For Easy manoeuvring - Why not try hoovering? (Hoover F 3980)

Member Name: grannygarden

Product:	Hoover F 3980
Date:	28/01/06 (1553 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Say goodbye to mops and buckets

Disadvantages: None so far

As the carpets throughout my house are gradually being replaced by various hard flooring, including tiles, hardwood and laminate, I found that I was more and more going back to the dark ages and reverting to a sweeping brush and dustpan to remove the debris and then a mop and bucket to wash it afterwards.

That was until some bright spark came up with the suggestion that I should get a floor buffer. Anything for an easier life sounds good to me and so I started searching for something suitable. I haven’t even seen a floor buffer for years and that was going back in time to when I remembered seeing them being pushed along hospital corridors. So I didn’t really know where to start looking, but as I get cash back for shopping from various sites, the first thing I did was to search Kelkoo who would find me all on offer and compare the prices as well.

There weren’t a great abundance of them to be had and reviews I found on some of them didn’t sound too favourable and then I came across the Hoover vacuum polisher. Hoover being a well known brand, I felt pretty safe in giving one of their models a go and the best price I could find was at www.barmey.co.uk where it was on offer at £109.99. I had a few reservations about aforementioned barmey, not exactly something to inspire confidence, but as my husband agreed to purchase it for me, it would be his money in the balance if things went wrong and not mine.

I ordered the machine on a Monday afternoon and elected to go for free standard delivery to the UK mainland, expecting it to be several days before I got my hands on my polisher. Much to my surprise there was a knock at the door the next morning and a delivery man was there to behold and in his hands a very small box, which I relieved him of with much gratitude. Then despair set in as anything that comes in bits and needs putting together usually proves to be a problem when there isn’t a six year old child handy to do it for you. I didn’t even open the box but waited to present it to my husband to do the putting together bit.

Although I didn’t watch him do it, it must have been pretty simple to assemble as he had done it in record time.

In the box was a handle, a dust bag, the polisher and various brushes and buffers. The handle comes in two parts which push onto the base. The bag attaches to a hook on the handle and an opening on the base unit.

The brushes and buffers come in sets of three which are fitted to the underside of the base. Making sure that the machine is unplugged at the time all you need to do is to tip it upside down and push them on until you hear a click which means that they’re in the correct position.

The three sets that came with my machine were:

Hard bristle brushes (x3) to remove old polish from the floor and spread the new wax evenly on the floor
Soft bristle brushes (x3) to complete the polishing phase
Buffing pads (x3) to be used as the final stage to produce a shine

There are also available natural white pads made of wood which are specifically designed to polish wooden floors, but my machine didn’t come with any of those so I can’t comment on how effective they are.

I fitted the hard brushes on first to clean the floors and vacuum the dust and debris into the dustbag. Then I applied the floor cleaner as per the instructions on the bottle (this isn’t supplied by Hoover and I bought some special hard floor cleaner). I then changed to the soft brushes to make sure the polish was evenly spread and lastly fitted the buffer pads and went over the floors to give a final shine.

Exchanging brushes and pads is very easy as they just push in and pull out.

Unless you are exceptionally houseproud, polishing the floors isn’t necessary on a daily basis and in between times a whizz over with the soft bristled brushes to pick up any dust or dirt is sufficient.

The brushes can be washed in warm water using mild detergent and the pads should be brushed with soapy water and wiped with a damp cloth. They must dry completely before reusing and should be kept flat as they dry.

Spare parts are readily available by contacting Hoover Ltd, Pentrebach, Merthyr Tydfil, Mid Glamorgan CF48 4TU, or telephoning Hoover Spares on 01204 556111.

Repairs must only be carried out by Hoover authorized personnel.

I’m quite pleased with my new toy and hope it will give me many hours of service.

I no longer need to use brushes and dustpans or mops and buckets, this machine takes the strain and eases the pain of cleaning hard floors.

Summary: Easy to assemble and use and gives good results

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