At the time when Sera started to walk, I was concerned about her slipping on the wet floor whenever I mopped the floor. When I saw the Scooba floor washer from iRobot, I was very much tempted to buy it. However, I was not too sure if it could clean well and whether it was durable. So I did some research on the internet. I read some reviews which said that one had to change the spare parts of Scooba every year to keep it going. Hmm, I would not want to spend $1000+ on something that may not last for more than 1 year.
Then I came across a review which talked about the Hoover Floormate. That got me interested. It had almost the same functions as the Scooba except that it was not robotic. The Hoover Floormate can also be used to vacuum (dry vac), scrub (wash) and dry (wet pickup) non-carpeted surfaces such as vinyl, tiles, marble and sealed wood. It cost below US$200 (excluding delivery). I had not seen anything like this for home use in any retail store in Singapore. What impressed me even more was the dual tank technology which I will explain later.
I ordered from an online seller from the United States (US). Actually, that was a very big risk because I wasn't even sure if the Hoover Floormate could be used in Singapore. The Hoover Floormate was manufactured for the US market so it used an electrical voltage of 120 V and frequency of 60 Hz. In Singapore, we use 230 V electrical voltage and frequency of 50 Hz.
After I received the product, we went to buy a step down transformer from a shop at Sim Lim Square. This lowered the electrical voltage to 120 V. Voila! It worked perfectly. Apparently the difference in the frequency did not affect the performance of the Hoover Floormate.
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| Transformer |
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| Plug inserted into the transformer's socket |
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| Hoover Floormate Spinscrub H3060 |
From the picture above, you can see that there is a mode selector dial at the side of this machine. You can choose between 3 modes - Dry Vac, Wash and Wet Pickup - just by turning the dial. The Hoover Floormate has 2 tanks. The upper tank holds detergent and water that is to be dispersed on the surface to be cleaned. The lower tank collects the dirty water using the wet pickup mode (unlike a normal mop that tends to spread some dirty water on the floor).
What I liked about this product was that we can vacuum, wash and dry the same area at the same time using the same machine and then move on to the next area. Compare this to using a mop where I have to vacuum the whole house first before mopping it (it is too troublesome to switch between 2 equipment to vacuum and mop the same area at the same time), the Hoover Floormate is more convenient. Of course, I also liked the fact that dirty water was separated from the clean water.
My purchase of the Hoover floormate came with a small bottle of detergent to be used for floor washing. The instruction manual said we cannot use cleaning concentrates that contain solvent based ingredients. I have already finished using the Hoover floormate detergent a long time ago. Now I use the floor detergent from Magic Clean and it still worked perfectly.
What I did not like about the Hoover Floormate was that it was a bit difficult to change directions when using the machine. It took me some time to get used to it. After 4 years, it is still in good working condition.
I have noticed that this model was not available for sale anymore. Hoover has newer and improved models of the Hoover Floormate. If you are residing in Singapore and are considering to get one, you can get a step down transformer to work with your Hoover products. :)
Note: This step down transformer can work with any appliances that use 120V and frequency of 50hz to 60Hz. Check with the person selling the transformer before buying it.
