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Gtech SW02
by Nar2 Goodbye 10-year-old cordless Electrolux Ergorapido upright stick vac, Hello Gtech! If like me you're savvy about the latest appliances that have hit the market then you or many buyers have either considered or about to run out and buy the latest new "vacuum cleaner" on the market that is feather light, cordless and goes under ... the name of the "Air Ram," by Gtech. The "British" cordless dust sweeper company claim that their new cordless upright is a vacuum cleaner and not a dust sweeper since the motor does produce some suction and has a longer lasting battery with a bale like dust capture principle, making it easier to clean out the dust pan when it needs to be emptied. It also looks cool and ultra modern. Although it has just been launched, it comes with quite an expensive cost price of £229-00 and like so many other cordless upright stick vacs on the market that came before it, all of them seem to be priced expensively. Still, I can see why some buyers may well be attracted to a cordless upright vacuum cleaner - but whilst there's the more expensive option, Gtech still produce their trusty ranges of cordless dust sweepers at a healthier, easier to purchase and far more readily available range starting at £39-99 on average and upwards. Now you may be asking why on earth would I want another vacuum, or another sweeper - but at the time of purchase before my mother took ill, - I bought the Gtech for her to use in her home - but as the months floated on and her illness became more serious she wasn't at home to try my new toy. Thus, it was passed onto me - and this little sweeper has since been my saviour to home visits from friends - far quicker when it comes to cleaning up dust and dirt brought in. Compared to the cost of a new AEG Ergorapido (same company owned by Electrolux, now) at £129-99, the famous Gtech SW02 that was first seen on Channel 4's Big Brother household came home with me at a cost price of £49-99. This sweeper also comes with a 1-year warranty as standard with a further 2 years available direct from Gtech at an additional cost of £12-95 although they are currently offering this warranty free if you buy direct from them but excludes the battery life. ==Nar2's Quick Skip Product Spec== * 7.2Volt cordless battery with 16 hour charging time. * 0.5 litre pull out dust bin - no filters to clean. * Permanent rolling beater brush bar with side edge brush wheels. * Removable hood for cleaning and cleaning stairs. * Adjustable telescopic height handle and removable. * 60 minute running time comes with charge adaptor and plug. * Current 2012 price £49-99 with 1 yr standard guarantee/warranty. * Total weight 1.2kg and handle has hanging hole ability. Basically, the Gtech SW02 cordless sweeper has been on the market since 2004. It has a run time of 60 minutes per 16 hour charge - If you look at this appliance as a second back up to your normal high power vacuum cleaner, the Gtech principle of saving money can be worked out easily by the amount of times you use it and the amount of time it spends being charged up. For the cost price of £90 I could have settled for the more expensive SW20 "Premium" cordless sweeper - but for that price I could well have just topped up and replaced my old Electrolux with the latest cordless AEG model and have the same performance all over again with its heavier lift-out optional dust buster. The Gtech SW02 is just so much simpler - and far lighter than the 2.4kg AEG Ergorapido can ever hope to be - that also only lasts for 20 minutes before it runs out of puff. This £49-99 lightweight cordless sweeper has a much simpler design to a lot of cordless stick vacs on the market and the handle can be taken off with just the floor head and its stubby "joystick" handle for cleaning stairs as well as the sweeper being fitted with soft bristles to cope with hard flooring as well as carpet. A bonus to Gtech is that you can lift out the battery yourself if you sweeper dies out through the years - and battery replacements are also available from Gtech. Out of the box, where assembly and quality is concerned, the silver painted plastic SW02 takes a few minutes to work out how to put the handle and spine together - and it can be tricky as this is no "ordinary" spine, as the spine will adjust to every user's height as far as being 6ft 4" or a total height of the sweeper's handle and spine to 82cm. It may appear to be simple since there are three parts to the spine and although it looks simple thanks to its push-pip-to-lock mechanisms on each end of the quality brushed aluminium spine, I managed to break the spine by putting the wrong end in at the top of the easy to grip looped handle! This is because the user manual needs better clarity in so far as pushing in the right ends, but even if I managed to put the wrong ends in, the handle and corresponding spine are easy to fit and lock up. Throughout the process though, the quality of the Gtech SW02 seems okay for what you're paying for - the spine of the sweeper is a lightweight aluminium pole that also adjusts for height for the owner due to a ratchet lock, a similar mechanism you'll find on any cylinder vacuum cleaner that sports an adjustable height suction tube. Similarly though I've yet to find a mechanical sweeper on the market that has an adjustable handle for height, so top marks to Gtech for adding this versatile design aspect. After the handle and spine are locked together, all you do is put the complete handle assembly and lock it into the handy grab handle on the bottom of the sweeper, acting as the main grab handle once the spine/tube is taken off for cleaning stairs, car seats or boot liners. Every lock has a push in push-release pip lock, so once that handle and spine are locked in, it won't come out unless you press the release pips that have been cut into the metal and plastic parts for access. Some owners online however never think to check the dust tray on this sweeper upon taking it out of the box the first time - resulting in moans about a lack of battery - but this is where you will find the battery and plug adaptor, hidden in there before it can all be unravelled and used. It also allows you to easily store the sweeper up if you take it away to student halls or to a holiday home. On your marks set! !...2...3! Frankly I don't know why I waited until now to get myself a GTECH cordless sweeper! Whilst there are so many different models from Gtech in so far as cordless sweepers from the "antibacterial" Germguard SW18 model to the premium shorter-charge SW20 and my original model, the SW02, where performance is concerned, this sweeper deserves a gold medal! The SW02 may well require 16 hours charging for a 60 minute operation - but it hasn't taken me a full 60 minutes to run around my big home to clean and after one charge per week, the SW02 has been used practically every day for a couple of minutes at a time. This little baby does more than just offer a long lasting power runtime. It swivels, sweeps and steers on a dime because it is so lightweight, nimble, fast and eager for dirt! There's even a small LED light that shines in green to indicate the sweeper has been activated. The motor noise isn't too loud either and the sweeper has two large wheels that are well made and well protected with rubberised outer shells to protect hard flooring when in use. It is just a shame that though it offers excellent gliding characteristics, the underside of the Gtech can be a bit rattily in use, but this is down to the general design and doesn't impede on performance. The sweeper can take its fair share of knocks too, being coated in PVC plastic on the underside and the silver painted parts on top. The operation is a dream come true too, with a big oval silver/black plastic foot power button on top of the hood at the back and an easy to grip handle at the top. All you do is put one foot on the front of the floor head to release the handle a la Dyson and away you go! The secret behind the Gtech's whole design is that the neck and floor head of the Gtech both swivel from left to right, also compensated by a reasonably flat floor head (28.5cm floor head by 4.5cm height) that can slip under coffee tables and kitchen tables with ease! The floor head also has a flat-to-the-floor design where it can be laid flat to clean as well as being pivoted from the handle for more contact on carpets by adding a little more weight from your hands. Threads, hairs, coins, general household dust and even DIY grommets like bolts or nuts are eaten brushed up by the Gtech SW02; a mean feat for most conventional upright vacuums these days! I thought my swivelling main vacuum Sebo Felix upright was fast, but the Gtech cordless sweeper is a good, lightweight and alternative companion to the Sebo and it is a marvel to get around the home, reminding me of my old Swivel Sweeper and allowing me to clean up in less than 10 minutes, after darting from one room to the other! Like my Sebo Felix, the Gtech SW02 is eager and hungry for pet hair off carpets, rugs and hard floors. If you abhor the thought of a manual work out with a mechanical manual sweeper, the Gtech SW02 is a bit of an athlete ready to sprint with you, not against you! The revelation here is that due to its design, the brush roll and the back wheels work in tandem giving me a feather light gliding action at all times. The other secret behind the Gtech's design here is that the entire roller/floor head can be detached from the telescopic, height adjustable tube and handle. This then gives you the option to use the handle at the bottom of the sweeper to clean stairs. When it comes to cleaning stairs, the Gtech and its other brothers has been met with opposition from several reviewers and owners but let me make this a bit clearer. The Gtech has a removable clear visor at the front. Handy to see when the purple bristles need cleaning at the same time, the visor just comes off by pulling upwards to release from the plastic oval locks at either side. Then take off the main handle and spine from the release pip at the bottom of the sweeper. Once this is done, the brush roll is completely bare and the base handle on the sweeper's floor head becomes like a joystick, able to move the Gtech inwards at an angle to enable cleaning stairs. Now, whilst this can be a tricky process to work out how such a sweeper could possibly clean stairs, there is more to the SW02 than meets the eye. Whilst I had no trouble at all cleaning carpeted stairs moving the sweeper horizontally up and down to remove fluff that an otherwise hose and vacuum cleaner tool (with machine on the stair or at the bottom if you have a longer hose) would take up, the whole process takes seconds to do. Granted the only downside here is that the small slide out dust pan can get clogged up pretty quickly with lots of dirt collected, the Gtech not only provides cleaning for stair lintels but also for the stairs you walk on, simply by snapping the visor back on at the front and then by hand, pushing the sweeper back and forth on the steps. Nothing could be simpler! Even if your steps are narrow, half of the floor head's spinning brush can still clean all matter of dirt embedded on the steps by moving it forwards and backwards. However, through this process I have also encountered some other wonderful tricks that this sweeper employs. When the handle is taken off and it looks like I'm about to clean stairs, I find this sweeper is great for cleaning crumbs off the kitchen table as well as the work surfaces! If the late Jade Goody got away with Dyson'ing her kitchen table, I don't see why I can't with my Gtech! This is because the bristles are soft on the Gtech, so it is impossible to damage delicate surfaces and because of the motor's soft power and relatively lower spinning brushes, this whole design makes cleaning thick pile shag rugs like bathroom rugs and similar additional rugs a breeze where conventional upright vacs would turn their nose up at - with an impending drive belt breakage if the long, thick straggly pile gets caught up in the roller. Not so with the Gtech - this little baby brings up thick pile carpets with a lovely groomed appearance - but also removes dirt and especially on bathroom rugs - annoying bits of paper or loose threads - without balding the rugs in the process! In terms of downsides there are only but a few with this cordless sprinting sweeper! The Gtech SW02 has an excellent sweeping action but at the sides you'll find round spinning edge-cleaning brushes that constantly rotate at the same time as the brush roll. The brushes do the job as intended and they are super for getting dust out of skirting boards. However, the brushes themselves are set on a rubberised wheel, probably to reaffirm that the Gtech can be used on hard surfaces and to protect the machine and the home. But, in use, depending on the resistance of the carpet that the sweeper is required to clean, the Gtech's side brushes can often stop the natural gliding flow that the sweeper generally demonstrates. Although this can be felt from the handle, it reaffirms that the Gtech is a low power cordless dust sweeper and not a vacuum cleaner, thus taking a little more time to clean rather than sprinting around the home with it. Raised carpet on skirting boards can often stick the rotary side brushes even though they do the job as intended. Another downside is that the edge brushes are very eager and often if you clean in the vicinity of thin cables such as audio cables to and from your computer and if they trail on the floor, the Gtech can snag easily on cables. This has occurred to me on occasion but each time, the cables and the sweeper have not been damaged - you'll just know about it when there's a slight judder and a louder noise from the motor when something gets caught. Again having that removable visor to remove or clean the brush roll is very handy and the brush roll itself is fairly easy to get at for removing hairs or wound up threads. Lastly where downsides are concerned, my SW02 is a 2012 model and has dark silver and light silver body colour as opposed to the original dark grey, silver and purple "bottom handle" model. That model also came with a handy duster attachment that this model now lacks. I don't like dusters in general but it could have been a handy bonus to keep this on, Gtech! When it comes to charging and emptying, the process is just as easy and quick to do as using the Gtech! There is a single LED light just below the main power on/off pedal that goes red when the plug is charging the sweeper. When it has finished, a green light comes on to indicate that charging is done and the sweeper only re-charge itself if the sweeper has been switched off via the pedal, i.e when the brush roll is not moving. For emptying, a flush, slide out dust tray reveals dirt collected and can simply be emptied in a bin. There's a helpful concave in the plastic that is shaped especially for hands to grab the dust pan from the top and bottom before pulling the slide tray out. Although Gtech stipulate that the sweeper has to be emptied each time you use it, I don't tend to do this and thus clean out the dust tray once a week. now this process is a double edged sword, because over time dust will leak out of the Gtech if you don't empty it and assume the dust tray can be emptied as soon as the flush acrylic clear panel shows that the dirt is bursting out of it. So far, I've only had one occasion where dust leaked out of the Gtech and that was simply because I didn't empty it as much as I should have! If however your home is susceptible to daily or weekly visits from people, and the Gtech sweeper has to be used every day, then yes, the dustpan may require to be emptied more often. The dust tray can be washed out with a damp cloth to remove any excess dust, too. Since purchasing the Gtech SW02 sweeper in April, my vacuum cleaner usage hasn't been as high as it normally is - and that is saying something from a collector and from someone who prides in hygiene, loves to clean, and lives with a pet. If you have pets that run around the home freely, the Gtech SW02 is worth its weight in gold alone and if you have carpets that require daily cleaning, the cordless Gtech reaches gold status in record time. You don't have to pay out expensively to keep your home clean and the Gtech SW02 proves this as well as offering low maintenance in a small package and offers great efficiency, reliability and most of all, ease of cleaning. There really isn't a better way to clean floors in record time before the troops arrive! Thanks for reading! İNar2 2012 www.gtech.co.uk Read the complete review |
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Leifheit Regulus Supra Carpet Sweeper
by SoadFan ~A mediocre carpet cleaner~ ********************* Having bought and used a number of good old fashioned carpet sweepers over the years and found the bristle brush type ones to be rather good in the main, I found that the Leifheit Regulus Supra carpet sweeper, with its so called ultra modern rubber style bristles somewhat ... of a let down. Why the product manufacturers decided to use these super duper (not) replacement rubber bristles (on a roller) on this carpet and solid floor cleaner, when it was designed is a complete mystery to me. In my honest opinion after having put up with this product and tried to make the best of it for some time, I found the rubber bristles really didn't stand up to the job they are meant to have been designed for. When I was thinking about choosing a new carpet sweeper that I could use on rugs, carpets, laminate and tiled surfaces I thought it would be good to pick a slightly more modern system than I had used in the past, which is how I ended up with this product in the first place. After having used this product with very lack lustre results I feel that I wasted my money on it. Even though this cleaner looks modern, being nice and neat and also easy to put together, I found that that I couldn't get along with it. I know this product was designed to feel light to handle, yet it was never able to pick up everything it ought to have done when it was in use. I feel that there is no point what so ever in having a nice looking product, that then fails miserably at doing the job it was bought for. A minor plus point for some users of this product may be in the lightness of it though, as fully set up it weighs in at just under a kilo, which would make it easy to lift, handle and use for anyone who finds heavier carpet cleaners hard to work with. Most of the weight is around the main body of the cleaner, with the handle and support pipes being very light indeed in my opinion. I found that I wasn't overly keen on the angle of the light weight handle used on this cleaner. I am sometimes a little heavy handed when hoovering up crumbs etc and would have liked a slightly weightier, stronger feeling product to work with that could stand up to repeated usage and also clean better. ~Cleaning results~ ************** In use on laminate flooring and other hard flooring surfaces the rubber bristle roller worked very slightly better than it did on carpets and rugs. When I used this floor cleaner on laminate flooring to pick up light crumbs and dust it mostly picked up what it was faced with, only requiring an average amount of effort on my part. I feel it gave satisfactory results in most cases on hard surfaces, although results were no where near as good as they are when I am using a powered vacuum cleaner to pick up dust and crumbs with. When using the cleaner on carpets and thicker pile rugs, the rubber bristles fitted to the cleaner gave results that were not overly good. I found it could be hard work to use the product to get a good finish on carpets a lot of the time, as I was unable to pick up everything that should have been picked up first time with this cleaner. I must admit that this cleaner was pretty rubbish at being the quick fix it ought to have been for use during those times when I didn't want to cart the mains powered vacuum cleaner out to give everything a quick spruce up. ~Product rating~ ************* In my opinion the lack of effectiveness of this cleaner most certainly defeated the object of me having bought it, as it was meant to save time and effort when picking up the odd few crumbs here and there. Had this cleaner worked as well as I hoped it would, I know I would have continued to use it on a regular basis. Sadly I feel that this floor cleaner really was a waste of money, as it was not up to the job it was meant for and often made a small quick and easy job far more time consuming. My rating for this cleaner is 2 stars as I feel it didn't live up to my expectations. This cleaner can still be purchased if required for around £20/ £25. Read the complete review |
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Ewbank Carpet Sweeper
by Machair1 The Ewbank Carpet Sweeper ---------------------------------- Turning the clock back forty years or so takes me instantly to a time in my childhood when my grandmother, no longer able to care for herself, moved in with us. She had her own bedsit as it were, and she loved to retreat into it only venturing out for meals. It ... was like her den, and she sat in this wicker chair surrounded by all her favourite things. Each day she would get out her carpet sweeper and push it over the patterned carpet to brush up the crumbs she had made with her favourite Lincoln biscuits. My Purchase -------------- A couple of years ago I was in Lakeland and saw in the reduced section a Ewbank Carpet Sweeper. It was just like the one my gran had, and immediately I know I had to buy it. I thought it would be perfect to just sweep up a quick mess, and so parted with the £15 it was and happily rejoiced in my bargain. You can purchase these for about the same price on Amazon so they are a small outlay, and are especially good if you are setting up home for the first time and can't afford to purchase a vacuum cleaner. There are three models - mine is the Evolution2 which has two height settings. There is also the Speed Sweep which is the basic model with one height only, and the Multi Sweep which has four different heights each corresponding to the thickness of different surfaces it is to be used on. The cleaner is supplied in a box and all you need to do is to fit the handle which is in three parts which screw together easily. The height is good as it is ideal for ladies of an average height, but it would be back breaking if you were a tall man to use for any length of time. It is a simple mechanical alternative to a vacuum and requires no power to operate. You simply push the sweeper backwards and forwards and the dirt collects between the rollers. All you have to do from time to time is to empty the sweeper of its contents, which is easy to do by lifting the clip and the dirt pours out. The thing you have to remember with this is that it is really a tool to sweep up a quick mess, rather than a serious daily tool to use for maintaining a clean home. It can't cope with corners at all, but it really comes into its own if you have crumbs on the floor, and you don't really want to get out the vacuum or use a dustpan and brush. I thought it would be ideal for the mess my cats sometimes make with their dry food or litter and it does a fair job of cleaning this. The model I have can be used on carpets or on wood or laminate floors and ceramic tiles, so it has versatility, and certainly would be a good stop gap for someone in rented accommodation where a vacuum isn't provided. It has two height settings to facilitate use on all floors, and it also lies flat allowing you to manoeuvre it under furniture. I have been gradually lifting all my carpets and replacing them with laminate, but I still have one deep piled carpet remaining. It is really not suitable for this type of surface as it is really hard to push even on the carpet setting. It is fine on thinner carpets though but not on anything with a substantial pile. It can't take the place of a vacuum though and certainly I would never claim that it could, but it certainly offers a possible tool for someone who is disabled and finds a vacuum too heavy to use, Ewbank claim that it can pick up dirt and rival any traditional vacuum cleaner, but in all honesty I feel this is simply not true and is misleading. It has no tools for the edges or brushes for the stairs, so it is no competition for a modern appliance in my opinion. I have to say though that childhood memories are often rosy when maybe things are not as perfect as they seem. I know my grannie dutifully pushed her Ewbank up and down her room priding herself that she was caring for her surroundings. I think in reality this was not as effective as I believed at the time, and certainly modern homes would not be able to function purely with this tool as the only choice for cleaning. My grandmother was born in 1894 and fourteen years earlier saw the birth of the first Ewbank sweeper. I should think it had pride of place in those days when the brush was the only alternative! If you would like to look into Ewbank take a look at their rather fancy website at www.ewbank.co.uk. In summing up I think this tool is an iconic reminder of an era gone by, but which still has serviceability and certainly longevity as its attributes. Buy one of these and I guarantee you will still have it decades later. My Mum still has my Gran's and it still works! Don't think it can out perform a Dyson- it can't- but it can sweep up a few biscuit crumbs and light dust with no problem. It struggles more with animal hair and will often pass over it leaving it still in situ. It isn't really ideal to clean up after pets, especially long-haired ones which I have the pleasure of owning. However if you are looking for an environmentally friendly relic from the past which certainly functions as a basic cleaner this could be for you. This review is also published on Ciao under my user name Violet1278. Read the complete review |
Stick Vacuum Cleaner |
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3 reviews Brand: Ewbank / Vacuum Cleaner / Type: Carpet Cleaner - Carpet sweeper |
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2 reviews Manufacturer: Ewbank / Vacuum Cleaner / Cordless: No / Design: Stick |
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3 reviews Manufacturer: Vileda / Vacuum Cleaner / Design: Stick / Cordless / Durable Rechargeable 4V Li-Ion Battery / Minimum Run Time: 45 Min - 2 in 1 powerful cleaning with a rotating brush on the front for sweeping particles and hairs and detachable dustmop on back for collecting fine dust. |
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