Customer Reviews

Verilux CleanWave Sanitizing Light Wand

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

We are expecting our first child and were excited to find a product that could clean and sanitize our home without using harsh or harmful chemicals. Sadly, that excitement was short lived.

After taking the wand and base out of the box and reading the instructions for setting it up, we placed the wand in the base to charge for the amount of time recommended by the manufacturer and waited. Once it was properly charged, we used it to clean a portable baby sleeper (a little smaller than a standard sized Moses basket). Once done (not more than 10-12 mins), the wand went back into the base unit. A few hours later, we decided to try the wand on a 2' x 3' section of kitchen counter...that's where the disappointment started. After only a couple of seconds, the wand light sputtered and went out. We turned to the guide that came with the unit but discovered that it was not at all helpful in troubleshooting this issue. Then, thinking that we may not have properly seated the wand in the base after the first use, we decided to put it back in the base and give it more time before trying again. This attempt at a remedy, yielded nothing. The unit suddenly went from useful cleaning product to modern looking paperweight...useless.

Ultimately for the price, we expected far better performance than we got from this unit and have since returned it in favor of a portable steam cleaner.

The best thing we can say about this experience is that Amazon was really good about the return process.

A fan of Verilux, I have been purchasing their full spectrum flourescent products for some time now. Due to a respiratory illness, I am forced to stay indoors most of the time and needed a good dose of "sun". I have three mini Happy Lights, flourescent light bulbs, and the Verilux floor lamp. However, the cleaning wand is my first step into sanitizing with ultra violet light.

Because I have COPD, I am really banking on the effectiveness of this product. I had a bit of a problem in the beginning because it needed to be charged longer than was stated. The red (charging in progress) light turned to green, and I thought I was good to go. I put it back in it's charger, and tried it again about ten hours later and it worked fine. The built-in safety feature of the light turning off when the wand is tipped upward never failed. It is light-weight which is imperative for me. I am hoping that the wand performs true to it's advertisement and destroys the allergens in my environment so that I can, quite literally, breathe a little easier. I am currently working on my bed as per the booklet's directions.

This is where I must give the product four stars (assuming that it actually destroys germs) rather than five. The instructions in the manual are sketchy. In a write-up on another Verilux sanitizing product, it states that the light must come in direct contact with bacteria, etc. Does that mean that I must strip my bed right down to the bare mattress in order to get to the nasty little dust mites lurking there? Will the light penetrate the sheet I have on top of the mattress?

This leads to the question of toss pillows and things of that nature that do not have zip-off covers. Will the light be intense enough to penetrate these items and adequately destroy allergens?

So, we are left with a potential problem and no answer - the wand would not be very useful if it did not penetrate the fabrics that cover the deep-down "germy" areas.

One more question that was not addressed was the safety of running the wand in direct contact with various kinds of surfaces. This should have been made clear as well.

hmm, IF this really works it is a good idea. i bought it mainly to use on bedding, to sanitize bedspreads, kill potential bed mites (mites are in everyone's mattress and bedding btw... it's not that i am dirty haha...!) and anything else! i bought it mostly because i have guests over all the time and even though i'm a pretty tough cookie, most of my friends are very organic vegan something or the other and they have very delicate everything. so i just want to make sure they have the cleanest comfiest bed possible.

now... because i can't SEE bed mites OR any bacteria, i have to take it on word that this ultraviolet light actually does kill them! if it does kill them, then bravo. i see they sell these in costco too -- although i bought it here on amazon before i saw it there! -- so that makes me trust it a little more too.

assuming it works, then its a good product BUT... two issues. 1) it takes a LONG time to sanitize something like a queen size bed. you hold the wand face down over the area you want to clean. you have to wait FOUR SECONDS on the area, then you move like an INCH to get the next section, wait four seconds, then another inch, wait four seconds... etc etc. it may be more than an inch, i'm forgetting at the moment, but i know when i sanitize a queen size bedspread it takes about 25 minutes of sitting there with the light wand moving it slowly... slowly... slowly....! that is a LONG TIME. at least for me who is impatient. 2) the other issues is, i could swear i have this thing fully charged all the time b/c i keep it in the base. there is a timer that lets you use it for 5, 10, 30 minutes. of course i select 30 minutes b/c i know it takes that long to clean a bedspread. i'll tell you, this does not stay on for 30 minutes!!! then i have to stick it back in the charger (takes hours to charge) and by the time i remember i have to light-wand-sanitize the rest of the bedspread, i am onto some other aspect of my normal busy crazy day. the short battery life here has always made me wonder if i have a defective unit.

hmm, you know what would be a good idea is like a built-in power level meter. same as you see on cameras, phones, shavers, toothbrushes -- something that indicates how much charge is actualy left in the battery!

i love the idea of this sanitizing wand, but i only like the actual (perceived) performance. good idea for a product but lots of room for improvement....!

I was totally disappointed. There was something in the wand that rattled like there was a piece loose. I returned the item. Although I use a lot of Verilux items, I do agree with other reviewers that most of their products are cheaply made.

This is waste of money. You are supposed to hold it over the area for some time like 10 to 20 seconds,

but then it does not cover much area - only about half of standard pillow size. I bought it to use on

twin size bed, but it was just too much pain to use it when I had to hold it still multiple times.

This was first item thrown into garbage when I moved.