The Hoover Floormate

My new cleaning gadget arrived on Tuesday--the red model Hoover Floormate. (I believe this is the wide path model but what do I know..haha)I ordered from the Home Shopping Network (so cliche am I!) for $169.95 with free shipping & handling, plus it came with the flexibility to do 4 easy payments of $42.45 and it came with 4 bottles of cleaning solution vs just the standard two. I'd read reviews and decided this was one of the best models, and I like the flexible payment plan with NO interest. I'm a happy girl! I obviously have NO life, either. haha

I had it assembled in less than 10 minutes and went straight to the kitchen with it. I have 3 kids, 2 dogs, and 2 cats. I also have The World's Ugliest Ceramic Tile, so you can imagine how I might fret & worry about my floor. It's bad enough it is cosmetically challenged, but I cannot STAND a dirty floor. If I feel a crumb with my bare feet, or see a dog hair, I flip out. It's almost become an OCD thing for me, because I've tried every mop, Swiffer, etc on the market almost, and NONE of them leave me feeling "satisfied" with the cleanliness of my floor. I routinely perform the "white paper towel" test..you know, after you mop and the floor dries, take a white paper towel, dampen it ever-so-slightly, and wipe a spot on the floor. NO OTHER MOP has passed the towel test until NOW. After one use with my Hoover Floormate, my floor passed the paper towel test with flying colors!!

As stated, the assembly was quick & painless. This model comes with 2 sets of brushes..the grout/ceramic tile set, and the regular set for laminate, hardwood, vinyl, etc. Switching the brushes out is painless and takes less than 20 seconds. The cord is super long, which I like because my house is old and is outlet challenged. The appliance has 3 modes--dry vacuum, wash, and wet vacuum. You change modes by turning a large dial--easy schmeasy! There are 2 tanks--a dirty tank and clean water tank. First you can dry vacuum the floor, which did a great job removing pet hair and crumbs--the typical gunk on my floor. You empty the bottom tank into the trash can & you're ready to start "mopping." You add the recommended (and included) solvent to the clean tank with hot water, and flip the switch to wash. You press the trigger on the bottom of the handle to apply the hot water & cleaning solution, then release the trigger when you pass it back. (Brings back fond memories of using my Hoover steam cleaner/carpet cleaner..I'm such a cleaning nerd!)If the floor is still too wet for your liking, you can flip the switch to "wet vacuum" and suck it dry. SWEET! It's also handy for cleaning up wet spills...most of mine seem to be dog water spills.

I had to dump the dirty tank once and fill the clean tank just one extra time to do both my kitchen & bathroom floors. Some people would find this annoying, but if you own a shampooer, or a Rainbow vacuum, as I do, then you're already accustomed to the frequent fill/dump method of cleaning. I just realized that all 3 of my major cleaning applicances require water and tanks. I really AM a nerd.

The handle folds down for storage, making the entire unit much smaller. My cleaning closet contains a Rainbow SE vacuum, a Hoover steam cleaner, and now a Hoover Floormate, so I appreciate the fold-down handle.

The cleaning solution appears to run about $7 for a 1/2 gallon bottle at Walmart, and the filters seem to run about $10. I did see that Hoover says you can use plain vinegar and hot water if you're opposed to using cleaning chemicals on your floor, and since we're making a serious effort to be more GREEN at my house, I love that idea. The cleaning solution itself has a pleasant smell though, and it isn't overpowering. It smells a LOT like the Hoover cleaning solution that I use in my shampooer, but it plainly states in the manual that you cannot use ANY type of cleaner with solvents in it.

So there's my poorly-written review of the Hoover Floormate, and PS...you guys didn't guess it, but one of you came close!!