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Russell Hobbs 18112 Hepa Cyclonic
by AngelEyes76
----* INTRODUCTION *----
After my stand up right vacuum cleaner decided not to suck anymore I was on the look out for a new one. But this time I didn't want a stand up right one as I found getting up and down the stairs a hassle as it was heavy and very awkward to carry especially when trying to clean to the stairs. I wanted ... something a little more compact and easy to store away without it taking up much room, something easy to clean my stairs and easy to lift, something that would clean my wooden floors without spreading the dirt around the floor rather than picking it up, something cheap, small and does the job properly. I didn't actually see this vacuum when buying it only a picture of it, so I was hoping it was going to be a decent vacuum and one to tick the boxes. When getting the vacuum delivered I found there was a few problems but also a lot of positives, so I think I did have a good deal.
----* PACKAGING & ASSEMBLY *----
Well the vacuum was delivered the box it came in was a little large to say the least, and I was thinking the vacuum would be too, which was something I didn't want. The vacuum was secured in the box with polystyrene boards and each end to stop it from flopping around in the box, the vacuum itself was tucked into a clear plastic bag. The tools was just lying in the box wrapped in bubble wrap so I was pretty impressed with the way it was packed up, although getting the vacuum out the box was a bit of a nightmare.
----* WHAT'S IN THE BOX? *----
You will find in the box the vacuum, 3 brushes, the main brush, the pole to attach the brush to the vacuum, which is extendable, and a pet hair brush. And not forgetting the instruction on how to put the tools together, which in all honestly isn't that hard to do and certainly don't need to be reading instructions on the how to.
----* ABOUT THE VACUUM *----
Getting the vacuum out the box and attaching the tools to get it set up was a doddle and didn't take long to do, pulling the cord from the vacuum I noticed it was quite long and was able to get me up my stairs without pulling the cord or having me run downstairs to unplug it. To turn on the vacuum just a simple light push with your foot on the peddle turns it on, the sound wasn't as noisy as my old one, which I like. Although turning up the power with the dial turned up the noise too, depending on the floor type depends on the suction you will need which then is determined by the power you will need. Because I have a shag pile rug, and a dog that sleeps on it, and malts everywhere I need the vacuum on high power for this to remove the pet hairs from the rug, on normal carpets and floors I have the power about half way.
I was quite amazed at how well the vacuum worked, although it can cause back ache with me, even though I am only 5ft 2 the vacuum makes me lean over quite a bit when using it, even though the pole that attaches the vacuum to the brush is extendable it is still quite short for me to use. It will be something that I could probably get used to, but something that did disappoint me. The pet hair brush is no use what so ever, I have tried it as like I say I do have a malting dog which is a huge pain, but because I have a shag pile rug the pet brush is not picking up the hairs, in fact the brush I normally use for the general vacuuming works better then the one that is designed to pick up the hair, something else that disappointed me.
When using the vacuum on my wooden floors I was a little weary because of my old one used to just drift the muck around the floor leaving more mess to clean up, but I do have to say that this one does the job well, and was so very impressed by it. Just clicking on the peddle on the brush itself, enables you to put the brushes down to the floor this way it protects the floor without scratching it, I always do this when vacuuming the floors.
Using the handle on top of the vacuum allows you to carry the vacuum around with ease, its not heavy and stores away easily without taking up to much room. I am glad that the vacuum isn't difficult when cleaning the stairs in fact the vacuum sits nicely on my stairs whilst vacuuming which is a great help, and doesn't mean you have told hold the vacuum and clean the stairs at the same time which is something I did with my old one.
This is a bagless vacuum which means no bag is used, all the muck goes into a container which I have to say isn't that big and will need emptying after every used to keep the suction going strong. Within the container you have a filter that also needs cleaning after every use as not cleaning this will give you less power suction, which I found out a while ago, and thought I needed a new vacuum. Although the filter cannot be washed as the filter is made from hard cardboard so when cleaning it you have to make sure you are very careful not to damage it in anyway. I tend to use a soft paintbrush to clean it out and worked well.
----* AVAILABILITY & PRICE *----
I did buy this from 24 studio at a good price at £54.99, which I thought was not bad for a vacuum cleaner. You can buy this one Amazon at a slightly cheaper price of £49.99. I have to say thought with this being cheap I wasn't expecting so much power and great suction that this gives you, and certainly ticks all the boxes for me, well most of them anyway.
----* FINAL THOUGHTS *----
Like I have mentioned in the review I was on the look out for something particular and find it, with a few disappointments along the way but in saying that the pet brush does not matter as I know the other brushes that I use does that job well enough for me. The back ache is something that can be annoying and I think they need to reconsider into making it a little taller, as people that are taller than I am will have difficulties in using this. Over all I have to say I am quite satisfied with the vacuum and the way it works so well on any floor, the way it is easy to carry around, and the adjusting of the power used.
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Russell Hobbs 13947 Pet Turbo Bagged Cylinder
by miffy1
When our old vacuum cleaner died recently I had a good look to find something suitable to replace it. I didn't want anything too big or heavy and preferably one that was bagged. More importantly, it needed to be effective at removing pet hairs from carpets and furniture. We have cats that shed hair regularly and our previous one really ... wasn't up to the job.
Anyway, I finally went for this one and I have been really impressed with it. It is a small machine and not too heavy so easy when cleaning stairs etc. The suction on it is great and it comes with a variety of tools such as a crevice tool, dusting brush and upholstery brush that suit every sort of job. The best one is the turbo head, which is fantastic at removing hairs and cleans deep down into carpets. Now we don't have so much of a problem with pet hairs!
The dustbags are easy to change and they have 3.1 litre capacity. Three spare bags are included in the price.
The colour is white with black trim and I love the fact that this cleaner has spots! We have christened ours Pongo, after the dog in 101 Dalmations!
On the technical side, this vacuum cleaner is 2400 watts and has a variable power, so you can select just how much suction you need. It has an indicator that tells you when the bag needs changing. There is also a washable filter, foot-operated cord rewind and on-off control. It is suitable for all floor types and has 5m of cord. The weight of the cleaner is 4.9kg.
We paid £74.99 from Argos and it really has turned out to be a good buy.
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Russell Hobbs 13944
by LadyA
Having owned both a Dyson and a Vax, this Russell Hobbs knocks spots off them (no pun on the dalmation design intended!).
Our Vax Turboforce wasn't giving very good results anymore and it was so heavy to push round that I'd be out of breath after cleaning just one small room! As for carrying it upstairs, forget it! Then a friend ... recommended the Russell Hobbs, not a brand I'd usually consider in a vacuum, but the reviews online also seemed good and it was on offer at Argos for £79.99. Upon hearing some people saying it actually lifted their carpet pile (ours was looking very flat and tired) we decided to give it a try. I can confirm that yes, it does lift the carpet pile back up and our carpets look almost like new! It is also very light and easy to manouvre-it is fairly heavy to carry upstairs though not quite as cumbersome as our Vax was-but it glides across both hard and carpeted floors.
I notice another reviewer mentioned how the bottom part of the cleaner hangs loose when carried-we thought that too, thinking the vacuum was faulty at first but you just need to sort of roll the cleaner forward and it does lock into place.
The pet hair tool provided is very good, better than the one on our Vax, the only trouble is that there is no onboard storage for it, though I guess if there were the vacuum may not be quite so streamlined! However you only really need this for vacuuming furniture and the like anyway as the vacuum is excellent at picking up cat hairs when just used normally.
Downsides are that the hose isn't very long (too short for stair cleaning) and the drum needs emptying fairly frequently but this is easy to do so that doesn't worry me. Also the switch to adjust the brushbar height is a bit clunky.
It doesn't feel the most sturdy of vacuums I'll admit, but all this aside, I'm still extremely impressed to the point that these minor niggles don't bother me. Being able to easily push it around (without needing a lie down!) and the way it leaves my carpets looking were the two most important things to me and on both of those points it delivers! I can't imagine even top of the range vacuums giving much better results and this vacuum was a bargain!
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