I'm considering a Hoover Floormate myself, so your post is timely! I'm particularly wanting something that will do a bang-up job on cleaning our Saltillo tile kitchen floor, as good old-fashioned hands-and-knees scrubbing is what seems to work best, but I'm getting a bit too creaky to even want to think about doing that on a regular basis. The machine gets good reviews on Amazon, although its heaviness seems to be a mark against it. Do you think you'll use your Floormate on a regular (say, weekly) basis - or will you break it out only for heavy-duty cleaning? I believe it will also work on hardwood floors, but since ours are vintage 1940 I'm very apprehensive about using something on them that might harm them. Still - I'm impressed by what you've said and leaning your way!

I have a Floormate, well actually I'm on my second Floormate. It's kind of disheartening to see how dirty the water is, even when I don't think the floor is that dirty.

Deleted - posted in wrong thread!

This post was edited by SunnyCottage on Thu, Nov 20, 14 at 14:35

I've looked at Floormates too but I've always wondered if the brushes are able to clean the grout or if they really only get the tops of the tile clean.

What do you think Lynn - was it able to scrub the grout between the bricks?

Lynn, Do you have the ubiquitous hard water? Did it leave a film or traces of the deposits behind?

I have one too. I LOVE it!

Tish, I have the McCulloch MC1385 Deluxe Canister Steam System and hard water. I love it but it does leave water mark traces. I'm not sure if I'm ruining the machine in the long term but I sometimes add a little capful of no rinse floor cleaner to the water, no traces then. Sometimes I just have a big old towel handy, throw it over an area after washed and quickly dry it with my feet.

AMJ: that's so reassuring to hear!
Jterrilynn: Hmmmm, you have me wondering now if I should use our R/O water (from our reverse osmosis device that gives us great drinking water) in this Hoover. As I mentioned above, we don't get the mineral deposits on the floor, but it could build up in the machine and cause it's early demise. I'm glad that you mentioned that!
Lynn

Lynn, if you are using vinegar, it is probably taking care of many of the minerals. Depending on how hard the water is, you would probably see it. I had tried my mother's Haan steam mop and I could tell right away.

I would have a hard time using RO water for mopping the floors just knowing how many gallons of water it takes to produce one gallon of water, especially with the rate that the aquifer is dropping but that is of course a very personal choice and since my DH works in water, I am probably more sensitive. I do use my softened water for the floor cleaning though.

Lynn, I am such a slacker that we put in our brick floors to AVOID cleaning them. The rugs and the floor are vacuumed weekly, the end, amen. When our new cleaning service asked what products I wanted them to use for mopping the brick I was surprised yet again. Maybe it's because our bricks aren't sealed? Water on them could never be sucked back up by a vacuum, the bricks would drink it all.

Thanks so much for the information, Lynn! Very helpful indeed!

Lynn, your post just settled my dilemma. I also have been having wrist problems. Tripped and broke the wrist, they did a closed reduction. Now it's 3 months later and my fingers won't close so emg in Dec. and, if it's nerve damage, nothing can be done. If not, then surgery. The floors are driving me crazy. I'm ordering this stat. My husband does so much now as I'm in pain and the hand is swollen. He'll appreciate the unit. He'll still have to do them but it will be easier. I can't stand cleaning people doing them as it's not up to my expectations. Ty.

My beef with Hoover products is that they are great for about 4 months, then something major breaks. This has happened to me twice and I was very careful with both of them. No more Hoovers for me. I hope your floor washer lasts and lasts.

Why should we have to buy a new machine every two years?

I'm on my 3rd Floormate. My first one was their first model, I believe. I want to say it was about 15 years ago if not more. Mine have lasted longer than hoovb mentioned, but yes, if not careful they do break. What broke on my other two was the plastic piece that runs between the two rear wheels. Have to be gentle about setting it down after carrying it & don't let it bang on the floor as that part seems to be on the delicate side. Still, I keep going back to them. It's really gross yet also very gratifying to see the gunk they pull off the floor even when it doesn't look that dirty. I have a bad back and it's been a huge benefit in that regard, as the machine does most of the work.

I've not had much luck with the grout brush. In fact the latest machine I didn't even take the grout brush out of the box. We only have grout in the small bathrooms so I just do that by hand when I feel it needs it. Your mileage may vary though as you have a newer model than I do.

I'd also avoid putting vinegar in the water tank. I ruined a perfectly good coffee pot that way, the vinegar ate right through the water hose. If you're really concerned about your water I'd just go with distilled in the machine.

I've used mine on laminate, linoleum, tile, hardwood and painted concrete. I don't use it on hardwood often because I don't want water getting between/under boards. On other surfaces I'll release the cleaning solution, let it sit a minute or two, then scrub, then vacuum it up. Helps loosen dirt. On hardwood I don't let the water sit like that.

All in all though, I'm pleased and think you will be too.

The reason why using vinegar in water out here is generally not a bad idea is because the vinegar reacts with the limestone in the water, therefore is less likely to break down plastic. Straight vinegar of course would be a different matter.

I'm very appreciative of the information, Tish and Moonshadow! Tish, I hear you on how much well water it takes to produce one gallon of our R/O drinking water! I may just use a couple of bottles of water from the grocery instead.

Hoovb: gosh, I hope mine lasts longer than yours did. I'll be very careful with it. And, as Moonshadow mentioned, very careful setting it down on the hard floors.

Kswl: our brick floors were sealed right after they were installed with the Ring Brick Floor Sealant. It's a very non-glossy sealant that you wouldn't know was there, but unlike yours, they don't soak up water. The Hoover uses so little water, I'm not sure if that would be a problem with unsealed. I just don't know.
Lynn

tishtosh, I wasn't trying to be critical about your vinegar suggestion so hope it didn't come across that way. I like vinegar as a cleaner in certain situations and actually saw a homemade cleaning recipe w/vinegar for a Floormate online. I just don't trust it in machines with more delicate innards (for lack of better description). So it was just a cautionary suggestion for Lynn.

Lynn, I forgot to mention something. Know you have pets. I do too. I don't ever use the FM dry vacuum feature. The reason is because as diligently as I vacuum pet hair up first, there's still those strays that find their way into the machine when vacuuming up the wet solution. They end up caught in the little grid that the air filter sits on top of as well as in the scrub brushes. Easy enough to clean out of those two spots, but I'm trying to avoid getting a ton of hair sucked inside the machine that I can't get out. It's a little extra work but I figure it's extended the life of the FM. If I didn't have pets, I probably wouldn't be so concerned about using the dry vac feature.

I have one and it was in storage in the basement. After reading this I brought it with us to our Cape house. Wow! What a great job it did in the white kitchen "faux tile" linoleum. Thanks Lynn!

What happy news, Bonnieanne! Anything that helps make our floor washing easier is great IMO!

Moonshadow: I totally know what you mean regarding the dog hair! I have a great Shark Lift Away Deluxe vacuum that I bought specifically because of our pet hair problem. I used it on my kitchen floor ~thoroughly~ before washing it with my new Hoover. Afterwards I checked the filter and there still was about a teaspoon of dog hair matted onto it! I'll keep checking it and cleaning it out after every wash.
As for the vinegar, when we talked to the folks at Ring Brick, they strongly recommended that we have our newly laid brick floors sealed with their Ring Brick Floor Sealer. And, never use anything to clean our floors with except a water with white vinegar solution. That would clean them without causing a buildup of gunk on the bricks. After washing them, we do a very light spray of the Ring Brick Floor Keeper and then use a special mop to spread it out. DH does that for me. We've been doing exactly that for the past 21 years and our floors look great, so I won't be using the floor wash solution that came with the Hoover.

Moonshadow, no worries. It helps for all of us to understand our unique circumstances. My water has a high limestone component and understanding how that affects my day to day life is essential to me. It affects the plants, my laundering, and my hair, etc. Understanding it allows me to take care of those things more efficiently and what the limits of vinegar are here. Unfortunately, it is not much of a weed killer here as it bubbles and fizzes in the soil before doing much to the weeds.

It is rather easy for people to assume that since vinegar is "natural" and that it is safer than other products but it is still technically an acid and should be respected accordingly. I do use RO water in my coffemaker so that I will not have to bother using vinegar in the coffee pot but it is something others need to know about.

I was very interested in this cleaner as soon as you posted, read reviews on Amazon, and placed it into my basket for purchase at some time. Thanks for the heads up! If anyone is interested, today the price is $99.99, down from $129.99. I purchased.

Glad that I could be of help, Maryanne. We had company that flew in and drove in over the holiday weekend and my Hoover really came in handy. It was a joy to wash up my floors with it instead of having to haul out the huge industrial mop and bucket!
Lynn

Lynn, I have a Haan steam mop, which I LOVE. It's just an electric mop, no vacuuming function, but I'm commenting to give you a tip I figured out with my Haan after a while. Every time you use your Hoover, when you're finished, take the water feeder off, and then run the machine until it stops steaming. This gets the water that is down in the machine out. I had noticed a horrible smell coming from my Haan. It was from that little it of water left in the machine. Since I began leaving it on until the steaming stops, no more smell.

OMG, I hadn't even thought of that, Tibbrix, but thanks . . . I definitely will from now on!
Lynn

We have very hard water too. I don't have a floormate, but I use a small amount of powdered water softener in our diswasher and for laundry to help lessen the effects of the hard water. It might work for your floormate too.

Powdered water softener? Where do you buy it, Anna, and who makes it? This is interesting! I hope that Tish will weigh in on this, as it's something I've never heard of, but it definitely sounds like a good thing for my hard well water. Tish and her DH are New Mexico hard water experts, in my opinion. I'm anxious to hear what you both have to tell me about this! Thanks, Anna!
Lynn

I bought one at Kohl's on Black Friday for $99.00, plus I had a $10 coupon and an additional 15 percent off. When we were there tonight, they were still $99 and the percentage coupon was 20 percent. Friday, I also got $15 Kohl's bucks. I will have to wait till after Christmas to use it! I guess, as it's a " gift to us". We have lots of porcelain tile in our house. Hope it does the job on the grout.

Lynn, I am not familiar with powdered water softener. We have an entire house water softener as the water is just too hard for almost any normal use. If your tap water is not softened, it may be worth looking into but again, vinegar may accomplish the same thing.

I am definitely far from an expert but I tend to like to push the limits in gardening so am learning about water on that front. DH deals with water rights but it gives a definite consciousness about water use in the area because we hope to be here for a very long time.

When we lived in San Antonio. TX from 19778-84, we added Calagon to our washing machine for the hard water. I may have misspelled it but it was a white powder that came in a blue box. They also made bath beads for bathing, not so much like bubble bath but you could at least have a little suds on your washcloth.

mboston...thanks for the heads up. They still have the same price and discount, along with free shipping. Of course I had to find something else to buy as the amount was a penny short to apply. It is still in the cart to get some input on the following questions.

Just to clarify, vacuum/sweep floors first and then use cleaner. Will this pull the water in fast enough not to damage wood floors? Or am I foolish even thinking of using this on them?

mboston, it was Calgon. Remember the ads? "Calgon, take me away!"

Thank you so much Lynn for posting this! I had housekeepers clean before Thanksgiving since I had lots of out of town guests. But watching them mop almost KILLED me. It was not thorough and it didn't smell or look anything like when I do it myself. When I mop, I use super hot water and lots of soapy suds that kill germs. But this sounds like a much easier way to really clean tile! I'm putting it on my Christmas list - I just love to have super clean, germ free floors! (And I know that sounds really OCD, because it is.)

This is great information -- anyone have updates? Is this safe for travertine or limestone?

Sunfeather, i still love mine, although I've never used the cleaning/floorwash solution that came with it. Because my floors are all brick. I only wash them with vinegar and water. That doesn't seen to hurt the machine, although I have to stress the importance of always emptying the tanks when you're finished. So, I'm not sure if the solution that comes with the Hoover Floormate is compatible with travertine or limestone floors . . . but I imagine that the unit itself is. They do have an excellent customer service line for questions, though. BTW. for anyone else with brick floors, after mine are washed, my DH goes over them with Ring Brick Floor Care, using a special mop. It's a kind of finishing oil that is absorbed and gives them a soft glow.

How much vinegar do you use in the Floormate?