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

Least Favourite room to vacuum is the living room as both hard floor and a big rug - plus getting under the sofas is a nightmare!

Least favourite are the stairs, ours are very steep, usually covered in cat and dog hairs, need a great deal of attention to do them properly. A pain!!

Least fave place the bathrooms round bottom of the toilets! Yuck!

The stairs. I always bash myself with the vacuum cleaner.

Stairs..I always bash myself with the vacuum cleaner.

My least favourite has to be the stairs as I can never quite reach the top stairs.

My least favourite place has to be behind and under the reclining sofas, where half the world seems to fall.

My least favourite room to vacuum is the stairs. Pain in the backside!

Non tester here

Most hated place to vacuum is the WHOLE HOUSE. Plugging, unplugging, tiles, carpets, woodburner soot, half the woods, mud, dry wrinkly peas, sofas full of sand, a car full of crumbs from school cake sales and long drives, and everywhere LEGO and GLITTER. A roof full of spider webs too high to reach so there is a whole horror show of dead flies and dusty moths. We have big old barn in the country - friends say 'wow! you're living the dream!' - yup - if the dream involves Miss Havisham's house. We used to have a little flat, cleaned in a couple of hours - then we inherited this. Days of work and it's never done.

Tester here

Overall view? An amazing bit of kit. I actually look forward to using it, and for the first time ever, I mop our hard floors at least once a week. The vacuum/ mop design is so clever, and such a time saver. You can cover huge expanses of floor in such a short time. We have all hard floors downstairs, and now I can wash them as well as hoover them. I hate conventional mops with a passion. The suction head is also brilliant on carpets, and I love the way the automatic function works out the correct setting for different floor types. So far I'm still on my first bag. Also there's a little compartment that you put a fragrance block in; the smell is a really subtle clean one that leaves the rooms smelling lovely.

Would I recommend? Absolutely. It's a sleek modern vacuum with some really clever design features. Also the customer service has been great so far. I emailed Charlie with a query and he phoned me back within the hour. I'm sure I'll end up buying some of the attachments which let you increase its versatility even further, like the dry cleaning head.

Thanks so much for letting me test this machine. It's the first time I've ever felt able to stay on top of vacuuming the house.

My least favourite place is the sofa as no matter how often you do it there are always crumbs and bits that don't seem to match what we have been doing

The stairs! Especially with stair gates now too and bottom, makes it so difficult to manoeuvre the hoover!

Non tester, another vote for the stairs.

Has to be the hall after my son has come back from playing football on a 4g pitch ..... those black rubber pieces go literally everywhere 😡

I hate hoovering under the dining room table. For some reason pulling out all the chairs seems such a pain, but then I get really wound up if I don't pull them out and try to navigate through the darn things!

My least favourite place to hoover is the stairs. My dyson doesn't quite reach the top so the top stair always gets missed. Ive had the bloody thing fall on me before now when I've hoovered from the top!

My least favourite is the stairs.

Stairs, without a doubt. Cord of upright cleaner only goes part way from downstairs socket, plus I can't leave vacuum precariously balanced on one step. Have to carry vacuum cleaner downstairs, unplug it, carry it all upstairs to the top, plug it in once more so as to do the upper part of stairs. S complete and utter faff!

Non tester-hate hoovering my bedroom as there's loads of boxes under the bed & hard floor so it's like tumbleweed of dust all over the place

Overall view: amazing, time saving, keeps my floors looking spotless and hygienic (which is massively important with a 4yo and 2 cats!) I love how clean and fresh the room smells after I've used it! I finally feel like the house is actually clean in a way it never was when I was using a broom to clean the floor!

Would I recommend? Absolutely! I've already talked to a few people about them having demos!

Non tester.
My least favourite place to vacuum is the attic - there are 2 bedrooms up there but one is my sewing room and always has miles and miles of unravelled threads and bits of fabric all over the floor yes I'm a messy sewer and even after it's been cleaned, there are always more...plus it's up 2 flights of stairs, and our vacuum cleaner lives in the cellar.

Least favourite area - hall, stairs and landing.
Too many corners, nooks and crannies - I really don't like doing the cleaning in any rooms but this is definitely the worst for me.

What are you overall views on the vacuum cleaner?
I love it. The Duo Clean head is brilliant and makes cleaning our hard floors so quick and easy. That in itself is worth the cost of the unit. The vacuum is also great, it's really good at vacuuming on hard floors (not that I use it much as I just get the Duo Clean out instead) but you can see it sucking stuff in from the sides. The variable suck options for carpets are also great, so I lowered it to 'soft' when I damaged my wrist, making it very easy to push. Now the Christmas tree is up, I use 'max' to get the artificial needles up off the carpet (this is the only vacuum cleaner we've used that has successfully got the needles up).

We also bought the Polster Boy and hose attachments when we got the Vorwerk, and we've been delighted with these too. I've already cleaned our mattress and it smells lovely. I'm sure it looks cleaner and brighter too. The downside is that sucking up all the dry cleaning powder filled the collection bag, but we won't need to do it often. The Polster Boy attachment is also great for stairs, because it's powered, it has great suction too which is needed on our loop pile stair carpet. The beater attachment gets dust out of cushions with absolute ease and those are my go-to attachments.

Since having the Vorwerk, I'm way less stressed out about muddy shoes and buggy tracks across the dining room floor as I use the Duo Clean almost daily. I love our downstairs bathroom again because there's no cat litter escaping into there because it's now under control. The added benefit is that the bath mat and stool are also staying really clean because there's no fluff build up on the floors. Every thing just looks cleaner and it only takes 10 mins.

Random vacuuming jobs like doing under the bed is a doddle. The Vorwerk goes completely flat to the floor, making it so easy to get it all the way under the bed. It's powerful suction means you don't need to go repeatedly over the same bit of carpet, one pass is enough. It also goes right to the edges so I don't often put the crevice nozzle on either.

Would you recommend it to other people with similar floors to you?
Absolutely. My mum mentioned it to a friend and it turns out she has had a Vorwerk vacuum for 20 years and won't buy anything else. She's now tempted to get a new one and benefit from the Duo Clean head too. It's a lot of money as an initial outlay but if this model also lasts 20 years, I expect I'd go through three £300 vacuum cleaners in that time, plus our steamer hasn't seen the light of day since we got the Vorwerk either, so another saving there. Basically I think per year of use, you'd probably spend similar. What you've got is something that hasn't been done before (Duo Clean) and a vacuum that's the best I've ever used. The German engineering makes it feel well made and all the attachments are well thought out. In comparison our Dyson feels like rickety plastic.

We thought our four year old Dyson was the bees knees, it wasn't, and I thought I was destined to never have a properly clean hard floor (because there's never enough time to find an hour to vacuum and steam with a toddler around!). How wrong was I?

I don't think we'd buy anything else now. I'd love to buy the handheld vacuum for tiny spills, maybe I might get lucky at Christmas [saddo]

I've added four photos further back in the thread, I hope that's okay.

~ What are you overall views on the vacuum cleaner?
This machine is fabulous. It has transformed my attitude to vacuuming and mopping and keeping floors clean in general.. I really enjoy running it around, as it moves so smoothly and is so efficient. It has transformed our carpet, tiles, wood laminate and lino. It is amazing that all of these surfaces can be cleaned effectively with the one head, but it is extra wonderful that the mop plus vacuum head is so easy to apply and super easy to use. The swapping over is really simple and the application of cleaning liquid easy. I have saved so much time on cleaning the hard floors and no longer need to get out the mop and buckets and swish dirty water around in the hope of cleaning up our very sticky mucky floors. This uses little liquid but really works on the surfaces to make them clean. Another advantage to that is that it is quickly dry again, unlike with the old method. The machine is not too noisy and, though rather heavy, it glides over the floors and does not take too much energy to move it up to edges or under sofas. The long lead means it can be plugged in in one place and no endless replugging is needed. I love the fact it has no hose and is so well designed. It looks good. It is robust too and you feel it can take some shoving around, which is good, when pulling something around a room or moving from room to room. At first was a bit worried about an upright, but its swivel head is so maneouvrable that I am totally at one with it. So, in short, I love it. I think it is worth the moment, especially if it lasts as long as it claimed as and as others have testified on here.

~ Would you recommend it to other people with similar floors to you?
I certainly would. It works well, look good, is a joy to use.