THE WAND FIRES OUT SHORT-WAVE UV RADIATION TO KILL 99.9 PER CENT OF VIRUSES AND BACTERIA
kitchen floor – the perfect excuse for another test! I quickly grab a mop and bucket. It gets the job done, but leaves the floor slick and I now have litres of dirty water to dispose of. The hefty Vorwerk Kobold SP600 hard floor cleaner, on the other hand, mops and hoovers at the same time.
On the base is a large cleaning pad complete with an 260ml tank filled with cleaning solution. It’s easy to control how much water is released into the cloth and the rate at which the pad buffs, so you can tackle anything from spillages to ground-in stains.
The SP600 glides over the floor, manoeuvring nimbly into tight corners and leaving a quick-drying trail and clean floor in its wake. The only drawback is the price. Considering a mop and bucket costs a few dollars, is a $2,000 outlay truly justifiable?
GAME OF THRONES
Keeping the house looking clean is a challenge in itself, but eradicating invisible bacteria is a different ball game altogether, particularly when it comes to the toilet. Swab testing my porcelain using a germ kit produces some seriously sinister results. This needs attention.
For this test, I’m cleaning one half of the bowl with Toilet Duck and treating the other half to a 20-second blast with UV-C Light Products’ Portable Wand. The wand is designed for use on most household surfaces and fires out short-wave UV radiation to kill 99.9 per cent of viruses and bacteria. To be honest, I’m not entirely convinced it’s going to work.
But I was wrong, as the second swab test reveals that both the Toilet Duck and UV-C Wand have neutralised the grime – take that, germs! Considering the wand can be used in other areas of the house and doesn’t involve pouring chemicals down the drain, it’s a potent weapon in the battle against household bugs.
AT THE CAR WASH
Having had my head stuck down the toilet, I think I’m in need of some fresh air, which brings me to the final test: cleaning the car. Kärcher has always been at the forefront of household cleaning gadgets, and the K7 Premium Full Control Plus Home pressure washer is the daddy. From sprucing up filthy patio tiles and blasting muck off garden tools, to scrubbing the family car, the K7 promises to do it all. But can it do the job better than the good old application of hard graft?
Grabbing a bucket of soapy water and a sponge, I attack the rear of my car. Like the windows, the results are passable, but getting the really caked-on stuff of is making me tired already. Now it’s the Kärcher’s turn…
Different jobs require different water pressures, and the K7’s pressure can be controlled, along with detergent concentration, via the digital display on the Full Control Trigger Gun. Elsewhere, the 3-in-1 multi-jet spray lance can switch between a flat stream, a mud-blasting rotary stream and a detergent stream. In the battle between the sponge and the Kärcher, there is only one contender. A quick high-pressure burst and that crusty bird poo on the bonnet is gone. The spray is better at getting in the fiddly gaps, too.
I’m not shy of manual labour, but I believe most people would prefer to spend their free time doing something more enjoyable than chores. While the best cleaning tech is pricey, anything that keeps the grime at bay and saves you time is surely worth exploring?