Review : Numatic George

Parenting Expert‘s verdict:

My name is Jo Studholme, and I am one of the in-house Parenting Expert review team. I have been reviewing products for over a decade and love seeing the latest products on the market. I am the mother of three children aged between 7 and 16, so I always seem to have a house full. With two teenage boys, keeping a clean and tidy house can be somewhat of a challenge sometimes. I was thrilled to receive the latest “Henry Hoover” and welcome George into our busy family. Having never owned any of the “Henry” family in the past, I was keen to see whether it would live up to its reputation.

What’s in the box?

The answer to this question is a lot! The box is big and pretty heavy—that’s because there are about 6 kg worth of accessories, as you can see from the picture.

You will get all the following in the box.

• Numatic George vacuum
• 3 piece stainless steel tubes
• Nuflex bayonet hose
• Cleantec extraction hose
• Combination floor nozzle
• Fishtail extraction nozzle
• Dual scrub/wet pick up nozzle
• Upholstery extraction nozzle
• Double taper hose/tool adapter
• Crevice tool
• Soft dusting brush
• Upholstery nozzle
• Slide on brush for upholstery nozzle
• Cleantec trigger valve & spray tube
• Tritex filter
• Four Hepa-Flo dust bags
• Numatic shampoo for carpet cleaning
• Instructions

First Impressions

My first impressions were that there was so much in the box! Generally, when I have bought vacuum cleaners (and I have had quite a few), they are simple to put together, and off you go. George, I have to confess, needed the instructions! I was pleased to find out that the majority of the accessories can be stored by attaching them to George, meaning that storage is simple.

When I lifted it out of the box, I was initially struck by how heavy it was, but being a numatic vacuum, I suppose that is not surprising. However, once on his wheels, he is easy to manoeuvre.

Review

Now, George is not necessarily the most simple product to review. George is a  multi-functional vacuum cleaner that’s capable of dry vacuuming, wet vacuuming, floor washing, and carpet and upholstery shampooing. In a nutshell, he promises everything!

In fairness, it requires a little head scratching initially, and I would recommend having the instructions to hand. I’m sure you won’t need to refer back to the instructions once you’ve figured it out.

Looks and design

From a visual standpoint, Numatic like the rest of the Henry family, George has a cheerful face and sparkling blue eyes.

Suction is not an issue with George, the most powerful vacuum in Numatic’s Henry Hoover line. George is more powerful than the other Henrys because he needs to clean effectively when used in wet cleaning mode.

Not only does George have an on/off switch, but he also has a wet/dry toggle that allows you to quickly change between the two methods of cleaning. George has a dry hose and a wet hose included in the package. George may be used for both wet and dry vacuuming, and its capacity is exceptional. When George is being used for routine dry vacuuming, his nine-litre capacity is on par with that of other Numatic vacuums in the Henry Hoover family. George’s 15-litre tank size makes it ideal for wet-vacuuming even the dirtiest floors.

George is rather on the heavier side, although he does have a large capacity. George, like all Numatic vacuums, is a fairly large and heavy hoover. But, his wheels lighten the load when transporting him, and his attachments snap on and off with ease, so George can be handled by just about anyone.

George – Wet Vacuuming

Hard floors

I think that this is really where George comes into his own, as a wet vacuum cleaner, and I was especially impressed with how he coped with hard surfaces. My large kitchen floor was its ultimate test. George has a clean water tank with detergent and then sucks up the water from the floor into a dirty water tank. It miraculously left my kitchen floor not only clean but almost dry—far superior to using a mop. Unlike some cleaners, he doesn’t just transfer the dirt around the floor; he actually gets rid of it and replaces it with clean water and detergent.

Carpet

Having tried George in my kitchen, it was time to clean my bedroom carpet. In the same way that you would clean hard floors, you would just fill the clean water tank with water and detergent. As with the hard floor test, I was impressed with how dry my carpet was. It is a relatively old carpet, and I now feel that cleaning it with George has given it a new lease on life. I was considering changing it, but having cleaned it, I shall keep it a little longer.

George’s shampoo system is what really makes him stand out on carpets. If your carpet is looking old and worn, George does seem to give it a new lease on life. George is not going to leave your carpets drenched because he is built to evenly disperse his cleaning solution across the carpet.

Upholstery

As you can see, George is not restricted to wooden or carpeted surfaces. George can unclog pipes, clean and remove stains from couches, and even valet your car. As a wet vacuum, he is very versatile.

The water tank for George’s wet vacuuming is simple to remove and replace once it has been empty. The pump has a handy floatation ball that prevents it from sucking air into a full tank. An effective mesh filter is included to further reduce the likelihood of bits of debris entering the water supply.

George – Dry Vacuuming

I like the fact the George is both a wet and dry vacuum, meaning that in theory you only need one vacuum. Perfect for those with limited storage space and those on a budget.

George is a numatic vacuum which to most of us translates to being a powerful cleaner! I love the fact that the hose is really long allowing you to reach to far places. This would be ideal for cleaning stairs (not that I have any, as I live in a bungalow!). My only niggle is that George is quite heavy. The wheels really help with this, but if you had to carry it up and down stairs, you might find it a little cumbersome. I also wish it had an automatic cord rewind, as manually doing this to tidy it away is annoying.

Pros

Only need one vacuum – wet and dry options

Strong Suction Power

Comes with lots of tools

Cons

Bulky and heavy

Manual cord rewind

Would you recommend this product to other parents?

Yes, I would recommend this to other parents. Personally,  I wouldn’t want to be carrying it up and down lots of flights of narrow stairs, but it does what it says on the packaging, and it does it well!

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