Bulbs & Fittings Ideas

First one lasted ten years, just know how to use it. Gaskets go first. Good tool, April 16, 2013

August 11th, 2014 review update on Hoover Floormate: As those who have read the review below found, if one learns how to use the machine correctly, it is a wonderful tool for the price. However, I may have stumbled across the reason so many people had poor experiences with the machine, and why this machine does not pick up the water/cleaner mixture as well as the previous model. The issue appears to be the quality and installation of two rubber gaskets in the machine that are key to the removal of water during and after the scrubbing process. Our new model Floormate suddenly started putting out water on the tile floor and would not vacuum it up. So, though I like to think I’ve past my “Mr. Fix-it” days, I disasembled the machine. There were two gaskets that had flaws in them. One simply had too much “tag” (excess rubber that should be removed when it comes out of the mould). This excess on the top of the edge that was meant to be a water tight fit allowed little areas to not seal properly. The replacement I ordered also had the same tags and I simply trimmed it with a razor blade to allow a water-tight fit. The other main rubber gasket was actually broken or torn, I don’t know how. I have not used it since doing the replacement of these two gaskets, but I imagine with these two critical parts either replaced or trimmed to meet what was originally spec’d by Hoover, the machine will work as well as the first one I had for a decade. Sadly, as happens with many companies that outsource manufacturing to Chinese companies, quality control is a problem, and there is really no legal recourse in China as there is here in the United States. So Hoover is sort of at the mercy of whomever they contract out the manufacturing. Which is probably why the Hoover website has so many used floormates for sale.

I would recommend to anyone that is not getting satisfactory results from the machine after several months should open it up and inspect the gaskets. They are inexpensive to replace, it is the owner’s labor that is expensive.

As to those who ask if using it on hardwood floors is advisable, I would counsel this, my family having owned a small hardwood flooring mill in Louisiana in the 50s, and having grown up in the industry: If the wood floor has a quality finish on it that is not worn through, and if the seams between the 3/4″ hardwood boards are tight, then it’s most likely ok to use the Floormate on the hardwood floor. The water and the hardwood flooring cleaner mix and create a fluid that is a bit more dense than plain water. Therefore, it is unlikely to soak through the finish or into the seams in the few minutes the water will be in contact with the flooring. Hardwood floors react badly to standing water, it seeps into the seams and “cups” the edges of the board up. Hardwood flooring is only 6-8% moisture when it arrives on site, the lumber is kiln-dried prior to being run into the flooring mill process. That is why it is important to get a good varnish or other floor finish on it shortly after it is laid down. Pre-finished flooring comes with very durable finishes these days. Wood floors are a bad idea in Kitchens, and require area carpets in most other areas. There should always be a mat at every exterior door so that people do not track in grime, which scratches the finish, or water. The most common damage one sees to hardwood floors are dark stains from pet urine or dark circular stains from an electric “croup kettle” (used when someone had bronchitis or other pulmonary issue through the 1970’s or so. I expect the vacuum function on this one to work better now that the gaskets have tight seals, probably tighter than when the machine was manufactured. Good luck to all.
What is most obvious about the negative reviews of the Hoover Floormate is that many folks don’t figure out how to use it. Maybe the instructions are not clear enough. This being my second, I did not read them. But I know my wife, and a friend who borrowed the old machine had a learning curve, as did I. My previous Floormate lasted ten years, and would have kept going, but it needed a part, and I’m done being “mr fix-it. Ten years for a machine that cost under 0 back then is good enough. Treat this Floormate right, learn how to use it, and it should last also.

Here are the key points one must know in order to have the product work for you, for years.
1) Manage your expectations. It’s a 5 floor cleaner, not a magic wand. It does get the dirt off the floor, actually leaving it clean.
2) Know that when washing a floor, PULL THE TRIGGER ONLY WHEN PUSHING THE DEVICE. That is what puts the water down, the brushes still turn when the trigger is released, scrubbing the floor. Otherwise, the machine is “just spreading water around” as some reviewers said. That’s because they did not know how to use it.
3) To pick up the water, pull the machine towards you, very,…

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Please see pictures that I have submitted along with this review, as it’s the only thing that will do this machine justice, September 7, 2013

First off, for the record, my home is not a disgusting mess, my floors are sealed bamboo that was installed a little over a year ago, and I clean them regularly. I do also have to preface this with the fact that I have 4 year old twins, three dogs, a cat, and a doggie door, so everyone except the kids can come and go from the backyard as they please. I was sweeping daily and using a swiffer wet jet at least every other day and was hoping to find something that would let me use just one machine to accomplish both tasks. I also had a shark vac and steam, but while I like the vacuum, the steamer died after a year so I felt like it wasn’t worth my time to pull out the vacuum if I was going to have to mop with the swiffer again afterward.
I read the reviews on the floormate and decided to give it a try, with the caveat that if I tried it out and was unimpressed, I would be sending it right back. So, placed my Amazon order and decided to give up cleaning the floor until the product got here. So, two days of no sweeping or mopping, and I was going to give the machine a workout. No sense in going easy, if this thing is going to work in my house, it’s going to need to pass my test.
So, pulled the machine out of the box, and in less than 10 minutes I was cleaning. I would say vacuming, but I decided after reading some of the reviews, that I would see what would happen to the dog hair if I just started wet vacuuming… So, the long and short of it is, if you have ever steam cleaned carpets, think of this as steam cleaning your hard floor. Push forward with the trigger pulled to release the solution onto the floor, and then pull back slowly with the trigger not pulled to suck up the dirty water off the floor. Easy peasy…. Also, I was doing small sections at a time, and there was never a time that I felt the need to use the “dry” feature. The amount of water released was easily picked up with just the clean mode, and what remained was comparable to how damp the floor would have been after a wipe with the swiffer, and dried by the time I was ready to move to the next section.
Now comes the disgusting part… After refilling the cleaning solution tank twice, it was time to clean out the dirty water tank. Very easy to remove, and unlike other reviewers, I did not have a problem with spillage when removing the tank, maybe because I was watching out for it. Anyway, the first thing I noticed was the fact that the water looked like chocolate milk in the tank. Ewww….. So, I pour it down the kitchen sink and see that there is a ring of dirt and what looks like sand in my sink. Double ewwww….. Well, then I look back in the tank, and see a good inch or so of sediment left in the tank. Get where this is going??? Triple ewww…. Lastly, I rinse out the tank and filter, and I had to take a picture of all of the dog hair that the machine picked up along with the dirt. Totally gross….
Anyway, with the amount of dirt that I found in that tank, the only assumption that I can make is that in addition to the dirt that was obviously on the floor’s surface, it was also pulling dirt out of the crevices in between the floorboards, because my family would have looked like the Peanuts character PigPen walking with a cloud of dirt around our feet if all of that dirt was on top of our floor.
So, the long and short of it is, I have put out there for the world to see, some pictures that probably have my mother rolling over in her grave, but if that helps anyone to make the decision as to whether this machine is right for them, then so be it. Would I buy this machine again, YES… Granted, I have only owned this for one day, but I promise to update this review if my opinion changes for any reason….

UPDATE 9/20/2013—- I have now realized that I have met the love of my life, and his name is Hoover Floormate. I keep this machine in my hall closet so it’s close at hand, and will pull it out daily to use the dry vacuum feature for the pet hair (Oh yea, since my last review, we were adopted by a stray kitten, so it’s now 3 dogs and 2 cats worth) and generally every other day I will throw some water and cleaner in there and go to town. From pulling the machine out of the closet to putting it away, in less than half an hour I can wash all of my hallway, living room, kitchen and dining room (about 800 sq ft) and it is totally dry and looks brand new. I used to dread any day that we had rain, as the dogs would come in with muddy feet all day long, so I had to lock them in the house and they would cry by the doggie door all day, and then when I would let them out I would have to catch them on their way in to wipe 12 muddy paws. It’s kind of embarrassing to admit it, but now I just let them in, wait until their feet are no longer making tracks, and a quick pass of my floormate and I’m done. I have to say that I was starting to regret tearing up carpet and putting in wood floors,…

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They Naysayers are Crazy, November 7, 2010

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