Kobold VK200 Upright Vacuum Cleaner feedback thread - NON testers - chance to win a handheld vac NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

This is the feedback thread for the 10 Mumsnetters trying the Kobold VK200 Upright Vacuum Cleaner.

Non testers - we also have 5 handheld vacuums to be won - simply share on this thread what your least favourite room or place to vac is and you will be entered into a prize draw where 5 non testers will each win their very own Kobold VC100 handheld vacuum cleaner (RRP £129.00)

Back to the test, the team at Kobold say “compact, unbeatably handy and extremely powerful, the Kobold VK200 Upright Vacuum Cleaner is the ideal addition to your household, making life easier and cleaner.
Designed by global German household appliance manufacturer Vorwerk, the Kobold VK200, in combination with two different attachments, takes care of all your floor cleaning needs. Whether it’s carpets or hard floors – the VK200 Homecare System has it covered.
The unique SP530 DuoClean head allows you to mop and vacuum at the same time – a world first! It uses just 100ml of water to cover up to 20 m² of hard floor. And the best part? Simply remove the cleaning cloths when you’ve finished and pop them in the washing machine ready for next time.

“The EB400 brush head meanwhile ensures vacuuming is thorough, gentle and hygienic – driven by its own motor, a special rotating brush scans the floor 16 times per second and removes dirt and dust completely. Even the finest dirt particles do not stand a chance!

“Visit kobold.vorwerk.co.uk to find out more about the Kobold VK200 vacuum cleaner and discover the array of clever additional accessories that turn this machine into the Ultimate Homecare System! Simply click and swap to the attachment you need to expertly deal with upholstery, furniture, mattresses, textiles and anything else you need cleaned. Built to last, the Kobold VK200 is the only vacuum cleaner you’ll ever need”.

Testers - please share below your first impressions (we will add more Qs later on)

~ how did the demo from the Vorwerk rep go? What were you the most keen to try out?
~ how were the instructions in the box?
~ what did the demo cassette bag show after the first use - are you surprised by how much has been picked up?
~ please share a photo!

Testers thanks for sharing your first impressions - after you have used it a few times, please now share the below:

~ Do you think the Kobold VK200 will save you time?
~ Did you think that the vacuum was powerful?
~ Did you think the vacuum was easy to manoeuvre?
~ And do please share a photo!

Finally, testers - now please share the below

~ What are you overall views on the vacuum cleaner?
~ Would you recommend it to other people with similar floors to you?
~ please share a photo and add a review here

Thanks
MNHQ
Standard Insight T&Cs apply

Non tester - I hate vacuuming under the beds, too painful on my back, too many toys and always the fear of coming eye to eight eyes with a big spider!

~ Do you think the Kobold VK200 will save you time?
It will save me time for mopping,as this is so easy to use. It is ready to go, with the water ready inside the mop head. It will save me the time of getting the mop and bucket out of the outside cupboard, filling with water, going back and forth to bucket, changing dirty water etc etc. The savings are huge. However because it is such an arduous and ineffective process normally, I do it very rarely. With this machine, I am doing it much more, because it is easy and even enjoyable, dare I say. So overall I may spend more time mopping, but I don't mind.
On the hard floors, it is saving time. Crouching down with brush and pan or dragging a brush over the laminates and linos never worked that well - this is efficient and stress free. It saves time here for sure.
On carpets - not sure it saves much time. It is a smooth runner and I don't have to battle with hoses and cables - so that is a time saving. Overall, yes, I have more time back - but I also clean more because it looks so nice once done and is no longer a great pain.

~ Did you think that the vacuum was powerful?
It certainly picks up dirt and dust without trouble and more and it is very effective on hard floors too, really drawing crud and grime up. It calibrates itself to the task at hand - so is not always on full blaring mode. I would say it is effective and efficient which is a mode of being powerful, but it doesn't drain power resources.

~ Did you think the vacuum was easy to manoeuvre?
Steering the vacuum is exceedingly easy. It goes right down flat and can get into the lowest of places. I would like to get an attachment for crevices and other areas. On floors though this is very good - swivels well, changes direction like a dream,. It is heavy - so tough to put away, but in time I will get a nail and let it hang nicely out the way. My eight year old loves using it and can easily move it around.
Very impressed so far. All the floors in the flat are looking rejuvenated. Am looking forwards to giving it a really good workout soon though, when the rest the family are out of the house and I have free reign.

Do you think the Kobold VK200 will save you time?

It's amazing and I love it. I never used to really bother mopping my wooden floors as it was such a hassle. Now, the duoclean is so quick as easy that I've done it twice in a week! So I'm actually doing more cleaning than I did before- so more time- but it's jobs that had I done them before, would have taken me much much longer. This makes it fun!

~ Did you think that the vacuum was powerful?

More than powerful enough on my carpets. Much better than my ancient Dyson. Even on the automatic setting, I find it quite hard to push on some of my carpets due to the degree of suction.

~ Did you think the vacuum was easy to manoeuvre?

Yes, it swivels beautifully and can lie flat to go under sofas, tables etc. It's heavier with the vibrating duoclean attached, but sort of self propels itself along.

~ And do please share a photo!

Least favourite place is anywhere but if I was forced to pick I'd say the kids' room just because of the amount of crap that has to be recovered from the floor before it's safe to begin.

Will take some more photos tonight

The stairs. We live in a 2-storey house with high ceilings so have two sets of steep stairs to hoover. It's really tough going with my big VAX hoover but alas is quite a good workout!

Non-tester. Least favourite is the car because it's a pain to lug hoover outside, closely followed by the stairs.

OMG game changer. I just vacuumed/mopped under my bed. The Kobold made light work of the dustballs, cat hair etc. Best of all it goes flat under the bed so it's really easy to do the whole bedroom in one go.

least fave to vacuum has to be the stairs we live in a maisonette so everyone coming in and out walk up the stairs - add in 4 cats and a dog and its a nightmare getting them clean - we had at one point considered going for a vinyl flooring for them as such a pain but we need the carpeting to reduce the noise from everyone running up and down them

I hate hoovering the stairs!

Non-tester here. For me it's the stairs.

Least favourite place to vacuum

The master bedroom. So much in it, plus I cannot get right under the bed with the main vacuum cleaner. Add to that my hair and the dog's hair on the carpet and it is just a dreadful room to vacuum. All other rooms are straightforward and easy peasy, but not the master bedroom. I hate it to the point that I sometimes leave it as the only room not done and get my OH to do it instead.

Tester.

• Do you think the Kobold VK200 will save you time?

Absolutely. It is really quick to wash the floors and because it uses so little water, they are dry almost immediately. So it's easy to wash the floors quickly before going to work, if they need it, and also to run it round the whole house - it picks up so much more than our old Miele, which means that the carpets look and stay cleaner for longer.

• Did you think the vacuum was powerful?

Yes, much better than my Cat and Dog (which to be honest, wasn't bad). It shut my mother up most effectively when she started mewing about not being able to get a vacuum cleaner that sucked properly because of the EU.

• Did you think the vacuum cleaner was easy to manoeuvre?

Yes, the fact that the head swivels (nearly as much as my mother's eyes!) and that it goes flat, are really helpful and mean you don't need to move furniture all the time. It's also pretty light and I love the fact that it hangs inside the cupboard door (Mr DIY put up a hook especially for his New Love) and takes up no space at all.

I'll take a photo tomorrow. DH was cleaning in his underpants today and you might get unnecessarily excited if I'd taken a photo today!

Or a little bit of sick might come into your mouth.

Least favourite is either the car- loads of small gaps, or the stairs as our vacuum is so heavy. A handheld would help!

has to be the stairs

~ Do you think the Kobold VK200 will save you time?

It is most definitely a time saver especially the wet head part of the model. Washing and vacuuming the floor at the same time saves a lot of faffing about and messing with mop buckets (which i used before).

Also it is so easy to use with the long lead which gets me round the whole house without having to change sockets, which i had to do before also.

The Kobold also detects if you are vacuuming a hard floor or carpet and automatically adjusts to the type of flooring, which is also a time saver.

~ Did you think that the vacuum was powerful?

I felt the vacuum was powerful but without feeling like its sucking the life out of the material, especially on carpeted floors.
I have a tendency to shed a lot of hair off my head (see photo) and find it sticks to carpets but the Kobold picked it up easily.

~ Did you think the vacuum was easy to manoeuvre?

I do find it twists and turns with no effort needed. Even corners and edges, i would normally use a hose and take the head off my other vacuum but this square head seems to pick up everything and not miss little bits that tend to hide in the corners. I like how it lies flat and makes it very easy to get under the dining table!

My photos show the disgusting amount of hair i found that it had picked up!! Plus the Kobold from my view point.

Hallway where the dog sleeps. I hate hoovering it. There is dog hair everywhere.

Here's my photo! Not sure if you can see the difference between the hoovered and unhoovered bit clearly but this is the only bit of my house that has carpet!

The living room. We all spend a lot of time in there, so it needs constant vacuuming!

Do you think the Kobold VK200 will save you time?
Absolutely, yes. Vacuuming takes around the same time apart from the fact I can get under things a lot more easily. I don't have to move furniture out of the way so that saves a little bit of time.

The DuoClean head is what saves me the most time - I have laminate and tiles in my hall and kitchen and it takes me 5 minutes now. It vacuums and mops all in one so saves me around an hour each time.

Did you think that the vacuum was powerful?
Very. It's actually vile thinking back to what it picked up on the demo! The auto mode is powerful enough but I've tried it on max a few times and the carpet looks SO good afterwards.

Did you think the vacuum was easy to manoeuvre?
It is very light to push around and the head moves around furniture easily, much easier than my old vacuum cleaner for sure (and I thought my previous one was good, Vorwerk has shown me it really wasn't

I don't have any more pics to add yet, I've been so bloody unwell for the last month but I will soon!

I absolutely hate hoovering the stairs - I would actually think about moving to a bungalow to avoid hoovering stairs 😅

I agree with the other tester about how amazingly flat the Kobold goes. I also vacuumed under our bed and it was a breeze to get right to the middle. In fact it picked up so much dust I had to change the bag!

Here are some photos with the Duo Clean head on, although it's higher than the vacuum head, it still goes under some of our furniture, including the chair in our dining room. Today has been pouring down so there's a before picture by our front door after two school runs and then after a quick whizz with the Duo Clean.

Seriously, I now longer fret about wet or muddy shoes/buggy coming in and making a mess. The dining by room is now free of buggy trails and all ready for dinner.

Here are the other photos...

The stairs!!!! I hate the stairs. We have two sets. The corners are a nightmare. There has to be an easier way of doing them.