Customer Reviews

Hoover FloorMate SpinScrub Wet/Dry Vacuum Cleaner, H3044

5 star:		(97)
4 star:		(60)
3 star:		(25)
2 star:		(26)
1 star:		(30)

 

 

I'm a bit torn on this product. There are things I really like and things that are a bit disappointing. I thought it might be easiest to list the plusses and the minuses separately...

CONS:
* In order to get our tile as clean as possible, it seems like I have to move the machine extremely slowly when both washing and wet vaccuming. I have a lot of ceramic tile in my home, so it is a big job. When I have the patience and time (which isn't often with two toddlers running around), the slow pace definitely gets my floors squeaky clean. Most days, however, I don't have that luxury. In fact, there are a lot of times when I resort back to my Swiffer mop just to get the mopping over with so I can get on to other tasks.

* The little filter/screen in the dirty water tank seems to get clogged a bit sooner than I expected. When it's clogged, the wet vac function doesn't work as well. Once it's unclogged, though, it works great.

* Unclogging the little filter/screen is an extremely disgusting job. I wish there were a less "hands on" way to get the junk off of it, since it can get pretty nasty at times.


PROS:
* It seems to clean our ceramic tile really well and gets a lot of the stuff the mop misses. With two little ones who like to lay and scoot around on the floor, having the tile as clean as possible is a good thing.

* For me, it is a lot easier to push around than the mop. The cleaning solution smells pretty good too.

* It is really good at sucking up junk along the baseboards and in corners. It seems to have strong suction and power, so I frequently use it to "sweep" instead of using the broom. It gets up a lot more dry dirt without flipping it all over the way a broom does.

* It is very handy for cleaning up little spills and messes of both the wet and the dry variety. In fact, it was a marvelous help when our dishwasher overflowed and made for a very easy cleanup job.

* It is really nice to be able to have the floors pretty well dry when I'm finished. Rather than waiting for a long time, I can just put furniture and rugs right back on the tile as soon as I finish mopping.

Ultimately, I would recommend the product for those looking to get a very clean floor for a decent price. But if speed is the primary concern, then this probably not the ideal product since a good, deep cleaning takes a lot of time--especially for those with a lot of hard flooring. I tend to alternate between this appliance and my Swiffer mop, depending on how much time and energy I have. I would still like to find something that could clean as thoroughly, but do so in a lot less time. In the meantime, however, I'm content with this product--it does the job.


***UPDATE - June 2010***
O.K., we've had this appliance for a while now and we have noticed two things I feel I should add to my review:

1) After a while, the appliance doesn't suck up the water as well and sometimes doesn't suck it up at all. The other day, I had almost finished mopping a lot of tile before I realized the dirty water receptacle was completely empty--the machine wasn't sucking it up. We discovered that the undercarriage apparently needs to be manually cleaned out/off when this problem arises. The hair, dirt, etc tend to accumulate under there and compromise the "wet pickup" function. My husband puts the machine on it's side and uses a screwdriver to dig out the junk. it's rather unpleasant, so I'm glad he's willing to do it (I'm certainly not!).

2) Also, over the last year, the clean water/cleaning solution container has been leaking...A LOT. It always had a few minor drips come out the back when filling it, but now the leakage is almost a deluge. I have to hold my finger over the hole in the back and try to get it back into the machine quickly before the fluid is all over the floor. My husband thinks the rubber seal may have either broken or is weakening over time. I contacted Hoover customer service and they just told me to take it to our local "authorized dealer". We live in a semi-small town and the only authorized dealer here is of poor repute, so I didn't bother.

Anyway, a couple of things to note if you decide to buy this machine. If I had to do it all over again, I think I would still buy the Hoover FloorMate as--despite the problems--it has been pretty good overall. And it still cleans my tile floors much better than our regular mop can manage to do.


***SEPTEMBER 2011***
Unfortunately, now this machine has stopped picking up any dirty water completely. My husband looked at it and discovered that a critical tube has worn out. Fortunately, we were able to order the part, as well as a new filter and valve seal to hopefully stop the leaking. The site we used is...

[...]

...and it lists all the parts, along with a schematic showing a picture of each part and where it goes in the machine. That helped us locate the parts we need. Hopefully it will resolve the problems. If so, it is much cheaper than buying a different or new floor cleaner.

This thing is loud, but it works. If there's a weakness, it's that the dry vacuum doesn't seem to do too well. But that's what a good sweeping is for, isn't it? I have linoleum, and the H3044 did a fine job. The cleaning solution was pretty filthy when I poured it out after use, both satisfying and repulsive at the same time! It seems that this is a new Hoover model (July 2007), which explains why there are not a lot of reviews to be found online. I wish it could use Pine-Sol, because I have a Costco-sized jug of that stuff on hand already. Will vinegar/water mix work? I have no idea. I don't see why not. I guess the fear is that the gaskets will fail if solvents are used. Guess I'll stick to the Hoover stuff for now. Anyways, it scrubbed my floors quite well, even though they're a bit uneven/warped. The vacuum is great at picking the solution back up. Hope that helps.

Well, I would love to say that this floor scrubber cleans all the grout between the tiles, but I can't. Using the grout cleaner, it is adequate, but one really needs to use the grout scrubber attachment (and more elbow grease) to see any real grout cleaning. Guess I don't like to spend the time going over and over the grout with that little attachment; might as well get on my knees and scrub. But, it beats mopping, and all other forms of floor cleaners. It is easy to use, does clean the tiles, does pick up the water adequately, does not leave streaks, so it is a good tool for cleaning tiles. Wish it or the cleaning solution for grout, did a better job. I had rather use this floor cleaner than any other on the market.

Cleans great and uses 3 containers of water/cleaner solution (about half a bucket)for: 2 rooms, 1 kitchen, 2 living rooms. The cord is long enough. I used half of the cleaner, 1oz, and it works fine. At first I did not know why the water wasn't coming out and then I found I wasn't pulling the trigger below the handle. It's nice to see all the dirty water and sediment off your floors. This product really saves your back from traditional mopping and it is nice to know you are not reusing dirty water to mop your floors.

When you have 5 pets - one of whom has a bladder control problem - and you have both laminated hardwood and tile floors, there had to be something better than a mop or my carpet cleaner to get my the floors clean. WELL, THIS IS IT! It's so easy to use. The three settings allow you to quickly switch between wash, dry, or dry vac. It's lightweight, puts out just the right amount of water, sucks it up fast, and does a great job. When my older dog would have an accident, we would use the dry vac to get up the mess intially, then wash and dry the spot.

My only suggestion (and this has nothing to do with the product) is that if you do use it to clean up pet urine, you take the brushes off and soak them in hot water/bleach at least once a week to keep them sanitized.

I have never been disappointed in any Hoover product I have purchased and this is no exception. It has made my life so much easier!

This Hoover H3044 Floormate is absolutely wonderful! My vinyl floor has never been this clean. It was cleaned the day before I used the Floormate using another appliance. I could not believe how dirty and gray the water in the "dirty tank" was. I did vacuum my floor first using my regular Bissell hard floor vacuum. I did not want to use the FloorMate's vacuum feature coz one is supposed to empty the dirty tank and then replace it after vacuuming. It just seemed easier to use my lightweight Bissell for the vacuuming part. I only had to use the Wash feature even thought the FloorMate has three settings: Dry Vac, Wash and Wet Pick Up. The floor was virtually clean and dry using only the Wash feature.
The only objectionable thing is the floor cleaning solution that came with the Floormate. It is cloyingly sweet and very unpleasant smelling. However, the smell dissipates and I cannot smell it now. I called the Hoover helpline and talked with 'Ahmed'. I told him how unpleasant the smell was. I asked if I could use vinegar and water and he assured me that I could use ANY cleaner that is not a solvent (something that becomes sudsy) He even said I could use non-sudsy household
ammonia and water in the clean tank. I had specifically asked about the ammonia in the event I want to strip wax in the future.
I am glad I will be able to use another type cleaning solution. This is a very loud floor cleaner but so much better than the old back-breaking scrub mop and then rinse and rinse and rinse...LOL

I got home and put this thing together as my wife watched. She said why don't you take for a test drive and clean the house. I said no way I'm cleaning the house...cleaning is for women...

As I was cleaning the house I noticed that the water it was picking up was absolutely filthy. The floormate did a great job of cleaning the ceramic tile and vacuming all the specs of junk that end up on the floor. As a dry vacum it worked great...picking up hair and crumbs around the kitchen and miscellaneous stuff off the floor of the kids rooms. One has to move the floor mate a little slower than a regular wet mop...but on the plus side...the drying time for the floor is reduced drastically when you use the wet suction option on the dial.

Overall, you can toss your mops and buckets and use this to vacum daily and to mop the floors however often one mops. I actually look forward to cleaning the floors again.

This floormate is an excellent floor cleaner. You can vacuum and with a turn of a knob you are ready to wet mop and turn the knob again and you can dry the floor, all without changing to another machine. It is so easy to use and easy to clean up after you are done. Before I used to sweep the floor, then pull out the mop bucket and mop-which is a big chore, and it would take much longer to get the job done. I love the Hoover Floormate SpinScrub Floor Cleaner.

I had read mixed reviews for this cleaner, so I just decided to buy it and try it myself. I really am impressed. I have read that the dry vac is not as good, but I think it picks up small particles, like crumbs, just fine. You have to just sweep up bigger things like cheerios. I hate to sweep and mop, and I would go weeks before I would finally get out the broom and mop. I will tell you I now clean my floors at least twice a week. I like to vacuum and so the floor mate is easy like vacuuming and I love how it picks up the dirty water and my floors sparkled when I was done. The floor looked and felt really clean. This product does come with two scrub heads, one for cleaning and a grout cleaner. I will say I was not impressed with the grout cleaning head. It did not do anything special and my grout didn't look any cleaner. Overall I absolutely love the hoover floor mate, and I highly recommend it. A few people I know will probably be getting one for Christmas!

One year ago, we replaced all the carpeting in our home with textured vinyl. We did this because we have and love our animals; three dogs an four cats. During that year I have lugged a bucket and mop from room to room cleaning the floor. About 2 months ago I decided to try the Hoover FloorMate. I do not use the recommended cleaning liquid but prefer to use a weak white vinegar solution (half the measuring cup full per filling). Although the machine is not perfect, in my opionion it is so far above the mop and bucket there is really no comparison. I still have to wipe into the corners but the job done is generally wonderful. I do wish that the machine had one other setting. I wish it was possible to apply the cleaning solution per the scrubbing brushes without the vaccum going at all. I find that if I leave that vinegar on stubborn spots and marks for a few minutes they come up much more easily. Generally a great machine and has made my life much easier.