Hoover FloorMate SpinScrub Wet/Dry Vacuum Cleaner, H3044
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Hoover FloorMate SpinScrub Wet/Dry Vacuum Cleaner, H3044
Customer Review: I bought this with the intention to kill it, and couldn't!
Summary: 4 Stars
I was in the process of renovating my basement. I needed something to clean the floors, which are a combination of cement and vintage vinyl tile. It was cheaper and more convenient to buy the FloorMate than to rent a floor scrubber from the local rent-all.
I did not expect it to last forever, just long enough to complete the basement job.
As other reviews have stated, this thing is LOUD. I wore ear protectors the entire time I used it.
I cleaned about 400 square feet of floor that had not seen a mop in 15 years (I did vacuum first, but used an old Kenmore canister vac. I did find the dry vacuum to be kind of anemic, probably because the floor nozzle is so wide).
Using the Hoover solution provided, I was astounded at the amount of dirt and grit the FloorMate picked up (there was more than an inch of solids in the tank when I emptied it). As others have said, the cleaning solution tank is a bit small, especially given the way I was operating the machine. Here's how I found it works best:
1. Select WASH, and hold the trigger for the cleaning solution for at least 3 seconds before you start moving forward.
2. Move slowly, allowing the brushes to do their thing. Ignoring the manual, I keep the trigger ON for the entire length of travel. I walked beside the machine, so as not to step in the liquid.
3. As you approach the end of the distance, release the trigger. There will be enough solution to finish the last 6 inches or so.
4. Leaving the FloorMate on the WASH setting, pull it backwards, retracing your original path. This gives the brushes another pass at the dirt, and sucks up most of the remaining liquid on the floor.
5. When you reach the starting point, switch to the WET VACUUM setting, and retrace your path again, first forward, then backward. This will collect almost all of the remaining liquid. It will be dry almost immediately.
6. Move to the side, just slightly overlapping the first path, and repeat this entire process.
Yes, this is not fast, but it IS thorough. Nothing could restore the beat up old tile, but the floor was definitely clean.
The FloorMate survived an incredible amount of dirt and grit. After doing some painting and repairs, I needed to wash the floors again, due to the amount of dirt I tracked in. Unfortunately, I had run out of the Hoover cleaning solution. I checked out numerous floor cleaners at the supermarket (which, of course, doesn't carry the Hoover solution). I eventually settled on Armstrong Floor Cleaner (item # 11167). I used about 1/2 ounce per tank of water, and was very satisfied with its performance, and its low cost.
The basement was all set, but I wasn't finished. I removed the carpet from the family room, in preparation for a new wood floor. Underneath the carpet was more vintage vinyl tile! The tile floor was in good shape, but had some stuck on gunk which appeared to be a combination of carpet residue and sand.
I ran the FloorMate over the vinyl, and was pleasantly surprised when I could see that the gunk was half-gone after a single pass. A couple more times over the same area, and the tiles looked like they had just been put in.
If this machine croaked tomorrow, I would still consider it a good value; it really works as advertised, if used patiently.
Customer Review: A Solid Machine
Summary: 4 Stars
I've been using Floormate for many years to clean some 1200 sq' of ceramic tile. I own one of the original models, which over the years has proven to be barely acceptable. My dread of the mop is the only reason I continued using it. I looked carefully at the new models when they appeared, even indulged in reading the many rave reviews, but one thing kept me from opting for the new age machine ........ it had become a two handed appliance. The old models operated with a single hand. All you needed was a little dexterity in your thumb to operate a slider switch back and forth to move from Wash to Wet Pickup. Dry Vacuum was accomplished with your left foot. This arrangement allowed for one to use either hand to operate the machine. The H3044 (and other newer models) require the use of both hands. The right is used to move the machine, while the left operates the selector switch to maneuver among the three operating modes, Dry Vac, Wet Vac or Wash. In addition, one must bend over several degrees to accomplish this. Sore backs may not like all this motion.
Well, my old Floormate finally died. Here I was faced with the either going back to mopping and separate vacuuming or taking the plunge into the new abyss called H3044 and that's how I proceeded. I must admit that after my first cleaning my reaction was WOW! Hoover may have committed a boner when it came to the ergonomics, but they sure resolved many negatives. In fact the original models now seem like a toy compared to this unit. It's a very solid feeling machine and without question the motor is far more powerful. The original model pulled 4.5 amps versus the H3044's 6 amps, which translates into considerably greater suction. It not only does a superb job cleaning, but picks up the water residue minimizing drying time.
What I've found over the years with the Floormate is that separate dry vacuuming is only necessary when you can actually see dirt and dust. In cases where there are larger items that a regular vacuum would pickup, the Floormate does falter. This is because a dedicated vacuum has a more powerful motor and a nozzle that is designed for vacuuming rather than the dual tasking nozzle of the Floormate. I suppose when one incorporates multiple function into one machine there are some tradeoffs and this is one. I do find, however, that for the most part the dry vacuum function is fine 90% of the time.
I do not use Hoover's cleaning solution. I use Armstrong's Once "N Done, which IMO does a better job with only a small amount solution needed. The downside is that it contains ammonia and since I don't know whether this affects any of the Floormate components, the solution tank must be washed thoroughly each time and tank full of water must be allowed to drain through the system. I also thoroughly clean the filter, brush block and the nozzle. Keeping these items clean keep this machine operating properly.
Anyway if you don't mind the two handed operation and cleaning the machine after each use, you will definitely love the Floormate. Perhaps Hoover will resolve the operational issue in the next generation of the Floormate.
Customer Review: Absolutely delivers, but set your expectations
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this to wash our wood floors in our house and the tile floors in our master bath. With two kids under 5, a 150 lb Great Pyrenees dog that looks like a polar bear, and living in an area that gets frequent snow, our wood floors can take quite a beating. Mopping doesn't work -- besides being laborious, have you ever tried to keep two toddlers off a wet floor? Can't be done. This seemed the perfect solution. And if anyone was going to put this thing to the test, it was me.
The washing works great. Yes, it is loud, but so is a wet/dry vac. The motion for washing the floor works much like a steam cleaner: push away and hold the button to apply the solution, let go of the button and pull the unit back towards you to suck the solution back up. A really dirty floor might need two passes, but it still gets it really clean. It also works best if you do a small section at a time, and I had better success going in the direction of the wood boards instead of across them.
The dry vac doesn't work so well, but then again no one should be buying this thinking it would work as a regular vacuum. I suggest getting a good Dyson model for wood floors. The FloorMate arrived and was very easy to assemble. It comes with solution for wood floors and tile, but it is a small bottle. I suggest ordering a large bottle if you have a couple of rooms to wash.
I'm a male, and I do a lot of housework to help my wife, but neither of us like to do floors. Who does? Well, as soon as I fired this thing up, I knew I was going to do the whole house. I quickly ran out of solution. If there is one other con besides being loud, it is that the solution container is small. You can refill the solution four or five times without emptying the dirty water container. It seems to me it would have been better if they made the cleaning solution area (top) a little larger, and the dirty water (bottom) a little smaller. After running out of the Hoover solution, I used some dilluted Murphy's Oil. I'm not sure if this is OK with Hoover, probably not since they want to sell THEIR solution, but I thought it worked much better and smelled awesome. And, at $13 for a gallon of Murphy's oil (which makes 64 gallons of actual cleaning solution), Murphy's is a good alternative.
Pros:
Washes as advertised
easy to assemble
easy to refill, empty
Works the same aas the never Hoover model (H3045) but is $30 cheaper
Cons:
Not clear if other solutions work
Loud
Small container for the solution
Customer Review: Definitely Not As Expected
Summary: 1 Stars
I have used thousands of products over the years of every kind & this definitely turned out to be a waste of my money & time. First of all, if you have layer upon layer of floor shine & wax product on your floor, this machine cannot handle its removal. Tested first the vaccuuming part -it barely picked up anything. No way would I give up my regular bagless vac for this (no vac attachments either). The cannister cannot fill up enough to do an entire floor - that's when I discovered that no matter what I did, it did NOT squirt out any of the floor cleaner liquid at all, no matter what I did to fix that problem it simply would not work. I got a regular squirt bottle which I filled up with the floor cleaner product, squirted that over the floor in the living room (wood flooring), giving it a few minutes to loosen/dissolve the old floor shine/wax. The grout scrubbers could not loosen more than a tiny bit of top layer, which the machine sucked up, and in no time flat everything inside the machine got full of wet loosened floor shine crud that turned into sludge. I spent more time removing parts to rinse them clean thoroughly, put them back into place & go about working on the floor. After a couple of hours working on this big living room floor in sections little by little it became obvious the machine was not up to the job. This would be great for floors in a kitchen or elsewhere that do NOT have multiple layers of old floor shine/wax to be removed - that has to be removed first, either the hard way on hands/knees with a scrub brush, old towel and bucket to remove the wet off the floor as you go, or a professional heavy duty mega scrubber. Also, halfway through the job the grout scrubbers started making loud whining noises, ceased scrubbing altogether so now nothing was doing any kind of cleaning work. No matter how many times I stopped to clean/rinse off the working parts of the machine, it just wasn't able to handle a serious cleaning job. Within a couple of hours the machine gave a very loud clacking/whirring noise and stopped working altogether. Deceased. Wound up filling a bucket with disolver/wax stripper detergent, put on latex gloves, got a scrub brush along with toweling rags & on hands/knees a section at a time scrubbed off the old layers of floor shine like I should've done in the first place. Floors came out GORGEOUS but not at all from anything this machine did.Customer Review: No More Hands and Knees Floor cleaning...YEAH!
Summary: 4 Stars
This is a nice machine that does a very good job. Best part is I don't have to be on my hands and knees cleaning my ceramic kitchen floor anymore. Just wait till you see the dirty water return after use. UGH!! I'm so glad I bought this machine.
1) Easy to put together...instructions were clear and everything fit.
2) There are 2 brush choices for different cleaning. I have not used the 'grout brush' yet as the other brush (SpinScrub) did great on the tile.
3) The unit is a good weight...neither heavy or too light.
4) Nice wide path. It did NOT however fit at all under my kitchen cabinets, so unfortunately I will have to get down on all 4's to clean those places. The height of the front end was just a little too high to fit under. The edge cleaning is good where it can go on my floor...just not under cabinets.
5) Solution capacity was just right...2 fills did my whole floor.
6) Fingertip Trigger Control is good- does let you control where, when and how much cleaning solution you apply. A few times I pressed the on/off switch by mistake, instead of the trigger control. Wish the on/off was a pedal or flip switch.
7) Another thing I did NOT like was the 'soft' on/off press area pad/switch on the top handle ... I'm concerned over time it may only take a fingernail to puncture. I just have to be careful.
8)Switching between cleaning options was fast with the EZ Select dial. Good feature, just remember to switch back from one to the other as needed.
9) There are 'Dual tanks' that separate for the cleaning solution and pick-up so you never put dirty water back on your floor.
10) The Hoover Cleaning solution recommended has a very strong odor.
11) The machine is loud, but OK. Not a problem, just a mention in case noise is a big factor for you. I find all Hoover machines loud. I think they do that to make the user feel like, it's loud and working hard.
12) The clean up after use is easy...empty, rinse, air dry and replace.
All in all, this does exactly what I wanted a simple floor cleaning machine to do ~ clean my kitchen ceramic tile floor, in less time than me on my hands and knees, up and down a gazillion times dumping and changing the water bucket.