8/31/2012

Hoover Savvy U8181-900 Bagged/Bagless Combo Upright Vacuum Review

Hoover Savvy U8181-900 Bagged/Bagless Combo Upright Vacuum
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I read the review below and thought I'd take a chance. However, I found the same reviewer almost everywhere I looked at the product, and only that reviewer. Raised some questions. When the product arrived there was a problem with the level of suction, it was not picking up minor items. I called the Hoover 800 service number and was unhappy to find that it was just a phone dump. It asked where you are and a computer gives you the name and address of a dealer in my case 40 minutes away and then disconnects you. I expect a company like Hoover to have a legitimate customer service department. I have a pet and a clean home is important to me; I have returned the Hoover and purchased the Dyson DC14 Animal. The Dyson is more costly, however if I waste my time cleaning and not picking up anything I believe that the cost of having a poorly performing unit in my case is greater than the outlay for the Dyson. This may have been just a defective unit however I believe it would do someone seeking to buy the Hoover U8181-900 well to check things out.

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Hoover Savvy Bagged/Bagless Combo Upright with Windtunnel Technology. Powerful 12 amp Motor. 15 inch cleaning width nozzle.Bagless design with Hepa Filter Allergen Filtration. Bagged uses Filtrete Hepa Filter Bags.SurePass cleaning System.On board tools and Embedded Dirt Finder. When the light turns green the carpet is clean.

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Halo 3290 UV-ST Ultraviolet Vacuum Review

Halo 3290 UV-ST Ultraviolet Vacuum
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I purchased this machine after seeing an add on TV. I got the machine home, and was actually excited about vacuuming. The UV light on the vacuum seemed to do a good job at destroying all the dust mites in my carpet. I have to say it looks very cheap, and doesn't look very durable. Within a month and half of receiving this machine, I began to have problems with UV light. It would turn on sometimes, and sometimes it would not come on at all. Finally it stopped working all together.
I was able to find a local repair shop who is a warranty station for Halo vacuums. I dropped it off over 3 weeks ago, and the owner of the shop keeps telling me he is waiting on the part. This is very frustrating as I know have to go back to my ultra-heavy 15 year old Kirby which I kept only for the basement.
My experience with this Halo has been the vacuum is great when it is working, but the service after the sale has left a lot to be desired.

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8/30/2012

Didi Seven (Didi 7) Ultra Universal Stain Remover (2 oz tube) Review

Didi Seven (Didi 7) Ultra Universal Stain Remover (2 oz tube)
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Well.... yes I would be careful with this product and not use it indiscriminately. Think about what you are using it on and if it is possible to take the color from the garment while you are removing the stain! I have used this for about 10 years or more since a friend told me about it. I use it for those impossible stains to remove. And, usually it works. If it doesn't, then I would be throwing the garment out anyway. What do I have to lose? I may save one of my cherished garments by carefully using DiDi7! And, usually I do save the garment.
I'm ordering another tube.
BTW - I use an old toothbrush to put the product on the garment and then add water. Brush lightly.... and wait... sometimes leaving the garment for several hours. I have never had a garment develop holes... or fade in color although I must admit I usually do this with very light-colored garments. I would not put this on a dark cloth as I'm sure it would fade the color at a minimum and might remove the color.
I'm ordering another tube!

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Dyson DC18 Slim All-Floors Cyclone Upright Vacuum Cleaner Review

Dyson DC18 Slim All-Floors Cyclone Upright Vacuum Cleaner
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Vacuums often disappoint. They're either unwieldy in size, take too much work to change out longer hoses or put on attachments, etc., need costly bags, or they're heavy or take up too much storage space. And, lastly, they frequently don't live up to performance standards. Well, the Dyson Slim delivers in all but one small category.
As the Cleaning Editor for BellaOnline, I look at cleaning equipment with a serious eye. The first thing I noticed about my Dyson Slim is that performance-wise, it delivers, pulling up cup-full after cup-full of hair, dust, and everything else you find in carpets -- even the ones I had just vacuumed with my regular vacuum (I had to perform a quick "quality assurance" test).
The Dyson Slim also delivers in several other categories, such as storage (it takes 1/3 less space than a regular vacuum), and ease of use. It has the "flick of the wrist" action of the Dyson Ball without the massive weight of the Dyson Ball. This is important to me because I broke my wrist last year and had neck surgery in February. I need a vacuum that I don't have to muscle around the house and that torques my wrist and lower back.
Another spot where it delivers is the size of the vacuum head. It's not as wide as regular vacuums and I was reluctant to buy it because a wider head means more coverage; or so I thought. Actually, the shorter vacuum head, combined with the low profile, means the vacuum gets into very small spaces and underneath sofa skirts, etc., easily and more proficiently than a standard-sized vacuum, helping you to vacuum more quickly and with greater agility.
Where didn't it perform? The attachment heads were a disappointment. There's not a good-sized brush or wide head attachment. The attachments seemed a little cheap and overlooked -- with one exception. The crevice tool/brush combination it comes with is absolutely perfect for vacuuming baseboards (Halleluiah!). But, I also find that I need a nice-sized brush for areas like wood shutters and a wide head attachment to do places such as stairs and tiled areas. However, you can always buy the Dyson wide attachment ($50) and brush separately. Or, I just bought the Kenmore brand attachments that fit the Dyson perfectly. The wide head was only $9.99 -- and it fits in the slot for the Dyson attachments on the vacuum body.
For a vacuum that's easy to maneuver, easy to clean and maintain, takes up less space and gives all the power of a regular-sized Dyson vacuum, the Dyson Slim is a hands-down winner. The only drawback in my mind (better attachments) was no problem because I found an inexpensive work-around. Besides, I'd rather have an easy-to-use vacuum that works well and has chintzy attachments than great attachments on a so-so vacuum. I'd recommend this vacuum to anyone, especially if you want all the power at half the size.

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8/29/2012

American Home Products Trvlsz K2-R Spot Lifter 33200 Stain & Spot Remover Review

American Home Products Trvlsz K2-R Spot Lifter 33200 Stain and Spot Remover
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I could not do laundry successfully without this product! My husband constantly gets greasy food spots on the fronts of his shirts.......(makes him sound like a dribbler which he isn't). When he cooks he gets splattered by food, other times the spots come from spills. K2r works like magic. I spray the spot, let it dry and then wash it. The spot is completely gone after the laundry cycle. I used to be able to buy it in the supermarket but now get it online. Thank goodness they still make it!

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THANE H20 MOP STEAM CLEANER Review

THANE H20 MOP STEAM CLEANER
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While nothing will ever really replace the Cinderella-style of hands and knees scrubbing, this mop certainly is better than pulling out the regular mop and bucket of luke warm brown water.
It is sturdy enough and easy to assemble. its easy to use and does a great job of cleaning without chemicals. Sticky juice spills in the kitchen come up quickly and easily and the sanitizing feature is great for the area just in front of the bathroom toilet where men can never seem to avoid. lol.
The cord was plenty long enough for the rooms in my house, since I dont live in a mansion with huge rooms. And I was able to clean my kithen ceramic tile in less time than it took my husband to go outside and smoke a leisurly cigarette. The floor dried much faster than with regular mopping but I could see spots of dampness here and there when I was done so I am not sure how safe i would feel using it on hardwood floors.
The cons: it only comes with 2 reusable pads. So after the kitchen and bathroom I had to stop and wait for the wash before I could do the hall bath and the downstairs bath. Plus I felt I could redo the kitchen a 2nd time since the pad was so filthy the first time around. So you really do need to buy more pads.
Also, it does NOT do grout. If you have a spill in the grout lines the best you can do is 'sanitize' the spot (holding the mop there for 8 seconds) to loosen the dirt and then manually wiping clean with a rag or paper towel.
Finally, while the swivel head is easy to manever, it really does not get into corners all that well. And much like regular mopping, you have to sweep well or vacuum first or else you will just be pushing around crumbs or hair which will collect along baseboards and corners.
Since this is a great novelty mop, and since I love that I dont have to buy cleaners, I would definetely recommend this mop for people who like to keep their floors clean, and are sick of the mop and bucket style of cleaning. My floors are cleaner and I look forward to using it again when those stupid pads go through the wash again. lol.

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8/28/2012

Green Pack Grease Eater Review

Green Pack Grease Eater
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Takes out everything. Sometime you wonder why you even have to extract. Great company as well! I use it with this crystal rinse which I think is available from Amazon, but could not find the link. If you can't find it here, ask www.magicwandco.com

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iRobot Scooba® 380 Robot Lava-Pisos Review

iRobot Scooba® 380 Robot Lava-Pisos
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Got the 380 just over 30 days ago... (although, this review applies to the whole scooba line as they are all very similar)
I want to start off by saying that I have the roomba 530 and 560 and I love them both, wouldn't be able to keep my house clean without them.
However, with the scooba 380 I was severely disappointed:
While it does clean the floor somewhat effectively, it is gravely overshadowed by the below points that make me wish I had returned it within the 30-day return policy.
Here is what I have experienced over the last 30 days (used it about 8 times to clean high traffic kitchen area and bathroom floors).
My first impression right off the bat was that it does not have the same build quality of the Roomba series which was immediately noticeable upon unpacking. From the sharp plastic edges, defective charging unit to the light houses, the whole experience is a lot cheaper and clumsier than the roomba 500 line. It is almost as if it was made by an entirely different knockoff company...
Despite allowing the scooba to charge overnight, it is not capable of completing two full cleaning cycles on 1 battery charge, misleading from the marketing materials, again this is the 380 which is supposed to be able to clean larger rooms with two complete cycles.
Long recharge time (about 3 hrs+).
You need to clean the brush, filter and rubber tube every couple of cycles.
Requires you to empty the dirty solution tank for every cycle (obviously, but one of the many steps to using this product).
Unlike the roomba it does not figure out how long to run for. If you fill the tank and put the scooba in a small bathroom it will run for the same amount of time as a large room, like a kitchen, very frustrating. iRobot's advice for this shortcoming is to put less solution for smaller rooms, not an elegant or easy solution. You have to calculate the water/solution ratio for small spaces, which is a pain and still haven't figured out.
I have dark hardwood floors, leaves SOME streaks and tire marks even after wet spots have dried.
Once it completes a cleaning cycle it beeps every minute or so, so if you want to run the scooba at night it will annoy you to put it back to charge, I hate appliances and gadgets that beep unnecessarily. At least the roomba 500 series does notifications with nice tones rather than retro beeps... (I know this is nitpicking but it speaks to the low quality of the unit and user experience as a whole).
It gets stuck more frequently than my 2 roombas and sometimes is able to sneak under one of my area rugs, making a mess and eventually getting stuck. iRobot mentions that it is able to "sense" carpets, only if they are heavy enough to trigger its clumsy bumper system.
The standalone charging unit is defective. It does not complete charging the battery, forced to use the scooba's inconvenient multi pin charging port on the side to recharge. The faulty charging base is a widespread problem, refer to user forums online & irobot's website for reference.
Not capable of self-charging as with the upper level roomba series, a must-have feature to make these robots worth the time (and $$$). (Have to connect a clumsy multi pin connector that has to be oriented exactly right to plug properly.)
Clorox solution is expensive, after spending almost $500 on this robot it hurts to have to buy this expensive proprietary solution although, have not tried vinegar, heard that it can affect certain types of hard wood floors (which I have).
Loud and squeaky (due to scooba's rubber squeegee), can't be in the same room as the scooba if you want to relax... Oh and FYI in iRobot's scooba product video (on their website) depicts a rubber belt sweeping away dirt (part of its "first stage" of cleaning), not so: That belt is just a stationary squeegee and dirt is supposed to be directed to vacuum ports on either edge of the robot, disappointed when I discovered this.
The virtual walls are not up to par with the roomba's virtual walls (500 series). It has an extremely wide beam, more so than the roomba lighthouses. This makes using them a bit more difficult as the scooba stays pretty far away from the virtual walls, thus loosing cleaning coverage. One solution is to try to hide it on the opposite side of a doorway.
All in all, I can not recommend this current generation of scoobas (they all function nearly identical, its just the battery and accessories that differ). There are just too many niggles about this product that lead to an overall bad user experience.
If you want a robot to clean something then go with the roomba, its effective, fun and easy to use.
As for easy mopping:
A swiffer mop (or similar product) in about 5 minutes can do what takes the scooba about 45 minutes + maintenance (not to mention 3 hour charging time) to accomplish. Simply put, this product does NOT make mopping easier, in reality it takes longer, is more frustrating and requires a lot more patience than a already simple process.
Hopefully irobot will have a major revision of the scooba to make it worth our time and money.
2 stars because this product has some potential and it does somewhat clean the floor, but again I don't like this product and I wish I hadent kept it outside the "30 day satisfaction guarantee"
Finally, I read a lot of reviews before buying the scooba, anyone who says they simply love it and blindly give it 4 or 5 stars has got to be affiliated with iRobot in some way...

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8/27/2012

Eureka Company Pet Lover Upright 3276AZ Review

Eureka Company Pet Lover Upright 3276AZ
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I owned this vacuum for about a year . . .except mine was yellow. It cost less than the part to fix my Kenmore, so I bought it. What a nightmare!
First off . . . it DOES pick things up off of the carpet IF all of the planets are aligned correctly. This means you have to:
-Clean the sponge filter every time
-Pull out the plastic filter and take out all of the hair that is clogging it
-Make sure the hose isn't clogged behind the plastic filter
-Make sure the hose remains connected at the end (it slips out)
-Empty the dirt cup
When ALL of things are done, the vacuum will work. You have to do any combination of these things several times to make one pass through a medium sized house. Of course, most of those steps generate a cloud of dust you then have to clean up.
The pet attachment is a joke. It just does not work. The telescoping duster IS a handy feature, but it doesn't really get clean the way it is supposed to. You're better off cleaning it with the hose. What finally killed this vacuum is that the roller brush locked up. It just refused to turn and filled the house with burnt-belt smell. I couldn't even loosen it with vice grips.
After a long, painful year of fighting with this thing, I just ordered the replacement part for my Kenmore and happily trashed the Eureka.

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Contemporary Area Rug, Oriental Weavers Sphinx Lanai Collection Review

Contemporary Area Rug, Oriental Weavers Sphinx Lanai Collection
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Got it for my mom who wanted an outdoor carpet for the lanai. Nice pattern/design that isn't busy or call attention to itself. You can get it wet with impunity. Excellent value for the money, esp. in comparison to overpriced - in my opinion - offerings from high end outdoor catalogs. I'd buy it again. Absolutely!

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8/26/2012

Miele : S163 Universal Mini Upright Vacuum - Black Review

Miele : S163 Universal Mini Upright Vacuum - Black
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a powerful vacuum (1000w) that's fairly quiet and does a fine job on both hardwood floors and rugs. it's great around the apartment with its 26 ft long cord.
the miele s143 is solidly constructed without being overly weighty and is nicely balanced. the head pivots slightly side to side and is actually helpful vacuuming around things like a furniture leg. the head loses full contact somewhat when you bring the vacuum down to the level of the floor in the rug mode -- trying (ummph) to get deep under the sofa or bed but otherwise but generally does a fine job.
the heart of the s143 can be used with a smaller head/crevice attachment and without the long handle, much like a really powerful hand vac. a very useful feature for cleaning furniture.
there is an option to upgrade to a hepa filter (although the included carbon filter bag is good enough for me) and i believe an option to upgrade to a motorized head but i suspect if that's a serious consideration, the s147 is probably the way to go.
off tangent: i'm not sure why the description lists Ivory as the color but the s143, as far as i know, only comes in the mint green shown in the picture.
all in all, a finely built product that's nicely met the needs of this apartment dweller... though a tad on the pricey side.

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Reliable T730A Enviromate Steam Cleaner with CSS and 11-Piece Accessory Kit Review

Reliable T730A Enviromate Steam Cleaner with CSS and 11-Piece Accessory Kit
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It does NOT clean grout as well as it advertises. If you get this machine, please be careful with caulking...you can damage it quite easily. Because it damaged my caulk, I found it difficult to clean my shower with it because well, there's caulk in there and it gets dirty too!! The only thing I use it for now is to clean the outside parts of the toilet. Soap scum doesn't come off...My windows and mirrors do not get clean. The manual is a piece of trash so even if this machine could do something, you're on your own to find out how.
The plastic seems cheap, the attachments damage easily...It is a horrible feeling when you open the box and just know that you've been had. Don't waste your money!!!

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8/25/2012

iRobot Roomba 4230 Remote Scheduler Robotic Vacuum Review

iRobot Roomba 4230 Remote Scheduler Robotic Vacuum
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Simply put, it exceeds my expectations. I'm traveling in a 26ft class C Rv with 3 dogs and a husband, all of which shed copious amounts of fur. My partner was very critical of this vac before we got it, and to be honest, I bought it for our cabin, not the RV. However it arrived while we were on the road so I took a risk at an "told you so" and used it in the RV. To my delight, we are hair free for a month now without having to lift a finger (except cleaning the bin and brushes on a regular basis) and the skeptic even praises it and named it Hazel. For a techno-phobe, this is saying something. It does a good job avoiding problem areas like steps and squeaky toys. The dogs watch it from the sofa and have accepted it as a family member. I find we watch it a lot too. It's mesmerizing. We run it once a day, often as we walk the dogs, and return to a very clean floor. I disagree with those who say it is a toy. It is not a toy; it does a good job maintaining a floor on a daily basis. I wouldn't expect it to replace my regular vacuum but rather replace daily vacuuming. We use a shop vac once every two weeks for those hard to reach areas that dog fur always seems to find (door pockets, top of dressers, etc), and use Hazel for daily maintenance to keep our travel quarters shedding fur free.
Two things you need to be aware of about this device. It doesn't like rugs with tassels, or shoe laces, or anything else a normal vacuum doesn't like. Roomba doesn't always see these things as obstacles. It does a great job of getting un-stuck (it uses what I call the dung beetle approach by rearing up and turning around...fun to watch).
You also need to keep it clean. I clean mine every other day. Emptying the bin is one thing, but I use the included cleaning tool to keep the brushes hair free on a regular basis. Since we have so many dogs in a confined space, it can build up hair on the brushes quickly. At first I thought this was going to be a bother, but its something I enjoy doing. Its like grooming a friend (in a monkey at the zoo kind of way).


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iRobot Roomba Scheduler is the latest vacuuming robot from iRobot. Join the over 1.2 million Roomba owners who have discovered the smarter way to clean. With Roomba Scheduler, you can program Roomba to clean when you're not home, at night, daily, or when you go to work. Nothing keeps your home cleaner than cleaning every day--with Roomba Scheduler, you can!
Scheduling Capability
With Roomba Scheduler, you can easily program Roomba to clean when you want. Roomba will leave the Home Base at your scheduled time, effectively clean the floor, and return to the Home Base to recharge its battery for the next cleaning cycle. If it weren't for the clean floors, you might forget Roomba was there.
Simply program the desired cleaning time into the Scheduler Remote, then send the cleaning schedule to Roomba and the new Virtual Wall Schedulers. Both Roomba and the Virtual Walls will turn on at the time you have scheduled.
Roomba Really Works
Roomba features a patented 3-stage cleaning system that is proven effective. First, the small spinning side brushes grabs dirt and debris in corners and along walls, sending it into the main cleaning path. Second, two counter-rotating brushes pick up large particles, pet hair, and other debris. Third, an extremely efficient vacuum picks up the remaining fine particles. All of the dirt and debris is deposited into a large capacity, easy-to-empty bin.
Roomba's cleaning head automatically adjusts to any floor surface including wood, tile, linoleum and low-to-medium pile carpet. Roomba can even sense dirtier areas of your floor and will clean more intensely there.

Roomba Covers the Entire Floor
Roomba automatically calculates the appropriate cleaning time in any situation. Roomba will cover every part of the room an average of 4 times per cleaning cycle, and because Roomba cleans under furniture and other obstacles--Roomba actually cleans more of the floor than standard uprights. Roomba will even return back to its self-charging Home Base at the end of a cleaning cycle or when its battery is running low.
To start a cleaning cycle, simply press the clean button and Roomba immediately begins calculating the size of the room, the number of obstacles in the room, and the cleanliness of the room. Roomba automatically monitors its environment and adjusts its behavior over 67 times per second.
During a cleaning cycle, Roomba automatically reacts to many different obstacles and situations. Roomba features integrated cliff sensors that allow the robot to turn away from stairs and other cliffs. Roomba's non-marring bumper senses furniture and other obstacles. Roomba also has infrared wall sensors that allow the robot to clean on the perimeter of the room and around obstacles. Roomba also features special escape behaviors that allow it to quickly get out from under chairs and off of troublesome thresholds.
Roomba Scheduler comes with two special Virtual Wall Schedulers to confine Roomba in the area you want to clean. Simply place the Virtual Walls in a doorway and send the cleaning schedule to the Virtual Wall. The Virtual Wall will turn for the duration of Roomba's cleaning cycle. Roomba automatically detects the invisible infrared beam of the Virtual Wall and turns away. Virtual Walls are great for keeping Roomba in one room or away from cords and other obstacles.
Easy to Use
Roomba Scheduler is very easy to use. Simply set the time you want Roomba to clean and send the schedule to the robot, or just set the robot down and press "Clean." At the end of the cleaning cycle, Roomba Scheduler will return to its Home Base. Replaceable air filters prevent dust and dirt from escaping back into the air and the large capacity bagless bin is easy to empty. Roomba's brushes can be removed by hand for easy maintenance.The Scheduling Remote also allows you to turn on and steer Roomba from across the room.
Roomba's cleaning head automatically adjusts to any floor surface including wood, tile, linoleum and low-to-medium pile carpet. Roomba can even sense dirtier areas of your floor and will clean more intensely there.
Roomba's Power System
The vacuum's advanced power system consists of a fast-charging battery, a three-hour charger, and a power source--it supercharges the unit for up to 120 minutes of continuous cleaning. When the battery is low or it has completed a cleaning cycle, the vacuum automatically returns to its charging Home Base so that it will be ready for the next cleaning session. Roomba can clean up to three 14- by 16-foot rooms before the Roomba Battery needs to be recharged.
What's in the Box Roomba Scheduler, scheduling remote, scheduling virtual walls (2), home base, fast charger, cleaning tool, spare brush pack, APS battery.

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iRobot 500 Series Roomba Vacuum-Cleaning Robot with On-Board Scheduling Review

iRobot 500 Series Roomba Vacuum-Cleaning Robot with On-Board Scheduling
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First let me say that I agree with people who say that the robot does a competent job of cleaning. You should SEE the dust bin after vacuuming! I am also in awe etc etc, but I'm going to try to focus on things that others have not mentioned.
My 550 (560 actually, I think...it came with a few more odds and ends in the box) is actually my second Roomba. The first was the Discovery SE, one of the 400 series. The 400 was pretty good with two exceptions: 1) It would not work on rug fringe. It gets hopelessly tangled in less time that it takes to say "Wait!" The second problem with the older 400 series is that the battery dies fairly quickly if you do not use it VERY frequently. I use it once/week and by second battery is showing its age.
In any case, the 500 series is advertised to be able to deal with rug fringe, and indeed it does so reasonably well. It is also supposed to be able to do 4 rooms using these "lighthouses" that have been previously mentioned. To summarize, these are little gadgets that put out an IR (UV?) beam that the robot can see; it generally will not cross the beam, so you can use the beam to mark off rooms. After a certain amount of time, the robot sends out an RF signal to the lighthouse, and the LH lets it through into the next room. Repeat for 4 rooms if desired. Then the robot knows how to find its way back to where it started to plug itself back in to recharge. Cool.
Here are the problems with the lighthouse scheme: First, the beam gets wider very quickly. So there is a fan-shaped area in front of each lighthouse that never gets cleaned. In other words, when moving between the two rooms, the beam gets shut off but when cleaning either side, the robot will not enter the fan shaped area that the beam covers.
The second lighthouse problem is that the robot seems to use time rather than room size or complexity to decide when to move from one room to the other. In other words, for larger or more complex rooms, it simply does not cover the room before moving on to the next.
A non-lighthouse problem that you should know about with the 500 series is that I think they must be lower-slung than the 400 series. My 500 robot is not NEARLY as good is climbing up onto a rung as the 400. The 400 got stuck in fringe, but without fringe, it is nearly flawless. The 500 tends to push the rug around, bunch it up, and even get caught if it bunches up the rug in a corner that it has not way to get out of without getting back over the rug.
You MUST be sure there are no cords on the floor. For example, a floor lamp, a computer power cord, etc. My robot has gotten caught when I forget, and nearly pulled down a few items with dangling cords.
And finally, I have one room with hardwood floor and a rug about 6 or 8 inches smaller than one dimension of the room. So there is a 6+ inch "valley" between the rug and the wall. The 500 series does not clean the 6+ inch valley well at all. It goes along it, but does not pick up dirt well. I think it is probably that the brush is on the rug on one side and on the floor on the other, but is touching nothing in the middle. I end up taking a dry mop and going along the valley and pulling dirt out into an open area where the robot can get it.
Given all that, though, the robot saves a LOT of work. If there is something special happening, I would probably bring out the hand vac and get all the little corners and fans and valleys that the Roomba does not reach, but for every-day/week vacuuming, it is way easier than doing it by hand despite its problems.
==========================
Update 3/24/2009: I've had two problems, both fixed/replaced under warranty. First, it refused to dock. It would nose up to the dock and keep pushing and pushing; then finally back up and try again. Repeat forever. Used email support (I think). After doing a bunch of tests that they requested, they sent me a new dock. All ok now.
Second, the robot started spinning in circles. Even if I used the remote to try to make it go straight, it would turn. Sounds like a drive motor on one wheel died or something. In any case, I think I phoned this time. After a bunch of tests, they had me return the robot (minus dust bin and top insert) and they replaced it.
Now it works well, and guess what? The new robot can get up on rugs much better than the old one. I don't know if there was a hardware or software change, or if my old one was defective in some subtle way that I did not know about. I guess I might give this new unit an extra star if I could.
Interestingly, my 400-series also had to be replaced once, but it has worked fine ever since. I hope that will be the case with this one as well.

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8/24/2012

Dyson DC21 Stowaway Canister Vacuum Review

Dyson DC21 Stowaway Canister Vacuum
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I have to admit I was skeptical at first because of the lukewarm "professional" reviews of Dyson in general, but now I'm a true convert. I LOVE this vacuum (coming from someone that HATES housecleaning).
Pros
--Canister style vacuum-great for those of us with back problems that can't push around a heavy upright for long.
--Suction power-WONDERFUL suction on this thing.
--Power brushes-stiff bristles "refresh" the carpet and can easily be turned off by foot controls (no bending down).
--Maneuverability-this has a ball style joint that makes it extremely maneuverable.
--Compact storage-it wraps around itself and is light enough to easily pick up and carry.
--No filters or belts to replace-just clean the built-in filter every 6 months with tap water.
--Quiet!-this is the quietest vacuum I've ever used.
--Retractable cord-guess this is standard on most canisters, but as a former upright user this is a nice feature to me.
--Low profile vacuum head-makes it easier to get under the couches, beds, etc.
--No bags to buy...ever!
--5 Year Warranty
Cons
--No headlight-funny I didn't realize how dark some of my corners are.
--Using attachments is a little awkward because of the larger, inflexible handle, but I imagine I'll get used to it.
--Short power cord-could definitely use a few more feet, but I suspect this was as long as they could fit into the compact unit.
--Power brushes-just a warning here, they're not for delicate carpets. They're rather stiff compared to most and I imagine could do some damage to older/thinner rugs.
--Small collection bin-available volume seems small due to the compact design, but it's EASY to empty, so not really a big problem.
--Price-it's not cheap, but I did find a 20% off coupon on-line for another store so saved $100.
There are enough cons that I can't give this vacuum 5 stars, but none of them are serious enough in my opinion to be major detractors. I'm definitely happy with my purchase.


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KIDS 'N' PETS Brand - LAUNDRY Stain & Odor Remover, 6 pack, 32 fluid ounce bottles (192 fluid ounces total) Review

KIDS 'N' PETS Brand - LAUNDRY Stain and Odor Remover, 6 pack, 32 fluid ounce bottles (192 fluid ounces total)
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I use this for all my laundry pre-spotting. With lots of kids AND pets around the house it gets a lot of use. I also add it to my wash load for extra cleaning as it is both a laundry stain remover and an odor remover. And I like it because it's both non-toxic and "green" - biodegradable and ph neutral. For all the usual kid and pet messes this is the best!

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8/23/2012

Reliable T1 Steamboy Steam Floor Mop Cleaner Review

Reliable T1 Steamboy Steam Floor Mop Cleaner
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This has got to be the best mop I have ever used, bought etc. I have pergo floors in my kitchen, foyer and bathrooms and have had to use special floor cleaners for them. Even with buying these cleaners the floors always seemed to have a film left on them or streaks. I even called Pergo customer service to ask them how to get the dirt out of the crevices and they acted like I had three heads. I saw this mop advertised on a commercial and thought I would give it a try. When I received it my husband assembled it in a matter of minutes, I filled it with water, put on the microfiber pad, plugged it in and away I went. I have never had cleaner floors. It takes me maybe 5-7 minutes to do all my floors and they are sparkling. They dry extremely fast and there is no residue or film. When you are finished just take off the pad and throw it in the washing machine. I was expecting company and cleaned the floors before they came over and my friend thought I had new floors! I would highly recommend this mop to anyone. It also works great on carpets to freshen them up or to clean up a spill.

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