Customer Reviews

Tide Buzz Stain Remover Powered by Black & Decker

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(20)

 

 

The Buzz works on stains really well -- I zapped and removed an old oil stain on my wife's blouse quickly and easily.

But there's a but: The Buzz stopped buzzing a day after I got it. I called the Black and Decker 800 customer service number enclosed in the box and I explained the problem.

After reading a serial number off the AC-adapter's plug, they told me to cut the plug from the cord, gave me an RMA number, and ship it to them; they said they'd ship me a new unit.

After a little argument, they agreed to pay the shipping to me. (Talk about dopey -- the product's brand new and defective!).

Buzz positives:

1. It works as advertised - at least on the few sample stains I tried. If it saves just one $40 Polo shirt, it's paid for itself.

2. It can be wall mounted, saving space.

Buzz negatives:

1. The AC adapter is annoying large and takes up an inordinate amount of space on the wall outlet. I <hate> AC adapters.

2. Removing a stain can take 10 minutes or more depending, of course, on the size and nastiness of the stain.

3. The cord is stiff. I would have preferred a coiled cord, something that had a little spring to it. But then I wouldn't be able to easily wrap the cord around the unit. Trade-offs are tough.

Four Buzz tricks:

1. Don't bother getting more of the expensive, white paper refills. I used a soft white towel and it worked just fine.

2. After you run out of the two Tide containers with cleaning solution included in the box, use any "stain remover" fluid (not laundry detergent). I did and it worked just fine (unless, of course, that's what damaged the unit).

3. If you have a black light (think Halloween and glowing white shirts), use it to help make the stain stand out. Home Depot sells a fluorescent black light and fixture for about $10.

4. Keep the box and all the packing material just in case you have to return it.

Steve Bass
Author, PC Annoyances
http://snurl.com/annoy1
Home Office columns
http://snurl.com/homeoffice2

Like another reviewer, I bought this on the recommendation of Consumer Reports. I had first seen it on display in a department store and laughed out loud at the concept of a machine that takes out stains through ultrasound. But after reading the CR review I thought I would try it.

I have to say that new, small, non-oily stains sometimes are lessened, but so far I have never gotten a stain out completely. The thing is, when you have a garment with a fresh stain, you have all sorts of options besides a $50 machine -- stain sticks, a solution of Era detergent and Clorox2 non-chlorine bleach, hydrogen peroxide, etc., etc. But how about those garments you keep around the house for weeks or more, and don't want to throw out, because you keep meaning to work on those set-in stains? Those are the ones I need help with. Forget it: The Tide Buzz is practically useless on stains that have been allowed to "cure" for longer than a few days.

It is important to consider why Black and Decker supplies pads to go under the area you plan to treat (and I agree with the reviewer who suggests a paper towel instead). When you squirt the stain solution on the garment and rub the tip of the Tide Buzz into the stain, that stain, if it's going to come out, will go DOWN, and be trapped in the pad. Great idea, as far as it goes. But bear in mind that if you have a stain on the front of a shirt, and there is a facing or placket on the inside, behind the stain, the Tide Buzz will force the stain DOWN into the placket or facing. Theoretically the stain will continue DOWN onto the underpad, but don't count on it. You have now probably got a new stain, lodged in that facing or placket, and how are you going to get IT out? Turn the garment over and send the stain back to the outside of the garment? AUGH! It's a never-ending nightmare!

So now I have this $50 piece of nothing on my laundry-room wall. I ordered it from Amazon and, like another reviewer, discarded the packaging, fool that I was. Do I ever feel duped. I guess I can just say that I will not purchase another product from Black and Decker again; and I won't be too quick to trust Consumer Reports on a laundry gimmick like this again, either.

I found the reason for fluid not pumping.....corrosion!

Mine worked for a few days and then, as other people experienced, it quit pumping fluid. Reliving my childhood days I decided to take this puppy apart to see what the problem is and discovered a design flaw: screws that corrode and fluid delivery orifices that are too small. If you remove the fluid container and look into the small hole where the fluid goes from the bottle to the unit you will see a brass screw at right angles to the tube. This screw and another one just below it are for the fluid sensor. They use the conductivity of the fluid to complete the circuit and tell the system there is fluid available. Unfortunately, the brass screws were slightly corroded and deposited the corrosion material into the fluid delivery line and plugged a very, very small orifice (1/4 inch below the screws and where the fluid line attaches to the plastic port). After removing the sensor screws, removing the blue corrosion, disconnecting the fluid line from the port, I was able to remove the debris with compressed air. After reassembly it worked just perfect. I did note some of the blue brass corrosion material had made its way through the line.

My guess is they use water to test the pump and the screw starts to corrode even before you buy it. Also, the orifice at the hose/sensor attach point is much too small and any debris can clog it.

Hope this helps!

Bought this product based on Consumer Reports and because I have three little kids. At first I wasn't too impressed as I tried to remove chocolate ice cream stains from a shirt. I spent a 1/2 hour on one shirt and it only lightened the stains. After about 10 garments, I think Buzz works best on smaller, newer stains. It completely dissolved them. It had only limited success on large stains like dirt and chocolate spills (plus it may not be worth your time or the expense of the solution to treat them). It wasn't able to remove older set in stains. Also difficult to treat stains that are on thicker parts (hems, collars) of the garment where you can't get a stain catcher pad directly under the stain.

Reliability seems to be a big issue with this product. After reading Consumer Reports, I bought one from Amazon. It removed the first grease stain completely, saving my $35 shirt. But when I tried to use it on a second stain, it stopped spraying the liquid.

What a hassle! Seems like other reviewers are having the same experience. Yes, I know I can get it repaired. But I'm too busy to spend an hour packaging and sending it. This one goes in the trash!

Too bad. Seems like it could be a great product.

I lucked out and got this machine at Tuesday Morning, and only paid $9.99 for it, so y'all don't spend anymore than that.

Pros: It has the Black and Decker name on it, which in my opinion does them a grave disservice because we've generally liked Black and Decker products very much.

It does get some stains out.

Cons: It is labor intensive. You have to get the machine out (or mounted close to your washing machine, which who has an outlet there in a convenient place?). Because I can't get to my outlet without moving the whole washing machine, I had to pretreat all my clothes in the kitchen. Normally, I spray the stains while the washing machine is filling up with water and toss them in afterward. With this machine, you turn it on, spray and rub your stain with the wand while holding a pad underneath the garment.

Consumable parts: The bottle of solution has to be replaced for between $2-5 mail-in or internet, plus shipping b/c they're not stocked at WalMart or Target. The pad is suppose to keep your stains from sinking through to the countertops or the other side of the fabric of the clothes, but that's not the real reason you need to use it.

The wand has a metal tip that gets as hot as a standard curling iron while holding down the buttons and rubbing over the stains. The reason you have to use those consumable pads is to keep from burning yourself with that wand.

It does not remove blood, Caramel Sundae Crunch Bluebell ice cream, oil residue from popcorn fingers wiped on t-shirt by a 5 year old, or any set in stains at all.

Price: Even at $10, this machine doesn't justify the cost. It doesn't work any better than Spray and Wash.

I have every stain specific formula of Carbona Stain Devils, the Shout Gel with the scrubber top, Spray and Wash, and I order Soil Love from California by the gallon. This thing does not work as well as any of those pretreaters. Soil Love gets out set in food/beverage--including coffeee, tea and red wine stains as well as baby/dog poop and vomit. Spray and Wash and Shout do better with grass and grease. Carbona is the last resort. I recommend having $15 worth of these products taking up space on your shelves in your laundry room than going to the trouble of this thing.

In general, we were happy with it, but... Both of my units have failed with the same problem. They stop pumping fluid. The red light is off, the pump makes noise, but nothing comes out. My second unit was a replacement because the first unit failed.

I was given this unit as a present about a year and a half ago. It "worked" for about 5 applications (though I don't think it worked nearly as well as a good brush and a spot cleaner.) The fluid stopped flowing altogether. I contacted the company and they sent me a new unit after I cut the fluid hose off and sent it back to them in an envelope (as evidence that I wasn't trying to get a new one gratis?) The second unit also stopped working after only 4 or 5 uses - same problem, no fluid flow - and the buzzer also stopped working. I gave up. What a piece of junk. B&D clearly had NO quality control on this unit or else they would have discovered the problems immediately.

Tried this product on two stains. First tried it on an ink stain in a cotton-poly Lands End Shirt ($50). It only spread the stain. Second stain same problem. Am returning the product. On a scale of 1-10 it's a zero.

Like a couple of other reviewers, I found my Buzz stopped buzzing, so I returned it for a replacement. When IT wouldn't buzz when plugged in, I wondered if maybe I'd done something wrong. I had: I hadn't held down the spray button until the red "Replace Fluid Indicator Light" went out, as recommended. (I was attempting to clean something I'd soaked in a different fluid.) Once I held down the spray button until the light went out, the buzz worked. I think the manufacturer or distributer should mention that the buzz won't sound if the red light is on, maybe in a Troubleshooting section of the instruction booklet, and that their customer service employees should quiz callers complaining of "No Buzz" as to whether their red light is on. (It would help if the red light flashed--that would "get users' attention" more effectively.)

(Now I'm wondering if maybe the malfunction that made me return my first item was also my fault.)

Another quirk I discovered is this: When I unplugged it while the machine was ON (because I wanted to clean a stain in another location), the buzz didn't work when it was plugged in again. By cycling the gadget by pressing its ON button and going through the three fabric options, it reset itself and cleared the malfunction. This is another recommendation that should be in the booklet, along with advice not to unplug it while it is ON. (Also, the product should be redesigned so it resets itself when first plugged in.)

My feeling is that this is a product to which people are liable to have strong initial reactions, both pro and con, but where time is needed to make a more balanced judgment, and where the manufacturer hasn't worked out the kinks in its documentation. And I think that even though there are effective alternative low-tech stain-removal techniques, this item will prove useful to me, and to many people who aren't conscientious cleaner-uppers, because it makes stain-removal such a no-hassle, semi-fun process.