A Great New Hoover on the Market - Hoover HF500 Anti-Twist PETS Model

{I received the Hoover HF500 Anti-twist Pets vacuum cleaner free of charge for the purpose of writing this review. I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest}

If you ask me how I'm going to clean a floor, I'll tell you I'll Hoover it and truthfully that would be whether or not the actual product I'm using is made by Hoover. As Hoover is a brand I grew up with, it was the only vacuum cleaner my Nan and Mum would ever think to buy and I'm pleased to see that nearly fifty years later Hoover is still making excellent vacuum cleaners.

It was a very easy yes from me when I was asked if I'd like to review the Hoover HF500 anti-twist pets vacuum cleaner. It retails for £299 and is one of the modern stick-type vacuums, which I haven't used before. At just 2.5kg in its full upright form (or 1.7kg as a handheld) it is really easy to use and manoeuvre whatever your size, strength or ability. 

I really like the modern graphite grey and turquoise colouring of this Hoover and it feels robust for something so light. It was intuitive and easy to put together straight from the box and I didn't have to spend time going over a manual and wondering what goes where. 

When I first received the Hoover HF500 anti-twist pets, seeing how streamlined it is I thought I might let my son take it to uni when he goes in September but having used it, I don't want to let it go, as it really is very effective and so light.

It amazes me that a vacuum being cordless and light really encourages my teen children to use it. They won't even consider using the traditional vacuum as you have to unwind the lead and plug it in, but will happily grab my cordless and clean their own bedrooms. That is a big win as far as I'm concerned. 

Review: Gtech AirRam Mk 2 Vacuum - I Love It!

For a few years my parents have had a GTech vacuum, first they had the upright AirRam and now they also have the handheld Multi. I've used both and love them and as such I contacted Gtech to ask if I could review the new MK 2 AirRam. Lucky for me they said yes, so I set about giving it a very through testing and as I suspected may be the case, I am in love. This really is the best vacuum I've ever used and considering that for quite a number of years my career was as a hotel manager with responsibility for housekeeping amongst other departments, I've tried out a fair few.

The Gtech AirRam retails for £199.99 (or you can buy a K9 model with added suction for if you have pets). I think the big selling point of the AirRam is how light it is, at just 3.5kg even my 10 year old's pick it up and carry it up the stairs easily. It is wonderful to see them willing to do their own cleaning as it is so easy with no cords to get tangled in too. It glides around the room like it is on rollers and the swivel handle is a dream to use as well, as you can be standing in one direction and vacuuming in another.

The battery can perform for an impressive 40 minute run time on one charge cycle, which takes about 4 hours but you don't have to have the battery fully charged to be able to use it, even an hour gives it a boast to be able to clean when you need to. I also like that the battery has 4 light sections, so you can see what charge is left.

Trying out my Karcher MV3P Vac

This week as part of my position as a Karcher Clean Ambassador I had a new MV3P vac delivered to me and I've been putting it through it paces to see how it performs.

The MV3P is a dry and wet vacuum cleaner that can also be used as a blower and will attach to hand tools as well to automatically collect the dust and debris as you work. This makes the MV3P perfect for DIY users as well as being a generally good vac for around the home. The cheapest I found this model from reputable sellers was £119 from Tesco Direct and I think this is a good price.

The vac comes with a 4 metre cable and 17 litre capacity. It has the power of 1400 watts but is only actually 1000 watts. You need to use a bag inside when dry vacuuming but nothing is needed for wet vacuuming and thankfully the filter is multi-function and can be used for both and then just taken out and washed though when need be. The vacuum head comes with a brush and squidgy blade end for use in both circumstances and it is really easy to switch them over. There is also a crevice attachment that can go on the end for use in tight spaces and when you really can't get into a space (like behind a radiator) you can change the hose to the back hole and use the blow function and get the dust out that way and then vacuum it up.

I found the vac very easy to put together, first you need to push the four wheels in the bottom and this was super easy and then you plug in the hose and build the vacuum handle, which is just a case of pushing them together. The bag inside just clipped on and was completely intuitive which is very good as I never find Karcher instructions that easy to follow if I'm honest. Thankfully their website is good and normally has instructional videos. I also found this great review video from DIY Doctor and whilst it says it is reviewing a different model, having watched it I can see it is the same machine with the same capabilities.

I've only tried out dry vacuuming so far as that is basically what I will use it for. We do not have any hand tools and thankfully there have not been any water leaks but I fully expect the water vacuum function to be very good as even my handy Karcher window cleaner is great at sucking up water spills.

I first vacuumed the girls little playroom/ spare room and it is only small as you can see in the picture. It gets vacuumed fairly regularly but with kids of course it gets messy too but I was astounded to see the amount of hair and fluff that came off that small carpet and was caught in the brush end as well as what went into the bag - just look -

I was super impressed with its cleaning power on hard wood floors particularly, it is an easy and efficient vac to use. On carpets it has excellent suction but is harder work as it feels as if it sticks to the carpet a bit (because of the good suction I assume) and this means you have to work harder and I did not feel as if the plastic long arm would stand up to years of me pushing too hard.

What I love -

• Multi function, wet and dry vacuuming as well as blower function
• Easy to set up
• Light weight for carrying around
• Nice long cable
• Excellent suction power, especially for hairs
• Good value price
• Excellent storage for all pipes and accessories/ lead

What I didn't find so great -

• A fair amount of effort needed on carpeted floors
• The look of it, who wants a bright yellow plastic vacuum?

In all I think it is a great vacuum cleaner, probably better than my Sebo which cost far more. I would happily recommend it, especially if you have hardwood, laminate or lino floors.

Disclosure: As part of the Karcher Clean Ambassador program I have given products to trial and review. I'm not instructed what to write and I remain honest.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

If you like what you have read and want to stay up-to-date then subscribe by email for free and receive blog posts directly to your in-box - just click the link Subscribe to Mummy From The Heart... by Email or perhaps you like to keep all your blog reading in one place, if that is the case you can follow me on BlogLovin too!