dyson will design one?hmmm

turtle

hooverman wrote:

I have a Hoover Spinscrub classic, and I would disagree with you somewhat.   Between what the pets bring in and what various members of the family spill, the Hoover does fairly well.  It does dry the carpeting fairly well.  However, it does not clean as well as a professional cleaning by Stanley Steemer.   Some stains, such as when the dog puked on the floor and it interacted with the furniture stain were not removable by any means.  Unfortunately,the dog made this mess in the middle of the night and it wasn't discovered for 12 hours.  Even though the Hoover's a good machine, it may pay to occasionally have a professional clean your carpeting. 

CR was generally positive on the Rug Doctor, but said that it left carpets wetter than others.  I assume that's because Rug Doctor has a real pump to spray the cleaning solution into the carpeting.   I don't know if CR resprayed the carpeting with each of the 20 passes that they made.  My understanding of Rug Doctor machines is that you spray only once, but you can go over the carpeting multiple times without spraying solution.  The RugDoctor reviews on the costco.com web site are all excellent.  In addition, the Rug Doctor has the Carpet and Rug Institute Seal of Approval.  From costco ad: "The Rug Doctor Mighty Pro is the only extractor for the consumer market that is approved for superior cleaning by the Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI). The CRI Seal of Approval program identifies effective carpet cleaning solutions and equipment that clean carpet right the first time and protects a facility's carpet investment."   

vacmanuk wrote:

U can cut those green scrub pads (available at grocery store's cleaning aisle) & put them on the FloorMate's SpinScrub brushes or put a 1" spring (4 oz pressure) inside the brush (between spray bar & brush under nozzle) & the FM will do heavy-duty scrubbing of the DIRTIEST floors.  Or U can remove the nozzle when the FM is on WET SCRUB mode; then put on the nozzle & move switch to WET PICKUP mode.  I do both tricks & my floors have never been so clean & had that lustrous shine til after "floormating" the floors.

hooverman wrote:

You have me scratching my head on these suggestions.  How exactly do these little cut out green pads stay affixed to the FM's spin scrub brushes during operation?  With grout lines in the tile and back and forth FM motions, I envision these pads getting spun out into space and all over the floor.  What's your trick?

Carmine D.

CarmineD wrote:

Converting a FloorMATE SpinScrub to a "Super FloorMATE"

If U look under the SpinScrub brushes; U will see 6 or 7 Phillips screws (depends on mdl)

1. Remove the Phillips screws
2. Cut the green scrubber pads into 1" squares (6 squares for 13" models [H3000, H3010, H3030, H3050]; 7 for 15" mdls [H3040, H3044, H3045, H3060])
3. Poke hole on CENTER of the 1" square pads
4. Replace screws with pads onto brushes
5. Re-attach the SpinScrub brushes onto FloorMATE
6. Now your "modified" Super FloorMATE can scrub away the most stubborn dirt that the FloorMATE's bristles couldn't touch!

The scrubber pads will work better on the Grout SpinScrub brushes (grey bristles) than the white SS brushes.  Sometimes this trick might stop the brushes (when using the white brushes) thanks to the brush motor's sensitive overload protector.

Overall I think the H3000 style FM is the best of all FMs; not sure about the H3030/H3040/H3060 style FMs.

hooverman wrote:

HI  hooverman....Nifty idea...make the best of what you have and make it work for you....i like the way u think and look forward to reading more about your ideas.

turtle

What's the usage/run time for the pads before they wear out and/or wear thru the screws and fall off the brushes?

Carmine D.