Karcher FC5 Hard Floor Cleaner

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its around £210 a lot for a mop but you could try it under the 30 day mbg and return it if you don't like it. i have a shark steam mop and its very good have it around 5/6 years
 
I've got a Shark too, but I suspect it just moves dirt around the floor, rather than removes it. This looks like it might be more thorough? I like the fact that it sucks up the dirty water.
I know, it's a lot for a mop, but I do rate Karcher products and, after a quick online price comparison, Q do seem (for a change) to have the best price. (A lot of sites seem to advertise it cheaper, but then add the VAT at checkout).
I've decided to go for it!
 
You are right about the Shark moving the dirt around the floor. I suppose you end up with sterile dirt ie no bugs which is ok for places with no dirty dogs and children. I think the Karcher may be better and even if it is too heavy to take upstairs you will clean most of the house and then you can keep the Shark to sterilise the bathroom floor.
Please let us know how you get on this the Karcher.
 
i was interested in the concept but not the price. i got 4 microfibre looped mop heads with my shark. it also flips over when it looks grubby. i use kitchen cleaner a small amount on the floor and its quite effective. karcher are an excellent brand go for it. if it lasts 10/15 years you have got your moneys worth
 
I don't have this but I have the pressure washer and the window washer - top quality products. I'm especially impressed with the window washer which sucks up dirty water and, well, gets rid of the dirt. Now you talk about it, my steam mop absorbs dirt on the pad, so I did a test. Once I steam mopped the kitchen (which leads to back garden), I went down on my hands and knees with floor wipes and the dirt that still came up was massive. I used a whole packet of floor wipes on my kitchen floor until it was reasonably clean. Hmmm. I don't consider myself a dirty house person but I do have a dog who creates dirt. I would say wipes etc ARE just moving the dirt around. Anything that sucks up the dirt and you can pour it away has to be a better product.

CC
 
When it comes, I plan to steam mop first and then use the Karcher to see what else comes up. I will report back.
I have the Karcher window vac, it's a marvellous gadget, very efficient ;)
 
I have one of these and it is brilliant, it is the best thing I have used on my laminate floors.
 
Okies, this floor washer arrived this morning and I have used it already. So I am ready to feed back my opinion for anyone who is interested.
Firstly, I will say that I am very pleased with it and I intend to keep it.

First impressions: the handle slots in easily and the pictorial instructions are easy to follow. It's typically solid Karcher quality.
It's heavier than I expected - which is why, I suppose, they haven't made it cordless. The added weight of a rechargeable battery would add significantly to the weight and unwieldiness of it. I'm not sure I would want to lug this upstairs to do the bathrooms, we'll have to see.

Easy to fill, but it does start to leak from the clean water container more or less straight away, so don't fill it and get distracted by the phone, for example, or you will come back to find it has emptied itself!

In use, it's a bit of an animal. It's quite weighty and it 'runs away with you' a bit. I feel I've had a damn good workout having cleaned all the tiled floors downstairs.
It's also noisy, and both dog and cat are scared witless. It spits water from the front and from the rollers, and leaves the floor quite a lot wetter than the steam mop, but it dries off quickly if there's an open window.
The cord is long, and I found it gets in the way a bit, now that I'm so used to a cordless vac. I got it trapped under the rollers a couple of times, but in this case, the rollers just came off and no damage was done.

Despite steam mopping prior to washing the floor with it, the dirty water container yielded disgusting, filthy water. This confirms what I have always known deep down, that steam mops just move the dirt around, and don't actually remove much at all.
They suggested on the presentation that it vacuums as well as washes, and that you don't need to vac before you use it. I'd say this is rubbish. You definitely need to vac prior to using, and even then you will pick up hair, fluff and bits of gritty dust, which collect under the rim by the rollers. I found I needed a microfibre cloth to keep wiping this clean.

We have a lot of tiled floor downstairs, so I found I needed to re-fill the clean and empty the dirty water containers quite a few times. Each filling lasts for about 10 minutes of washing.
Rather than including the two bottles of cleaning fluid, I wish they had supplied a spare set of rollers. They are available to buy from Karcher & Amazon, but cost about £20 a set.
The rollers come off easily, and mine are now in the washing machine.

The tiled floor is cleaner than it has been for years. I have yet to test it on the laminate, but I'm exhausted!
I don't consider myself to have a particularly filthy house, but I have a Dyspraxic husband, a cat, and a hairy Spaniel to clean up after, so I think I have given it a good run this morning and I am very pleased with the results.
To summarise then; I rate it highly. Although I won't be parting with my Shark, which I think still has a place in my gadget arsenal.
 
i dont think i could manage it but i like shark. will go for the window cleaner my nieghbour has one now and shes able to clean the upstairs widows back and front really well
 
i dont think i could manage it but i like shark. will go for the window cleaner my nieghbour has one now and shes able to clean the upstairs widows back and front really well
I have the window cleaner if you mean the handheld one. I also use it in the winter to suck the condensation off the windows.
 
Thanks for the review Pickalily. I wonder if you should call Karcher to check out whether the unit should leak if unattended? That doesn't sound quite right to me.
 
After using it again this morning, a couple more thoughts.
Concerning the weight, I think it needs to be that heavy to push the rollers into contact with the floor. Any lighter and it wouldn't clean effectively.
I wish they did a set of rollers with some texture - like a nylon pan scrub type of thing, I think this could be good for the kitchen floor in particular.
Re the leaking, I don't think it's a fault, it's the way it's designed. The fluid drips out slowly onto the rollers as you clean, and is then sucked up behind the rollers as they spin. When you insert the full clean water tank, there's a little 'prong' that opens up the 'dripper' membrane, so it starts to drip as soon as the tank goes in. I left mine standing in the holder whilst I got distracted, and came back to find the holder was full of my clean water & detergent!
I don't think it's necessary to 'prime' the rollers with water before starting to clean, they get soaked quickly enough as it is.
I'm still very happy with it, much quicker and easier than getting down on hands & knees, and much, much cleaner results than with steam mop alone.
It doesn't leave the floor sticky, which I sometimes found with the Shark, especially if I used a floor cleaner spray in conjunction - too much detergent residue left behind, I suppose. Shark will still be used for quick splash clean ups and steaming rugs & carpets etc.
Hope this is helpful for anyone considering buying it.
 

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