I seem to able to break vacuum cleaners quicker than some people can break wind, so finding the right cleaner at the right price is, without doubt, an on going battle in my life.
I have owned, used and in in the end, broken many vacuum cleaners in my time, the upright type, which seem to stop spinning or the handles just give up on me, and the cylinder type, which just seem to give up the ghost, usually during a carpet clean so I'm left with half a dog hair free carpet whilst the other half is, well, you can guess.
I've even gone through the trial of giving a good go to both 'bagged' and 'bag-less' cleaners, but have lost in all battles as things have 'just gone wrong' with them.

Anyway, a while back, after writing a few reviews on here, and, to be honest, a bit of a moan about how bad vacuum cleaners treated me, a certain member on this site, who we all probably know but I won't mention their name as heads can swell, gave me a little sound advice about a vacuum cleaner that would clean as good as any other cleaner, if not better, whilst being sturdy enough to not end up in the big vacuum cleaner place in the sky.

This cleaner that they suggested was in fact one which, for some reason the manufacturers decided to make it more part of the family and gave them actual names, such as Henry, Hetty, James, Harry and even Charles, (no seriously, that's what they are called). But all these brilliantly named cleaners are from the same company which is called Numatic International, who don't just make vacuum cleaners for the likes of you and I to clean our carpeted stairs, but actually make a vast range of both wet and dry cleaners for the Industrial world as well, which, due to its popularity, makes there range a very successful and very trusted range indeed.

Anyway, as I only need a vacuum cleaner for a few carpets in my house, mainly the stairs, a coupe of downstairs rooms and the bedrooms, I didn't think I'd need an industrial size machine. So I opted for the Numatic cleaner that they call 'Henry', although I did toy with getting 'Hetty' after a bit of digging from my daughter due to the fact that 'Hetty' is pink, whilst 'Henry' is red.
Yes, they are all different colours so you can actually buy one to match the colour of your walls, you've got 'James' who I think is Yellow, 'Harry' is green, 'Charles' is blue, (although I think 'Charles' is a wet and dry cleaner), and a few others, but they are all different colours.

After telling my daughter that I didn't want a pink vacuum cleaner in the house, I brought home 'Henry', a new member of the family who has the biggest smile on his little red face.

So what do you get with Henry then..?
Apart from the actual vacuum cleaner itself we also got...

* The 2.4 metre flexible hose
* 2 stainless steel extension tubes
* Crevice tool
* Combination floor nozzle
* Brush
* Upholstery nozzle
* and two bags to get started.

NOTE:
I don't know if all of the vacuums come with all these extra bits so don't go by my list.


What does Henry look like then..?

Henry is a circular type vacuum cleaner that is approximately 340mm in diameter and is about 370mm in height, weighing in at about 6 and a half Kilo's.
The lower half of the machine is a lovely red colour with a friendly face on it and the upper section, where the motor is housed, is black.
On the top section there is a lovely crescent shaped handle covering about half the top, which can be easily gripped by any sized hands and can easily take the weight of the machine with no problems at all.
This handle is not only used to carry the cleaner from room to room it is also used to lift the top off the Henry so that you can get to the inner workings, such as the filter and the bag itself
There are three switches to the rear of the top section, just behind the handle and winder, with the on/off switch being on one end and the two power buttons being next to each other, these powers buttons give you the choice of either having 600 watts or the full 1200 watts.

Also on the top there is a little knob which is embedded onto a circular disc, this is what helps you wind the 10 metre cable back into the machine so there's no loose cables lying around the floor for anyone to trip over.

As for the lower section, Henry's face, this is a red colour with a lovely friendly face printed onto it, two eyes, a smile for a mouth and a hole which represents the nose. This hole is where the hose screws into and the face is constantly smiling at you as you drag it around the room, with the eyes looking slightly to the right for reasons that are unclear to me.

When you take the top off, which is done by unclipping the two catches that are on the side and simply lifting the top section off. Although do show a bit of caution as the motor is house inside the top and it can be a bit on the heavy side.
Once the top is off, placing the motor carefully to one side, you're presented with the inside of the lower section which is where you'll see the filter which has what looks like a couple of straps going over the top of it. These straps are used to actually pull the filter out so that you can then get to the bag itself. So when you pull out the filter you can then get at the bag itself.

That's it, it's as simple a design as that. In fact, if you think about it this cleaner is just a bucket with a bag inside it, a filter slapped on top of it to stop the dust getting out and a powerful sucker on the top.




It has a 2 and a half metre hose, so together with the 10 metre of cable there's plenty of scope for cleaning those larger rooms without the need to keep unplugging and plugging in.

It manoeuvres easily around the floor using the four wheels it has on the underbelly, two larger fixed wheels at the back with two wheels, nay casters on the front which allow you to easily steer the vacuum as you pull the flexible hose.


How do I use Henry then..?
This is the really complicated bit... only kidding, using Henry couldn't be easier.
All you do is unwind the cable by pulling on the plug, which will then gently roll out until you stop pulling.
Plug it in, yes really, it does need that elastic-trickery.
Take the metal tubes and slide them together, with the bent one being attached to the flexible hose which in turn screws into Henry's nose.
Then push on your chosen 'head', be it the nozzles or floor head, switch on the machine, select the power setting and start cleaning....

That's it, simple.
And to put it away you just turn it off, unplug it and wind to cable away using the little knob on the top, then put Henry away in a cupboard.

I said it was easy didn't I, although every so often you do have to change the bag and clean the filter, but even this is as easy as vacuuming itself. This is a matter of unclipping the catches on the side of Henry, lift the lid off, then take the filter out using the two straps.

NOTE:
If the filter is really dirty the it can be washed under a running tap but do allow it to fully dry before re-fitting, usually an overnight drying time does the trick.

When the filter is taken out you then have to take out the bag by gently uncurling the rubber seal away from the inside of Henry's nose, which can be fiddly but does get easier in time.
Then fit a new bag by simply 'moulding' the rubber bung onto the inside of Henry's nose, put the DRY filet back on top, slot the lid of Henry back onto the top, close the catches and away you go.


My opinion...

After many years of struggling with all sorts of vacuum cleaners that have started off great little suckers but, with in no time at all, have made me look the right sucker as I struggle along more pushing dust and dirt around the house that sucking it up, I decided to take the plunge, and the sound advice, getting my hands on Henry.
And to be perfectly honest I'm so glad I did as it has turned out to be one of, if not the best little vacuum cleaner that I have ever used, (and I have used a few Dyson machine as well).
Henry not only sucks where others fail to even fear to sniff but it actually looks a pleasant little cleaner as well, with it's smiling face and massive eyes.
The 10 metre cable, together with the 2 metre plus of hose really does give me a great scope around the house so I don't have to run up and down the stair to plug/unplug it when the cable comes to and end as I try to get at the last few inches of carpet. And as the cable slips comfortably into the machine using the smooth manual winding system there's no danger of loose cable everywhere.

The two powers this one offer are both fantastic, with the lower setting, 600watts, being adequate for most carpets whilst the higher setting, 1200watts will suck almost anything up, so watch out for your pets who may get in the way. I mean, when I tried the full power button I almost sucked up the dog, and he was behind the kitchen door....

The filter is tough and can take a bit of grief, but the fact it is washable will save you buying filters every so often, but do remember, when you do wash it, make sure it is dry before refitting it, I usually leave it airing overnight, which seems to do the trick.

As for fitting the 9 litre bag itself, this can be a bit tricky at first and you do have to make sure that the little rubber seal is tight around the inlet section of the vacuum cleaner or there will be more mess outside the bag than inside.
The bags themselves are pretty cheap and can be bought from many good retailers, so there's no real trouble with this one being a 'bagged cleaner'.

The tools are all well built and all managed to do exactly what they are supposed to do, especially the floor cleaning tool has a built in brush which comes out of the head when you push the little catch with your foot, this then helps clean your carpets more thoroughly, with the bristles dragging deeper down into the pile.
The extension tubes are a great length so there's no need to bend too far forwards, pulling my back muscles, with one of them being straight whilst the other having a nice gentle curve on it.

It does have it's downside, but nothing what so ever to do with power of the suction.
The first little downside is that you have to have a good guess as to when the bag is full, either that or keep opening the machine up to have a look, as there is no indications such as a light to tell you the bag is full.
Plus, you can't attach any of the tools to the machine so you're left with bits and bobs, together with a rather long hose, flopping around inside your cupboard.

As for the price of this 'cute' little cleaning machine, well it sells for around the £60 - £70 region, which, for the power and performance you actually get, is remarkably cracking value for money.

©Blissman70