Hoover Floormate-anyone have one? Worth the $$$?

[golightly1118]

I'm just curious if anyone has one of these gizmos. I have a Shark stick vac and a Shark steam mop that I use for cleaning our textured tile floor and our laminate floor. This combo works well on the laminate, but the tile is a major pain to get clean due to the texture. I've thought about getting a Floormate for the tile-the scrubbing action looks like it would really help clean the floors in less time. Does anyone have any experience with one of these?

[sduemmler]

My model is from probably 7 years ago, so I don't know how much has changed. I am NOT a diligent housecleaner, so a lot of times, I am still on my knees scrubbing up various chunks that it can't handle. I mostly like that it sucks up the water to dry the floor pretty instantly, and if you'll be doing mainly just dirt and grime, I think it would work ok. The scrubbing action is kind of like an electric toothbrush. I have also found that I end up sweeping or vacuuming with my real vacuum instead of using the dry suction--it just isn't that powerful. And if you're dealing with kitcheny kinds of messes, the whole cleanup and maintenance of the machine is also a little gross at times. But maybe they have improved some of that...

[Kymberley]

I have one, I like it! (when I actually use it) Our kitchen has black, shiny tiles floors, which show EVERYTHING. I used to have to go over my hands-and-knees scrubbing with Windex just to get rid of the streaks. The Floormate leaves the black tile streak-free! We also have hardwood throughout the rest of the upstairs, but I haven't used it on those floors yet.

[nrp]

I'll be a dissenter. I had one and found that it took longer to use the floormate than it did to just use a regular mop. I sold mine on CL.

[s7714]

I have an older model that my MIL gave to me when she moved. I love it. I don't use the dry vacuum feature, so I can't attest to that (I'd much rather use my Dyson to get in all the nooks and crannies). I LOVE that I can scrub the floor and then suck up almost all the water so the floor dries really fast.

The only cons about the unit are that is doesn't scrub down into the grout lines, but I haven't come across a machine that can. Likewise once in a while we'll end up with a spot or two where the liquid has pooled up in the grout lines and doesn't get sucked up by the machine. I just wipe it up with a papertowel. Overall the machine gets my floors SO much cleaner than the Swiffer Wet Jet piece of junk I used to use.

[golightly1118]

Thanks for the input, everyone! I think I'll start hunting around for one of these on sale-our tile floors are a nightmare to keep clean. I told DH, never again with a textured tile-to the point where if it's already in our next home, I'm ripping it out myself, LoL.