Hoover HF4 Cordless Vacuum Cleaner

Disclaimer – We have received this item for free or on a loan basis for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

Love it or hate it, cleaning is a part of life. As we start the New Year and begin Spring Cleaning, I dragged out my old cleaning appliances including my 10+ year old vacuum cleaner and had to remind myself that this is old technology now.  The new Hoover HF4 Vacuum Cleaner came to my aid though as it arrived this week for me to test. It is not only on discount at the moment, but it has the added benefit of being able to power mop floors too, all with the same handheld device and the attachments it comes with.

The box arrives with all the attachments neatly wrapped. There’s picture instructions to put it together but it’s self-explanatory if you’ve ever used a handheld vacuum before!  I started by fully charging the Hoover but you can use it straight away as the battery has enough charge.  

The Hoover HF4 is remarkably quiet for a vacuum cleaner. I didn’t have to worry about disturbing the neighbours over the Christmas holidays and you can easily talk over the sound of the motor.  It still picks up really well though.  I used it on short carpet, loop wool carpet and a rug in the kitchen and thanks to the LED light, you can see what it’s picking up. It didn’t take too much effort either and glided through the house.  The battery charge lasted for the whole house and was only 1 section down on the display so it will last much longer.

The Hoover HF4 is really lightweight too. It’s so easy to carry up and downstairs with 1 hand and even after vacuuming the whole house, the dust tank wasn’t full.  Checking the brush head, there isn’t one single hair wrapped around the blades, making it less likely you need to detangle in order for the blades to still turn and pick up, which is a problem I have with my old vacuum cleaner.  There’s different modes to the speed as well; standard, turbo and eco.  I left the vacuum on standard mode for the whole house clean but turbo, although it does run the battery down quicker, is great for really high ware areas like halls and stairs.  The interchangeable attachments include 2 nozzles of different length, an upholstery tool and a 2-in-1 tool. There’s also attachments for the wall so that you can mount it to save space in a cupboard and set it up for charging.

In addition to being a vacuum cleaner, the Hoover HF4 is also a powerful mop.  The box comes with the turbo mop head and spare mop pads so that you can wash one set whilst using the other.  The large mop head covers a large area and the triangular shape means you can get into crevices easily. The pack comes with floor cleaning solution as well, but there’s no reason why you can’t use your own.  The rotating circular pads increase the work on your floors 10x so it’s worth taking the time to learn how to use it. The solution goes straight into the mop head tank along with tap water and the vacuum cleaner does all the work in calculating the concentration of cleaner and water needed to mop the floor. There are 3 adjustable settings on the mop head too, to give different flow rates of water.

I can’t find any cons for the Hoover HF4 yet, although the mop pads take a while to dry properly and the instructions suggest they only go on a temperature of 60 degrees in the washing machine, which doesn’t seem to get the completely clean.  I’m worried that any hotter and the pads will shrink and be rendered useless!  The filter will need cleaning but not for a while yet. The Hoover comes with all the attachments you’d expect and they all work really well and overall; the Hoover has enough power to do the everyday clean as well as the full on turbo clean if needed.  It’s really sturdy but lightweight and has loads of battery life as well.

Available at a discount now for £299 at: https://www.hooverdirect.co.uk/products/hoover-cordless-vacuum-cleaner-with-anti-hair-wrap-magenta-hf4-copy

Tower VL60 NimbleVac Cordless Vacuum

Disclaimer – We received this item free for the purpose of this review/feature but all words and opinions are our own.

This vacuum cleaner is seriously impressive!  We were sent the Tower VL60 Cordless Vacuum to try out as part of their Black Friday sale and I wasn’t expecting much for a cheaper vacuum cleaner but I was pleasantly surprised by the power, ease of use and efficiency of it. Even better, it’s part of the Tower Black Friday sale so it’s cheaper than normal too!

The Tower VL60 NimbleVac Cordless Vacuum is delivered in pieces but doesn’t need much explanation to put it together.  The accessories include the charging plug, which is small enough to sit in a drawer between charges, and there’s a bracket for the wall if you need it mounted. The other accessories include a nozzle, sofa brush and velvet brush roller as well as the everyday single brush roller.  They’re pretty much the same accessories as you would find with a mains powered vacuum cleaner so there’s no need to have both with this cleaner.

Putting together the vacuum cleaner is just clicking it together and you’re ready to go. There are two speeds to the motor for cleaning; regular and max, both of which are on the handle.  I used the regular speed for just testing out the vacuum, and I was surprised at how well it picked up on my hallway carpet.  I was also impressed with how unbelievably quiet it is! You can easily talk over the noise of the motor and it’s less likely to frighten pets. I would go as far as saying that it wouldn’t disturb a sleeping child either, which can only be a bonus! There’s a really handy light on the front to show where you’re heading and the whole brush head swivels really easily and is light to use. In fact, I can pick up the whole cordless vacuum easily with just one hand.

The VL60 is lighter than my other make of cordless vacuum and I can store it easier because it comes apart with just a click, and is smaller too.  There’s a light on the handle to show how much charge you have and it lights up as you charge it too. I haven’t been able to use it long enough to see how quickly the charge runs out, but the literature says the regular speed cleaning lasts 35 minutes and the max speed is 15 minutes.  Speaking of the max speed, I tried it out but I didn’t have a need to use it because the regular speed kept up with the cleaning I needed to do.

There is no bag on this vacuum cleaner, just a dust tank which holds 300ml. I vacuumed my whole house, including the hard floors and it wasn’t full, so I assume there is more than enough room for most households to clean comfortably. The HEPA filter removes 99.95% of fine particles down to 0.3 microns, and whilst using it, I realised the dust doesn’t come back into the room but stays there in the tank until you remove it. This is great for allergies especially in the spring and summer when pollen can easily get into the house and needs removing from the air and soft furnishings.

I’m really impressed with this vacuum especially given the price and the physical size of it. It works great around the house but I also think it would work well in a caravan due to it’s size and weight and the accessories that mean it can be hand held. Fabulous for long car journeys too when you have to clean up after the children!

Available on special offer for Black Friday at £74.99 (usual price £99.99):